SACO — Even after Thornton Academy squandered most of its 7-1 lead, Coach Jason Lariviere was confident his Golden Trojans would find a way to win.

Thornton (13-2) entered Saturday afternoon’s game against Biddeford (8-7) as the No. 2 seed in Class A South and built a six-run lead through five innings. Then the Trojans held off the pesky Tigers for an 8-5 win.

“It’s a different feeling with this year’s team,” Lariviere said. “I just feel like these kids are going to come through each game. We don’t really get nervous because we have a lot of confidence in what we can do.”

Cam Seymour and Luke Chessie provided much of the Trojans’ confidence against Biddeford. After the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the sixth to cut the margin to 7-5, Seymour blasted a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth.

Seymour also hit a two-run single during a three-run fourth. Chessie sparked the offense at the top of the order with two hits and two runs scored, but Lariviere was quick to praise the overall team effort, rather than focus on just his two stars.

“They work hard, and I can tell you it’s a team effort,” Lariviere said. “It’s a tough lineup to get through when we’re hitting well.”

The Tigers started to cut into their deficit in the fifth inning on Ashton Crowell’s RBI single. In the sixth, Matt Rouselle drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Patrick Sawyer, who came in for starter Ryan Penney. Crowell followed with a two-run single to make it 7-5.

Nicholas Griffin replaced Sawyer with two outs and got Nick Lyons to chase a breaking ball out of the strike zone.

“The kids have hung tough all year,” said Biddeford Coach Keith Leblanc. “We haven’t hit particularly well, but we’ve been in a lot of close games. The defense has kind of carried us all year long, but it was a good job of the guys just kind of chipping away.”

Crowell finished with three RBI and Rousselle went 3 for 3 with a double to lead the Biddeford offense.

Biddeford took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Kurtis Edgerton scored on an error, but Penney settled down and pitched five strong innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out three.

With the win, Thornton moved closer to securing a top-two seed for the Class A South tournament, which would mean the Trojans wouldn’t have to play away from home until the regional final.

Lariviere knows what lies ahead – a daunting playoff run in an extremely competitive region. But he’s confident his team will be ready to go once the playoffs arrive.

“We’ve been hitting the ball really well, playing good defense, and I think we did a good job of that today,” he said. “It’s always nice to get a win against Biddeford.”