SOUTH PORTLAND — Rain halted play for nearly 45 minutes Thursday afternoon as a thunderstorm blew through Highland Park. When the game resumed, the South Portland Red Riots blew through the Biddeford Tigers baseball team.
South Portland’s bats smacked 11 hits en route to scoring 11 runs and Biddeford headed home on the wrongside of a 11-1 baseball game and its first loss of the season.
“We just came out flat today,” Biddeford coach Casey Roy said. “We talked about coming out fired up and we didn’t do that. We’re a good team, but we’re not good enough to come out sluggish and go through the motions and expect to win a baseball game.”
South Portland took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the first when Shawn Shannon laced a single to centerfield that plated two runs for the Red Riots.
Biddeford, however, cut the deficit to 3-1 in the top of the second inning when Nick Gagne hit into a fielder’s choice to third base scoring Pat Wilson.
Wilson got on base when he ripped a long triple into the gap into rightfield for the Tigers’ first hit of the game.
After Biddeford finished the top fo the second, the rain came down and a bolt of lightning lit up the sky sparking a 45-minute delay.
Play resumed and South Portland didn’t stop hitting or scoring.
The Red Riots scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth chasing Biddeford’s starting pitcher and then added another run in the inning as it headed into the top of the third up 6-1.
South Portland’s bats erupted for five more runs in the bottom of the third, effectively putting the game out of reach for the Tigers.
“They (South Portland) hit the ball well today, give them credit,” Roy said. “We’ve got to put this one into our back pockets and get ready for our next game.”
Biddeford plays again Saturday when it hosts Gorham at 11 a.m. The Tigers fell to 2-1. South Portland improved to 2-1.
“We’ve still had a good start,” Roy said. “This was our first loss of the season. We’ll move on and get ready for the next game.”
— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, ext. 323
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