South Portland eked out a win in Scarborough on Thursday evening, lead-off hitter Sam Troiano scoring the game’s lone run – an unearned run at that – in the top of the first. From there, the game devolved into a defensive battle, and while the Storm threatened more than once in the later innings, the Riots managed to hold on for the 1-0 victory.
“Sam Warren did an excellent job for them, and kept us off-balance,” South Portland head coach Mike Owens said of Scarborough’s starter. “Our kids were saying he had good movement and good life on his fast ball, and we couldn’t seem to adjust and get on top of it. He really shut us down; the run [wasn’t even] earned.”
“Offensively, we couldn’t really get anything going,” said Scarborough head coach Ryan Jones. “We hit a lot of balls hard – they were right at guys. There was one inning where we decided to bunt a little bit to put the pressure on the defense; that worked, but we just couldn’t come up with that timely hit. And in baseball, you need that timely hit.”
Troiano – again, the Riots’ very first batter – reached first several pitches in, after Warren clipped him with a ball. He then turned a double steal during Matt Beecher’s at-bat, when the attempt to catch him at second flew wild, ending up in centerfield.
Beecher grounded into a 6-3 first out, but it amounted to a sacrifice play, as Troiano was able to reach home for 1-0. It would be the game’s fateful moment. Perhaps, if the Storm had opted for a 6-2 fielder’s choice try, they could’ve kept Troiano from scoring – but how could they know that, come the bottom of the seventh, that run would still be game’s only run?
They couldn’t, and they made the right choice, going for the easy play at first. And as the game wended toward its conclusion, they did put the Riots in danger more than once. In the bottom of the fifth, Warren knocked a single into left, then reached second on an error.
Two batters later, however, Troiano in centerfield picked off Ian Corey’s deep shot – and whipped a blistering pass all the way to third to also catch Warren out, a beautiful 8-5 double-play and a real treat for spectators.
For Owens, the moment was critical. “Sam’s got a really good arm and made a nice throw,” he said, “and [third baseman] Matt Beecher made a nice play to put the tag on. That was two outs right there, and that really killed that inning.”
Similarly, with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, Stormer Jack Hughes singled into center, then stole second and third both during Zach Carreiro’s at-bat. South Portland pitcher Henry Curran – one of the league’s best – suddenly found himself in trouble. He extricated himself admirably, though, striking out Josh Reed to maintain his team’s defensive composure. Nate Wessel grounded out directly to first to then close the inning.
Curran’s K on Reed was another key moment for Owens. “I think they had first and third, and we got the strikeout,” he said. “Henry wasn’t his best, but when we needed it, he really bared down, and that’s what those top guys do.
“They put great swings on Henry – probably the best any team has all year,” said Owens. “I thought his velocity was good; he just wasn’t great with his location today. They took advantage of some of that.
“But we played well defensively and made the plays we needed to do, and pulled it out in the end. That was a great game from both teams, and well coached by them. It was fun.”
“We just stuck to a game plan of hitting balls hard,” said Jones. “Keep it simple, whatever [Curran] throws: a hard fastball, a good curveball, it doesn’t matter what’s coming, you’ve just got to hit it hard. Put the ball in play and put the pressure on the defense. If we could limit the strikeouts, I knew we had a chance. And I don’t know how many we had, but I think it was under five, which is pretty good.”
Scarborough went down one-two-three to Curran in the bottom of the seventh, closing out a relatively sedate contest and giving Curran the win. Warren takes the loss, though Jones had plenty good to say about his performance regardless.
“[Sam] was very good out there,” he said. “That was his first start, his first full game of the year. You look at Henry Curran, who’s a seasoned pitcher, and Sam Warren, who’s coming off a broken foot for the first time, I mean, I thought he competed right with Henry. Henry threw very well, and so did our guy. Their run was unearned. That was a good game, good to be part of.”
There’s impressive parity in A West this year: The top nine teams, from South Portland all the way down to Deering, having winning records – and winning records that aren’t all that wildly different, in fact. South Portland is now 11-3, while Deering is 9-5.
But perhaps Heal Points and discussions of who-beat-who are better indicators than records of the long-run favorites. If so, then the Riots, with a cool 110.000 tournament index have quite the lead on a team like Deering, at just under 68.
On the other hand, South Portland’s own win over Deering was another one-run affair, a 2-1 result back on May 5, and they actually dropped their matchup with No. 10 Biddeford 4-3 on the 26th. So the Riots are vulnerable – just like everyone else.
Still, a W is a W, and South Portland has shown themselves, against a variety of opponents and even in tight contests, capable of holding on for victory. That poise is a particular sort of toughness that can clearly make all the difference a team needs to close their season on top.
The Storm, who are having far from their best season – were 6-8 after the South Portland loss, they hovered in 14th, one slot ahead of Gorham (5-8) and one back from Massabesic (4-11) – displayed a measure of poise on Thursday night, as they stymied the Riots after the first, and put them in serious danger more than once in the later innings.
South Portland beat Massabesic 2-0 on Saturday and travels to Gorham on Tuesday. Those two squads will be vast underdogs against the No. 1 Riots, but as has become apparent, anything is possible this year.
Scarborough beat Biddeford 4-3 on Saturday bringing their record to 7-8, and visits Thornton on Tuesday. That TA matchup is especially critical for the Storm, as the Trojans (10-3) are currently ranked sixth, and worth big Heal Points and thus a playoffs berth.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Jones of this year’s Storm. “I know we don’t have the record to say that we’ve done what we tried to accomplish from game one, but these kids have worked their tails off for the past four weeks, five weeks. We don’t have the results to show it – but nobody watches us practice everyday; I do.
“If we can compete with Henry Curran…lose to him by one run, I don’t care who any other team throws, we can compete with everybody. Those guys have got to be scared if they play us again; I hope everybody’s scared. I know what we’re capable of – we just haven’t been able to get it done yet. Keep pressing, keep grinding and good things happen.”
“We’ve still got a goal of making the playoffs. If we win maybe one out of the last two, definitely two out of the last two and we’re in.”
South Portland’s Matt Beecher takes a cut at a pitch against visiting Scarborough on Thursday.
Riots ace Henry Curran unwinds into a throw at Scarborough on Thursday.
Josh Reed makes contact for the Red Storm against visiting South Portland on Thursday.
Scarborough shortstop Nick Lorello doesn’t quite get to the bag in time; South Portland runner Henry Curran is just safe on the steal.
Scarborough’s Wyatt Bridgham slipped in the wet dirt attempting to steal on Thursday night – and subsequently got caught out in a pickle, tagged by the Riots’ second baseman.
Covering first, Scarborough pitcher Sam Warren catches out South Portland batter Matt Beecher.
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