Through the first two rounds of the 5A Division I state baseball tournament, Chandler Hamilton had been defined by its ability to score in bunches.

Mesa Mountain View, meanwhile, was known for its late-inning rallies.

Each team played true to form Saturday in a third-round matchup that had fans of both schools alternating cheers and groans until the final out was recorded.

In the end, a five-run deficit with just six outs to work with proved too much for the Toros, and the Huskies sent the tournament’s top seed to the loser’s bracket with a 10-8 victory at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

No. 4 Hamilton (24-8) is in the semifinals for the fifth time in six years and is off until 4 p.m. Thursday when it will be back at Diablo to face either Mountain View or No. 8 Scottsdale Desert Mountain.

The Toros (26-5), who defeated the Wolves 5-4 in an 11-inning classic last Tuesday, will play Desert Mountain at 6 p.m. this Tuesday in an elimination game at Diablo.

Hamilton has now scored at least 10 runs in each of its three state games and in six of its past eight games overall. The Huskies’ balanced attack Saturday was led by catcher Jake Saylor, who was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, including the game winner, which came via a 410-foot double in the fifth that scored two.

“I thought a fastball was coming and I guessed right,” Saylor said. “I can’t hit it any farther than that.”

Every Hamilton starter reached base at least once, eight had at least one hit and seven scored a run.

“That’s the best hitting lineup in the state easily,” Mountain View coach Mike Thiel said.

The Huskies used an unconventional approach for them to produce many of their runs.

“We played a little small ball, which usually isn’t our game,” coach Mike Woods said. “We’re usually a grip-it-andrip-it team.”

Hamilton employed the hitand-run three times, stole five bases, had two bunt singles (one was intended to be a suicide squeeze) and scored their final run on a sacrifice fly.

“I just wanted to keep putting runs on the board,” Woods said.

“You can’t just sit back with a team like Mountain View. You’ve got to put some pressure on them.”

The Huskies got off to a quick start, jumping ahead 4-0 with all those runs coming in the second inning. Their lead was short-lived, though, as Toros first baseman Nic Nedrow started a started three-run third with a two-run triple and completed a two-run fourth with an RBI double, which gave his team a 5-4 advantage.

Hamilton responded in the fifth, turning three singles, two doubles and a hit batter into five runs. It added an insurance run in the sixth, extending its advantage to 10-5.

“They’re a good hitting team. We knew we had to put it out of reach,” said Huskies left fielder Tyler Kem, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

But the game wasn’t out of reach until the final out.

A two-run single by shortstop Russ Tuemmler (3-for-3, three RBIs) highlighted a three-run sixth for the Toros that cut the margin to two, and in the bottom of the seventh, Mountain View brought the tying run to the plate with two outs. The threat ended when reliever Cory Bernard got Matt Shannon to ground out to second.

Shannon (9-1), the Toros’ starting pitcher, lost for the first time this season after giving up nine runs on 14 hits in 4 1/3 innings. Hamilton’s Matt Helm, who allowed six runs in five innings, picked up the win.