Softball: Windham skunks Gorham by double-digits in six

GORHAM—The visiting Eagles put up 17 runs while holding Gorham complete scoreless on Thursday afternoon, May 9. Windham started hot and only gained steam as the innings elapsed, recording one in the first, three in the third, five in the fourth and eight in the sixth to run-rule their hosts on 14 total hits (and zero errors).

“Total team effort,” Windham head coach Fred Wilcox said. “The girls really buckled down and started seeing the ball, hitting the ball well.”

“They have a lot of good hitters, and they’re very disciplined,” Gorham head coach Renee Whipkey said of Windham. “Us not putting any pressure on them, offensively – that kind of allowed them to be a little bit looser at the plate.”

Chloe Wilcox opened the game for the Eagles in style, rocketing a ball deep into center, where it bounced off the wall midway up. Wilcox zipped around all four bases, turning the contact into an inside-the-park homerun. Still, it was the only notch Windham picked up in the early going.

“At the beginning of the game,” Coach Wilcox said, “their pitcher was hitting some good spots. She was keeping us off-balance…Our hitters were watching third strikes a little bit. Gorham did a really good job of that early, and then they just went away from it a little bit.”

Windham’s best inning came was the sixth, but their flashiest perhaps was the fourth, when Erin Elder got all of – absolutely all of – a ball, sending it sailing out of the park over the center-left wall. But back up a few batters, because a trio of Elder’s teammates had already flooded the bases: Shyler Fielding singled, and Whitney Wilson and Chloe Wilcox both walked on to load the diamond. That mean’s Elder’s long homer wasn’t just a long homer – it was a grand-slam.

Gorham did generate a few offensive opportunities. Molly Murray singled in the bottom of the fourth, nimbly beating out a 6-3 attempt to catch her at first. She eventually arrived at third on a sac by Morgan Roast, but she never made it home. Roast and Emma Shields recorded the Rams’ other two hits on the day, and Lydia Gaudreau stole a base for them.

“We’ve swung the bats well for many games,” Whipkey said. “But Windham’s pitcher had a great change-up that was getting a lot of our girls.”

“Whitney’s pitching really, really well right now,” Coach Wilcox said of Wilson, who started in the circle for the team. “That keeps our team in the game lot. Gives us a chance to get our offense going…And when you’ve got a pitcher who can throw the ball the way Whitney does, defense doesn’t get a lot of work. But they make the plays when they have to.”

Wilson walked only three and struck out 11. Meanwhile, Rams Riley Grant and Ambrosia Moore – two freshmen on an overall-young squad – combined to walk seven and strike out seven, with Moore recording six of those Ks. Each girl suffered seven earned runs.

Wilson finished the day with three runs. Chloe Wilcox went 4-4 with four runs and three RBIs, Erin Elder 3-4 with three runs and seven RBIs, Ellie Wilson 1-4 with a run and two RBIs; Sarah Elder 1-3 with a run and an RBI, Callie Fielding 2-4 with a run and three RBIs, Brooke Phillips 1-3 with two runs, Shyler Fielding 1-4 with a run and an RBI and Kayla Gorman 1-3 with a run.

Coach Wilcox highlighted several of his girls. “Ellie Wilson hits the ball – she’s a freshman, hitting the ball really well, bringing some runs in for us. Our subs, Lily Beaton and Ellen Files, they come in, get base hits that move runners along – so they’re doing a great job. Obviously our big hitters, Erin Elder with her grand-slam today and Chloe going 4-4. And Callie Fielding. Bases loaded, hit a shot up the middle. Line drive, cleared the bases on a two-strike count. Callie’s been hitting the ball really hard, and she’s starting to bring her bat around. Right now this team’s hitting the ball really well.”

The win bumped No. 3 Windham to 7-2 on the spring; the Eagles started their schedule a bit slow, with two losses – although their first defeat came only narrowly, 5-3, and it came against Thornton, currently No. 1 at 11-0. Their second defeat came by a hair’s breadth as well, 8-7 to Bonny Eagle. Since then, Windham has outscored their opposition (Biddeford, Westbrook, Deering, Cheverus/North Yarmouth, Falmouth, Marshwood and now Gorham) 95-11.

The Eagles were slated to host Kennebunk on Friday the 10th, but that matchup did not go off as planned. They travel to Noble on Monday the 13th.

The Rams, meanwhile, slipped to 3-7. Gorham currently ranks ninth in A South; the team was supposed to travel to Biddeford on the 10th, but the weather nixed that. They host Deering on the 13th.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME.