Windham jumped out to an early three-run lead over Bonny Eagle and held on for a 4-2 win in SMAA baseball action Saturday.
Eagles’ pitcher Jordan Scanlon made sure the three runs in the first inning would hold up by not allowing a single hit until the fifth inning.
“Jordan was great,” said Windham coach Scott Fennessy. “He threw a complete game and he kept guys off balance all day.”
Starting pitcher Casey McKague retired the first two batters for the Scots, but when he gave up a walk to Nate Johnson, the Eagles had their first base runner of the game. Derek Hanrahan then ripped a double to left, and consecutive RBI singles by Josh Sundquist, Andy Shute and Nick Derice gave Windham all the runs they would need.
“We need to be better prepared to play,” said Bonny Eagle coach Mike Connolly.” We had some bad breaks at the start, but we need to be more focused and ready.”
From there Scanlon took over. In the bottom of the first he retired the side in order, striking out two. In the second, he sat down the first two batters before surrendering a walk to Kevin McDonough, but was able to get out of the inning without any damage. The Scots went down in order again in the third.
“We got a lot of ground balls early,” said Scanlon. “My curve was catching guys off guard.”
In the fourth Scanlon pitched himself in and out of trouble by hitting the first batter he faced. After a fielder’s choice and a walk, Bonny Eagle was threatening with two on and one out, but Scanlon and the Windham defense were able to bear down and get out of the jam.
“We fielded well and didn’t make many errors,” said Scanlon.
After four innings Windham was in control, leading 4-0, and Scanlon had yet to give up a hit, but the Scots were beginning to show more patience at the plate.
In the bottom of the fifth Bonny Eagle finally broke through with a double by McKague to lead off the inning. Scanlon walked the next batter, but a double play and a pop up ended any chance the Scots had of scoring.
On the other side, after the first inning, McKague settled down and pitched near shutout ball allowing just the one run in the second but none down the stretch to keep his team alive.
“We could have hit better early in the game,” said McKague. “We just need to improve and show more patience at the plate.”
Bonny Eagle finally got on the board in the sixth when Nate Jewell singled and Ben Goff walked. Brett Garland hit into a fielder’s choice leaving runners at the corners. Randy Ruginski flied out and it looked like Scanlon might escape again, but McDonough had other ideas.
He ripped an RBI single through the infield and the Scots had runners on the corners again. This led to another RBI when McKague reached on an error to cut the deficit in half. The Eagles were able to pick off a runner for the final out.
“We needed this win,” said Scanlon. “We really came together and this should project us into the season.”
With the win Windham improves to 1-1.
“We need this to turn us around and get something positive to build on,” said Fennessy.
The Scots fall to 0-2 on the year following the loss, but are still looking forward to the rest of the schedule.
“I think we’re a good team,” said McKague. “We’re better than people think we are.”
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