South Portland 7

Bonny Eagle 5

A six-run third inning provided all the offense the South Portland baseball team needed to earn a 7-5 win over Bonny Eagle on Tuesday in Standish. Mark Kennedy had a bases-loaded single for the Riots in that pivotal third inning.

“We’re in every game,” said Bonny Eagle coach Mike Connolly. “We hang around. But we can’t seem to hang around with a lead. We’re always down one or two. We just can’t pick up those extra runs.”

The Scots took the early lead with a run in the bottom of the first. Kevin McDonough walked to lead off the game and Nate Jewell was hit by a pitch to give the Scots two base runners with nobody out. Ricky Hoyt stroked a double that scored McDonough before South Portland starter Josh Garneau settled down and struck out three straight batters to end the inning.

In the South Portland half of the second, Bonny Eagle starter Ben Goff also pitched his way out of a jam. Goff walked Will Furbush and Tyler Kelly to start the inning. Matt Findlay then singled to load the bases with no outs. Goff got Josh Mackie to pop out to first. James Boudreau then hit a grounder back to the mound. Goff threw home to get one out and catcher Travis Dunn threw to first for the double play to preserve the lead.

In the third, Montana Colby doubled to get South Portland started. John Carey drove in Colby to tie the game. With Garneau at the plate, Carey stole second and reached third on an error. Garneau then hit the ball to the outfield, scoring Carey with a sacrifice fly giving the Riots a 2-1 lead.

With two outs, the Red Riots kept circling the bases. Furbush doubled and Kelly drove him in. Kelly was given second base on a balk, which led to Matt Findlay’s RBI single. Findlay took second on the throw to the plate. Mackie and Boudreau worked consecutive walks to load the bases and Connolly made the move to his bullpen. Senior Ryan Walker was brought in to stop the bleeding.

“Ryan really bounced back very well,” Connolly said. “He had a tough outing on Saturday (against Gorham). He couldn’t find the strike zone. Today he came in in a pressure situation and managed to work his way out of it. He’s such a competitor. He pitches with an edge. He wants to strike out every batter and win every game.”

Kennedy slapped a single to right field that scored two runs. Boudreau tried to score from first, but was gunned down at the plate. When the dust cleared, however, the Red Riots held a 6-1 advantage.

The Scots answered with some runs in their next at-bat. McDonough was hit by a pitch to start the inning. He stole second with Jewell at the plate. Jewell singled and suddenly the Scots had runners at the corners with no one out. Hoyt walked to load the bases. Casey McKague walked scoring McDonough from third. Dunn grounded out to third, but Jewell scored on the play and the runners moved up. Scott Lyon then grounded out to short and Hoyt scored making it a 6-4 game.

“Garneau didn’t have it today,” said South Portland coach Tony DiBiase. “He’s supposed to be our number one but he didn’t have it today or Bonny Eagle was on him. Whatever it was, he just didn’t pitch well. I’ve seen him pitch better than that so I don’t know what happened.”

In the fourth, the Scots again chipped away at the Riots’ lead. Jake Durgin worked a walk to start the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. (That was the end of the day for Garneau.) Chris Gorham came in to relieve Garneau and hit Richie Harvey with a pitch. The Scots had first and second with no one out. Jewell came to the plate and ripped an RBI single to make it a one run game. With two outs in the inning, Jewell stole second to set up a potential go ahead base hit. But Gorham got McKague swinging to end the threat.

“We were really happy with our reliever Chris Gorham,” said DiBiase. “He’s a sophomore and we’ve been trying to bring him along slowly. I thought he pitched well. I think that was the difference, Gorham threw strikes, Garneau couldn’t find the plate.”

The score remained the same until South Portland tacked on another run in the seventh to make it a 7-5 game. Gorham finished the Scots by getting three straight groundballs to the shortstop.

“That’s our second two-run game,” said Connolly. “I don’t think we know how to get over that hump. We haven’t learned how to close out the deal this year. It was probably the best performance of the team kind of coming together today. We need to get that first win over with. You can’t sit here and keep losing the close ones waiting for the next one.”

The Scots fall to 0-4 with the loss. They were scheduled to host Portland on Thursday.