SKOWHEGAN – Becca McCarty threw three pitches in the first inning and recorded three outs. She worked a little harder the rest of the game, but it didn’t matter.

McCarty, a senior pitcher for Skowhegan, needed just 66 pitches to shut out Mt. Ararat 8-0 Thursday in an Eastern Class A softball quarterfinal.

“That’s kind of low,” McCarty said when told her pitch count.

The top-seeded Indians (16-1) will host the winner of today’s game between Edward Little and Erskine Academy at 3 p.m. Saturday. No. 8 Mt. Ararat ended its season 8-9.

The Indians scored four times in the second inning, aided by two stolen bases, then added to the lead in the fifth on a two-run homer to center field by Anna Lorette that followed a one-out double by Whitney Jones.

“That’s the first one that has ever been hit out of here,” Skowhegan Coach Lee Johnson said.

That was more than enough for McCarty, who allowed just two hits and walked one, getting ground-ball outs on her first three pitches. After giving up a single on the first pitch of the second inning to Tess Hitchcock, McCarty retired 12 straight batters before allowing a leadoff single to Kirstin DeMars in the sixth.

“We were definitely pumped (after the first inning),” Skowhegan catcher Sam Gray said. “Three pitches, three outs.

The Eagles only had a pair of three-ball counts against McCarty. Hitchcock went to a full count before striking out in the fourth, then went to another full count in the seventh, drawing a walk with one out. McCarty struck out the next two batters.

BASEBALL

DIRIGO 9, OLD ORCHARD BEACH 3: The top-ranked Cougars (15-2) took advantage of four walks and a hit batter during a six-run first inning and downed the eighth-seeded Seagulls (10-7-1) in a Western Class C quarterfinal at Dixfield.

The rally started with a two-run homer by Tyler Chiasson.

Evan Bujnowski and Connor Rague each had two hits for the Seagulls.