LACONIA, N.H. — Newmarket High senior pitcher Josh Mastin handled his NHIAA Division IV baseball semifinal against Woodsville on Tuesday night like he was trying to beat the rain. Which he did.

Starting 45 minutes later than scheduled because of a lengthy opening game, Mastin stifled the top-ranked Engineers with a one-hit shutout, 8-0, at Robbie Mills Field.

Mastin struck out five, walked two and showed little weakness in knocking Woodsville (17-1) off its previously perfect perch.

The Mules (17-2) will meet No. 2 Pittsfield in Saturday morning’s state championship game at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester. The Panthers ousted No. 3 Sunapee, 4-3, in an 11-inning lidlifter.

“We’ve been good all playoffs,” Mastin said. “We just have been doing what we do. I’ve been pitching, the defense has been backing me up and we’ve been hitting. We’re making the runs happening.”

The Engineers never mounted much resistance after Newmarket poured five runs on sophomore starting pitcher Brendan Walker in the top of the second inning. Zach Moore relieved and threw the last 5⅓ frames, recording four strikeouts with two walks.

“We got down early, and you can’t take anything away from them: They hit the ball well,” Woodsville coach Brent Cox said. “They had that one big inning when they scored five, and that set the tone early on.”

Newmarket sent 10 batters to the plate in the second inning.

Fred Holmes started by doubling to the right-field corner, scoring two batters later when Keenan Mills beat out a topper in front of the plate. Four straight singles produced three more runs, and Carter Bousquin — the ninth batter of the frame — delivered a two-out single for the 5-0 cushion.

Cox pulled Walker in favor of Moore at that point, but the damage had been done.

“That definitely gives you a little breathing room, gets guys to relax,” Newmarket coach Stan Jurkoic said. “Guys put the bat on the ball after the first inning. It was nice to see some guys square some up and put some runs up.”

The Mules nicked Moore for two runs in the fifth as Holmes tripled home Lucas Russell and later scored on a wild pitch. Bousquin doubled home Russell for Newmarket’s final run in the seventh.

Mastin showed a little humanity in the Woodsville seventh, walking the first two Engineers he saw and getting behind cleanup hitter Billy Green. With weather radar showing incoming showers, the Newmarket senior buckled down and got the final three outs in order for the victory.

“It’s definitely not acceptable that we didn’t win the championship, but I’m super proud of them,” Cox said. “They had a wonderful season.”

Woodsville was trying to make its way to a state baseball final for the first time since claiming the NHIAA Class S crown in 1977. The Engineers lose three seniors: Green, Moore and Donny Bowman.

Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.