AUBURN — Kaine Hutchins is one of those top-of-the-rotation guys whose arm strength, body language and command improve with repetition.

The way his starts have played out lately, that’s good news for Hutchins and for Dirigo’s aspirations of a third consecutive Class C baseball title.

Hutchins hurled an adventurous four-hitter Monday afternoon — walking seven, striking out six and stranding nine St. Dom’s base runners — in a 3-1 Cougars win with customary regional playoff implications for both teams.

“I still like to walk people and work my way out of jams,” Hutchins said. “I’ve thrown 129 pitches the past two games. That’s not good for my arm, but if I throw 129 pitches and we get the win, that’s what I care about.”

The junior right-hander benefited from timely hitting that didn’t materialize in his previous start, a 5-1 loss to Monmouth.

Gavin Arsenault’s RBI triple and Tyler Frost’s subsequent single provided a 2-1 lead in the top of the third inning. Brian Volkernick belted an RBI double in the sixth.

And for all his missed-it-by-that-much misfortune early, Hutchins did retire the side in order three times, retiring eight consecutive Saints from the fourth through sixth frames.

After issuing a leadoff walk to Caleb Dostie in the seventh, Hutchins coaxed a Mike Richard comebacker and Mitch Lorenz flyout before striking out Mike Bryant looking to end it.

“I talked to him before the game and said I wanted to see the Kaine Hutchins of old, the guy that gets on the mound and owns it,” Dirigo coach Ryan Palmer said. “There’s a difference between control and command, and he had the command today when he needed it.”

On the heels of losing two out of three in a four-day stretch, Dirigo (11-3) avenged a 4-3 Patriots Day loss to the Saints and significantly narrowed the Heal Point cavern between itself and No. 2 St. Dom’s (11-2). Monmouth now has the inside track to the top seed in the Class C West playoffs.

Bryant’s RBI single in the first inning was the offensive highlight for the Saints, who left seven aboard in scoring position.

“You don’t want to get beat when you can only put one guy across the plate. Especially when you get one in the first, you don’t expect to get shut down after that,” St. Dom’s coach Bob Blackman said. “We expect a close game when these two teams play each other, and they got the best of us today.”

Hutchins walked Ryan Harvey and Andrew Marcous to load the bases after Bryant’s base hit in the first. Shortstop Mitch Kubesh snared Ray Mosca’s line drive at his shoetops to prevent further damage.

Gus Brown drew a one-out walk in the third to set up Arsenault’s game-tying rope to the right field wall. Frost lined Bryant’s next pitch to left field for the second of his three hits.

“A couple of kids came out of slumps today in big situations,” Hutchins said.

One such resurgence was that of senior left fielder Volkernick, whose second hit of the day saved the Cougars from a brutal goose egg in the sixth.

Gavin Hebert’s walk and Nick Hall’s hit-and-run single placed runners at the corners with none out.

Kubesh popped out behind the plate. Then on Hall’s subsequent steal of second, St. Dom’s reliever Lorenz intercepted catcher Justin Keaney’s throw and picked off pinch runner Vincent Hebert at third.

“We were going to actually do a squeeze, but it didn’t work out,” Volkernick said. “I’ve been in a slump, so I just went back to fundamentals.”

Volkernick fouled off one 0-2 pitch before his double deep to left. Hall eased home with crucial insurance.

“We’ve been struggling the past few games,” Palmer said. “We needed to find ourselves, and we did today. Guys that have been struggling with the bats really came through.”

Hutchins gave up a leadoff infield single to Mike Richard in the second, firing late and wide to the bag after a bare-handed stab. He later walked Bryant and Marcous to load the bases before catching Mosca’s pop-up to squirm away unscathed.

In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Dillon Pratt, a Dostie single and a wild pitch put Hutchins in jeopardy. He pulled the Houdini with a strikeout of Lorenz.

Only one Saint reached base thereafter.

“I pitch better when I sweat and my whole body’s loose,” Hutchins said. “I wasn’t stiff. I was relaxed pitching, and that helped me find the strike zone a little bit better.”

Three St. Dom’s pitchers — Bryant, Mosca and Lorenz — combined to allow seven hits while striking out six and walking six.

The Saints bid farewell to a six-game winning streak.

“We had his pitch count right where we wanted it. That’s back-to-back games for him,” Blackman said of Hutchins. “We stranded a lot of guys and couldn’t get the key hit, and they got into a couple.”

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