MADISON — In the most critical part of the season, the bats have been a bit quiet for a Skowhegan baseball team that had been cranking out hits and runs earlier in the season.

That didn’t really change Thursday afternoon – but postseason baseball is about surviving and advancing, which the third-seeded River Hawks did with a strong pitching performance, clean defense and just enough offense for a 2-1 win over No. 6 Camden Hills in a Class A North quarterfinal.

Skowhegan’s Noah McMahon (eight strikeouts, four hits allowed) won a duel with Hunter Bell (14 strikeouts, two hits) as the River Hawks (10-7) advanced to a semifinal against No. 2 Messalonskee.

“We didn’t put the ball in play enough, but we escaped with a win, and that’s all that matters,” said Skowhegan Coach Mike LeBlanc. “(Bell) is a fantastic pitcher, and we knew it would be tough. We had those two innings where we got a run, and that’s what we needed.”

Those innings were the third, in which Skowhegan recorded its only two hits, and the fourth, in which the River Hawks took advantage of two errors.

Bell struck out the side in each of the first two innings, then fanned Tyler Clark to begin the third, but the River Hawks then got back-to-back hits from Jack Fitzpatrick and Chance Tibbetts. A wild pitch allowed Fitzpatrick to score all the way from second.

Camden Hills (7-10) tied it in the top of the fourth. Brian Leonard doubled to begin the inning, then scored on a Kai Young single.

Skowhegan, though, went back on top in the bottom half, as a pair of two-base errors cost the Windjammers dearly.

“We just needed to put the ball in play, and we knew that,” McMahon said. “We executed when we had to. There are times when we didn’t, and we have to work on that, but I definitely think we did what we needed to do to get the win today.”

Kai Young of Camden Hills slides safely into second base as Skowhegan’s Jack Fitzpatrick attempts to tag him during a Class A North baseball quarterfinal Thursday in Madison. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel

Bell was perfect the rest of the way, but McMahon was no less efficient for the River Hawks, allowing a lone baserunner over the final three innings.

After scoring five or more runs nine times over its first 12 games, Skowhegan has failed to do so in each of its last five games. Although the River Hawks have been able to scratch out hits here or there, top-to-bottom steadiness has been missing during the stretch run.

“I think we just need more consistency throughout the lineup,” LeBlanc said. “We’ve had games where the lower part of the order has done well, games where the middle has done well, and games where it’s been the leadoff, but we just haven’t put a full game together at all. Hopefully, we will Saturday.”

It will be a rubber match between Messalonskee and Skowhegan, which split two games during the regular season. The River Hawks pounded the Eagles 14-1 on April 22, but Messalonskee won 5-3 in nine innings in the regular-season finale.

“I think it’s going to be a great game,” McMahon said. “I think it’s going to be that whoever has their head on right wins the game. It’s going to take a lot of executing and doing what we have to do.”