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AUBURN — The baseball field is a sanctuary for St. Dom’s this spring.

“This is where we can go so that we don’t have to think about that,” Saints coach Bob Blackman said. “So this is our relief. The boys can get here, not think about that, think about baseball, something that they love and enjoy, and whatever happens with the school is out of our control.”

The three-time defending Class D champion defeated Buckfield 6-1 on Monday in its first home game since it was announced that St. Dominic Academy’s high school will be closing at the end of the school year.

“We’ve been able to focus pretty well on baseball,” starting pitcher Ben Dumais said. “Obviously that’s in the back of our minds, but we want to perform well this season, especially for the school, and we’ve been able to focus pretty well.”

There has been a push to keep the school open. Blackman, who has been St. Dom’s coach for 21 years, said if this is the school’s final year, the Saints want to extend the season as deep into the spring as possible.

“So let’s have a good year and, you know, see where it falls, right?” he said.

How did St. Dom’s win?

• Dumais nearly went the distance, going 6 2/3 innings, striking out seven and giving up one hit. He also scored in the second on a single by Brady Blash. Freshman Logan Leclair drove in Blash later in the inning for a 2-0 lead.

“As of right now, I’m timed up on the fastball pretty well,” Blash said. “So that’s kind of what I’m waiting for. Unless the curveballs are down the middle, I’m probably not going to swing at it.”

• St. Dom’s scored twice more in the third. Curtis Wheeler came home on a sacrifice fly by Riley Daigle, and Finley Cavers scored to make it 4-0. Finley and Nolan Cavers each added to the lead with runs in the fifth.

• The Bucks got to Dumais in the sixth when Nolan Littlefield scored on a Gabe White double. After Ryder Bragg reached on an error — one of the two the Saints committed — Jonas Culleton flew to center to end the inning.

They said it

• “I thought that we actually hit the ball pretty well today. They seemed to go right at St. Dom’s defenders. (Krosby) Harvey, Litchfield, Gabe White, Bragg, Culleton — they all smashed the ball — and they just happened to be line drives that were caught or fly balls. We were able to get that one run in the sixth or fifth inning, which was good.” — Buckfield coach Kyle Rines

•  “We put the ball in play today. That was the key. You know, good things happen when you put the ball in play. When you strike out, you basically are giving it out.” — Blackman.

Up next

• Buckfield: vs. Telstar on Thursday at 4 p.m.

• St. Dom’s: at Waynflete/NYA on Thursday at 4 p.m.