DIXFIELD — The story of Thursday’s Western Class C quarterfinal between No. 9 Old Orchard Beach and top-seeded Dirigo was told by the first three batters for each side.

After going to a full count with the first three Seagulls he faced, Dirigo starter Ben Holmes struck them out by alternating between a fastball away and a biting curve.

Dirigo’s first three batters jumped on OOB starter Dan Bonneau for singles, sparking an unrelenting 14-hit parade that made quick work of the Seagulls, 13-2, invoking the 10-run mercy rule after 4 ½ innings at Harlow Park.

The Cougars (16-1), winners of 16 in a row, will host No. 4 Hall-Dale in the semifinals at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. The Seagulls, who trounced No. 8 Waynflete, 10-3, in a prelim on Wednesday, finished their season at 7-11.

“Coach (Ryan Palmer) was telling us to be ready for anything because they were coming off a big win against Waynflete,” said Chad Snowman, who led the deluge by going 3 for 3 with a double, three RBIs, three runs scored and two of the Cougars’ eight stolen bases.

Tyler Frost, Hunter Ross, T.J. Frost, Caleb Turner and Holmes all chipped in with a pair of hits. Tyler Frost and Ross each had a double and an RBI.

T.J. Frost and Turner started the offense in style with singles in the first. Turner caught the OOB fielders napping on his single to center and broke for second, drawing a throw which allowed Frost to score the first run. Snowman went after the first pitch he saw and drove Turner in with a single to make it 2-0.

“It did not take us long to figure out (Bonneau) was throwing first-pitch curveball about 80 percent of the time,” Palmer said.

After a Holmes single and stolen base put runners at second and third, Cody St. Germain scored Snowman with a grounder to short. One out later, Tyler Frost doubled to plate Holmes and make it 4-0.

“It always helps to get off to a quick 4-0 lead,” Snowman said. “That gets things going easier.”

Ross got things going again in the second with a leadoff double. The  Cougars’ No. 9 hitter went 2 for 2 with a sacrifice fly and two runs scored.

“Basically, I’m supposed to just be a spark in the nine spot,” Ross said. “My main job is bunting, but today I didn’t really have to. I just wanted to keep things going for the top of the order.”

With one out, Turner singled to left. Ross held at third, but the throw in missed the cutoff man and rolled to the backstop, allowing Ross to head home and make it 5-0. Snowman followed with his second RBI single and later scored on St. Germain’s grounder to short.

The Cougars added four more in the third, the big hits coming from T.J. Frost (RBI single), Snowman (RBI double) and Holmes (sacrifice fly).

Staked to an 11-0 lead, the Cougars were able to pull Holmes after three innings, thus keeping him eligible to pitch against Hall-Dale on Saturday. Holmes struck out seven, issued one walk and didn’t give up a hit. That ran his streak of innings without giving up an earned run to 22. In his last three starts, he’s given up just one hit in 18 innings.

“As far as stuff, he threw well. He just had a couple of high counts,” Palmer said. “We did what we wanted to do today. We got a big lead early, kept Ben to three innings and we can use him on Saturday.”

Dirigo added two more in the fourth on a wild pitch and Ross’ sacrifice fly.

OOB got its runs in the fifth off reliever Kaine Hutchins. Anthony Langella had an RBI single and later scored on a fielder’s choice.