PARIS — As muddied as the Class A softball waters have been this season, Oxford Hills knew it couldn’t let Messalonskee hang around long.

After scoring on one error in the fourth inning to snag a one-run lead, the Vikings went on a tear in the fifth, converting four hits, three errors and a hit batter into five more runs to break the game open. They finished the onslaught in the sixth with another eight, running away with a 15-3 win over the Eagles at the Gouin Athletic Complex on Wednesday in the teams’ Eastern Class A quarterfinal.

“We held together until the fifth inning,” Messalonskee coach Leo Bouchard said. “We didn’t play our ‘A’ game today at all … That fifth inning was just … the wheels came off and we didn’t play our best.”

Oxford Hills (13-4) struggled at the plate in the first four innings, managing just three hits against Messalonskee starter Kassi Michaud. Both runs the Vikings plated to that point were unearned.

Annika Kahkonen changed that in a hurry, belting a double on a 2-1 count to open the fifth. Crystal West singled, Anna Winslow reached on an error and Shannon Fillebrown was hit by a pitch trying to bunt, all before the eagles could record an out. When they did, Myriah Lausier executed a sacrifice to score a run. Two singles, a fielder’s choice and a walk later, the Vikings had stretched their lead to 7-1.

“We kind of got a little help from their catcher on some of those throws,” Goddard said. “Then they started hitting, so that was good on our part.”

Undaunted, the Eagles (11-6) started to come back in the top of the sixth. They mustered two runs on two hits but left the bases loaded as West induced a fielder’s choice groundout to shortstop Erin Morton.

“We’ve been down before and we’ve come back,” Bouchard said. “They never gave up.”

“They did start to creep back,” Goddard said, “so it was good that we got a few runs.”

Not wanting to take any chances, Oxford Hills came out swinging again in the bottom of the sixth. Eight of the team’s nine hitters in the sixth crossed the plate on five more hits, two errors and a walk. West collected two hits in the inning and finished with three on the afternoon. Kayleigh Knox led all hitters with four hits, while Morton added three more for the Vikings.

Things started well for the visitors from Messalonskee. Kylee Knight singled to open the game and raced all the way around to score on a sacrifice bunt after an errant throw to third.

The Vikings answered in the home half of the first as Anna Winslow belted a triple deep to left-center. The throw into third base came late, and skipped into the dugout, allowing Winslow to trot home.

“They scored a run, we made a bad mistake,” Goddard said. “For Winslow to come through with that triple and run, that was big. It was like, ‘Phew, we’re at least even up now.'”

Lausier singled in the fourth for the Vikings. Pinch runner Payson Priola advanced to third on a Knox single, and scored after a throw from Messalonskee’s catcher on a ball in the dirt eluded the third baseman.

Oxford Hills advances to the Eastern Class A semifinals, where it will face the winner of Cony and Hampden Academy. That matchup is tentatively slated for Saturday.

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