LEWISTON — What was a bit of a struggle Sunday, Corbin Hyde made look pretty easy.

The Pastime pitcher gave his team a splendid start as his club advanced to Monday’s Zone III championship game. Hyde blanked Rogers Post for much of its semifinal as Pastime built an early lead and held on for a 7-3 victory.

“Corbin is a great competitor,” said Pastime coach Dave Jordan. “He’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever coached. Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can go out there and give you his best effort on a bad day. And on a bad day for him is still real effective.”

Pastime (15-4) will play at top-seeded Windham (16-3) Monday at 4:30. Pastime beat Windham in a doubleheader sweep in the regular season. Windham beat Locke Mills 4-1 in Sunday’s semifinal game.

“I’m excited for the boys to have an opportunity to go down and play for a zone championship,” said Jordan. “We’ll see what happens.”

Hyde pitched seven innings and struck out eight while allowing just one hit. He walked only two.

“After the last start I had, I felt pretty good,” said Hyde. “Coming in, I was expecting to throw pretty well, but today, I couldn’t really find my motion. It was a little bit of a battle on the mound.”

Hyde had thrown in relief on Thursday and still felt the effects of that appearance. Though he knew it was going to be a grind, he gutted it out.

“My arm was pretty tight,” Hyde said. “I think it was throwing two days ago. It was a little tight and my legs were a little sore. I couldn’t really find my motion, but I still battled.”

Hyde looked pretty comfortable on the mound and gave Rogers (12-8) little to work with. John Simpson singled in the first inning. Brian Crane walked two batters later and that was the most significant threat Rogers could mount against Hyde. Nate Blais walked in the sixth. He was the only other base runners Hyde allowed.

“He did settle in more as the game went on, and he became very effective,” Jordan said.

Meanwhile, Pastime was able to build an early lead. Nick Perreault singled and later scored on an error on a Eddie Emerson grounder in the second. Then in the third, Pastime scored five runs on three hits, four walks and an error.

Ryan Riordan and Alex Small each singled in runs. After Riordan scored on an error on an Emerson grounder, Brian Wigant and David Cusson each walked in runs to make it 6-0.

“Anytime you have a lead, it’s nice to know your team is behind you,” Hyde said. “I just let them put the ball in play, and we made the plays. As a pitcher, that’s what you like to see.”

Pastime got some solid infield play with a couple of sparkling outs from Mike Wong at third and Cusson at second.

Hyde made it 7-0 with a double and an error in the sixth.

Hyde left the game after seven innings. Wong came on in relief. Rogers produced two hits and three runs in the eighth to make things interesting. It was a Nate Pushard double that cleared the bases.

“Even being up 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0, we knew we needed to keep getting runs because we know they’re a strong team,” Jordan said. “They do all the little things. They got a big hit and all of a sudden, they’re right back in the game.”

Rogers Post had a hit batter and a single to put runners on with nobody out in the ninth. Luke Cote came on for the save. He struck out a batter and then got a nicely turned double play to finish the game. Cote also had a pair of hits for Pastime.

Mike Hammond pitched well for Rogers. He came on in the third in relief of Simpson and went the rest of the way.

The winner of Monday’s Zone III championship game advances to the state tourney, which will begin Wednesday, July 31. The loser of Monday’s game will play in a play-in game next Saturday for the opportunity to advance to Augusta.

kmills@sunjournal.com