Generally, a No. 11 seed beating a No. 6 seed in the playoffs would be considered an upset. Not this year. Not in the very balanced Southern Maine Activities Association in baseball.

That parity was on display Tuesday at Hadlock Field where No. 11 Windham downed No. 6 Portland 6-1 behind the five-hit pitching of senior Spencer Hodge.

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It’s a time for celebration as Andrew Whiting, left, Tyler Johnson and Josh Dugas of Windham revel in a 6-1 win over Portland in the Western Class A prelims in baseball Tuesday afternoon at Hadlock Field. Windham, which beat Portland 11-2 during the regular season, plays Biddeford on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Tim Greenway/Staff Photographer

Jacob Knop of Portland slides back to first base before being tagged in Tuesday’s game against Windham. Portland ended its season 10-7.

The Eagles (8-9) advanced to Thursday’s Western Class A quarterfinals against No. 3 Biddeford.

“This is as wide open a league as it’s ever been and we have as good a chance as anyone,” said Windham Coach Brody Artes.

Having beaten Portland 11-2 during the regular season, Windham’s confidence was high. With their ace on the mound, the Eagles in fact probably considered themselves the higher seed. Windham broke out quickly against Portland (10-7), scoring a run in the first, another in the second and two more in the third.

“Spencer pitched a heck of a game,” said Artes. “Spencer has a great curveball, and when it’s on, he’s very tough. He did a great job spotting that pitch and he had some good zip on his fastball.”

During basketball season, Hodge missed the second half of the season with a sprained right ankle and a broken bone in his foot.

Those injures have not had any impact on him during the baseball season.

“I knew I had to be consistent with all my pitches to keep us in the game, ” said Hodge. “I was getting the first pitch fastball in for a strike and really hitting my spots. We’re confident we can beat any team. The playoffs are wide open.”

Portland starter Travis Godbout struggled with his control.

Zach Conley led off with a single to right, moved to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Andrew Whiting’s sacrifice bunt and scored on another wild pitch.

The Eagles threatened to break it open in the second inning as they loaded the bases with no outs, but scored only once.

Josh Dugas singled home Ethan Petty to make it 2-0. Godbout got the first out on a strikeout and then his infielders turned a 6-4-3 double play.

Petty’s two-run double made it 4-0 in the third.

Hodge retired the Bulldogs in order in the bottom of the third, but Portland scored in the fourth on an RBI single by Evan Gallant.

The Bulldogs had a chance to creep closer the next inning as they put runners on second and third with one out and had the bases loaded with two outs. Hodge got the last two outs on fly balls to Whiting in center, who later made back-to-back fielding gems to end the game two innings later.

“We didn’t get a lot of guys on base to put any pressure on until the fifth inning,” said Portland Coach Tony DiBiase. “If we could have come through with a hit when we had runners on second and third, it would have been 4-3 and maybe a different game.

“The Hodge kid bore down and got hitters in the middle of our order. That was the turning point. We got only five hits and they hit the ball. Give Windham credit. They played well.”

In the seventh, the first two Bulldogs reached on a walk and a hit. Dan Kane hit a sharp liner, but Whiting sprinted to make a diving catch to save extra bases.

The next batter hit a liner to center that Whiting caught and threw to second for a game-ending double play.

“Andrew has been solid for us all year,” said Artes. “He’s made some game saving plays.”

Portland struggled with its offense all season. It had good pitching and defense for the most part. It won 10 games despite not having a hitter bat .300.

“We did get some timely hits and that’s why we won 10 games,” said DiBiase.

Nick DiPalma relieved with one out in the third and kept the Bulldogs close.

“I thought DiPalma came in and gave us a chance. It’s disappointing to go out like this, but overall we had a good season. The program is strong at the lower levels. We’ll be fine,” DiBiase said.

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