The brisk temperature may have suggested otherwise but the schedule said it was opening day. Cape Elizabeth High pitcher Tricia Thibodeau and the fielders behind her looked like they’re already in midseason form.

The Capers opened up the 2009 softball season with a 7-0 home win over Falmouth (0-1) on April 16 at Capano Field. Thibodeau struck out 12 and allowed only four hits in the shutout effort. She also clubbed a three-run double to right field and scored on Grace Stack’s single in the bottom of the sixth when Cape (1-0) scored six runs to turn a nail-biter into a rout.

“I’m pleased with the way the kids were swinging the bat,” said Cape coach Joe Henrikson. “We just couldn’t put it together until the end.”

The Capers managed seven hits through the first five innings, but their only run came in the fourth when Ally Boyington (pinch running for Stack, who reached on a single) stole second, advanced to third on Gabe Donahue’s deep sacrifice fly, and scored on Emily Donovan’s sharp infield single.

Thibodeau was perfect through three innings. She walked the leadoff batter in the fourth, when she also surrendered a two-out infield hit. She worked a 1-2-3 fifth, but ran into trouble in the top of the sixth after striking out the first two batters. She issued a walk to Kelsey Freedman. Sarah Collmus followed by lacing a double down the third-base line. Freedman advanced to third, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position for the Yachtsmen. But Thibodeau induced a popup from Brittany Harrison to escape the jam.

The Cape defense was solid throughout, not only going errorless but also making several nice plays to help out Thibodeau. The performance was especially impressive, given the dry and uneven dirt in the infield.

“The field is like a sandbox,” Henrikson said. “It was tough conditions. Pitching and defense is the key, then we’ll scratch for a run here and there and try to put it together. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Henrikson said Thibodeau, who throws close to 60 miles per hour, has added some velocity since last season and is even more confident this season than she was a year ago when the Capers went 17-2 and finished as Western Maine Class B runners-up.

“She’s definitely improved,” Henrikson said. “She works hard. A lot of these girls work year round and it shows.”

While Thibodeau may have felt some opening day jitters and noticed the chill in the air, she didn’t let it show on the mound.

“I was definitely a little tight throughout the game, but I felt good pitching because we’d had some scrimmages,” she said. “I just tried to stay relaxed and positive and it worked out.”

At the plate, Thibodeau hit a deep fly ball to left in the first inning, got caught looking at a called third strike on a change-up from Collmus in the third, singled in the fifth and put the game away with her double in the sixth that scored Abby Flynn, Lauren Nicholson and Emmy Ham to make it 6-0.

“They had a good pitcher and it took me a little while to get used to her,” Thibodeau said. “I finally got the pitch I wanted and drove it.”

Delaney Rockwell led off the sixth with a single. Donahue and Donovan reached on errors, and a walk to Flynn scored Rockwell. After a force out at the plate, Donovan scored on Ham’s single. Colleen Martin flew out to right for the second out before Thibodeau cleared the bases.

The Capers sent 10 batters to the plate in their half of the sixth, which lasted 30 minutes. The Yachtsmen doubled their hit total for the game with a pair of singles in the seventh.

“Seventh inning, we had that long break in between, so I had to kind of get back into it,” Thibodeau said. “I just hammered down and tried to throw strikes.”

Martin, Thibodeau, Stack and Donovan each had two hits for Cape, which had 11 hits overall and had seven different players score a run.

After having school vacation week off, the Capers are slated to return to action on Monday at 4 p.m. at Poland.

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