SACO — It could scarcely have been described as “spotless.” In fact, you might say that it was downright dirty.
But to Thornton Academy, Saturday’s 7-6 SMAA baseball win over arch rival Biddeford was as pretty as a picture. Despite committing five errors, the Golden Trojans (4-4-1) received enough timely hitting to make up for all those miscues.
It was Thornton’s three-spot in the bottom of the sixth that provided the winning margin.
“That was one of the ugliest games I’ve ever seen,” said Thornton coach Greg Paradis. “But at this point, beggars can’t be choosers.”
The Tigers (4-5) added their share of folly to the mix, having made three errors while failing to hold a late two run lead.
“You can’t give them extra outs,” said Biddeford coach Casey Roy, “and expect to come out on top at the end of the game. That’s a lot with two evenly matched teams to try to overcome.”
The Tigers benefited from some extra outs handed to them by Thornton, themselves.
Biddeford scored a pair of unearned runs in the top of the third to knot the score, 2-2.
Thornton regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third, only to cough it up when the Tigers scored four times in the top of the fifth.
Nate Cadorette swatted a two-run double to make it 4-3 for Biddeford, then was followed by Travis Vigneault’s two-run single, which made it 6-4.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys,” said Paradis. “So we knew we could have a few of those ”˜blow up’ innings.”
Biddeford endured one such self-destructive stanza, too, when the Trojans scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Pinch hitter Max Dube started it off with a slap-single to center field.
A fielder’s choice by Max O’Neil, and infield singles by Alex Jacques and Chris Stasio kept the Thornton rally going.
Sam Canales (fielder’s choice) and Steve Trask (wind-blown pop-up single) pushed across the tying and go-ahead runs.
“The key hit was the one (Dube’s) that led off the inning,” said Paradis. “That set the tone. If he doesn’t get that hit, we probably lose the game.”
Trojans hurler Keegan Sullivan retired the final six hitters he faced to nail down the win.
“It was a sloppy game,” said Roy. “They were just the least sloppy team.”
— Contact Dan Hickling at 282-1535 ext. 318 or dhickling@gwi.net.
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