GORHAM – If the rest of the league thought that the Red Riots’ 9-8 squeaker against Marshwood last week might be a sign of weakness or fatigue for the South Portland softball team, those hopes were decidedly dashed the next time the Riots took the field.

In an outing that quickly substituted exclamation points for any lingering question marks, the Riots returned to form by slamming the door on Gorham early on May 9, going up 4-0 in the second, and continuing to score in every inning but the fifth for an 11-0 shutout win.

South Portland starting pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich led the way for the Riots as usual, striking out 14 in seven innings pitched, and going 3-for-4 at the plate with two triples and a single.

Even more good news for South Portland fans emerged after the game, as Head Coach Ralph Aceto reported that starting shortstop Danica Gleason, who left the Marshwood game with a reported fracture, might actually have only suffered a severe sprain, which would open up the possibility for her to return as soon as next week.

“Danica is going to get reexamined on Friday,” Aceto said. “We’re hoping that she will get the OK to play. They don’t know (if it’s broken). When she went to the doctor last Friday, they couldn’t tell because it was so swollen. But she feels pretty good, and she is walking a little bit on it. So I am going on the assumption that she will possibly play on Monday. I can’t say enough about Stephanie (McDonough, who is filling in at short), though. She’s one of those kids that every coach wants to have – just ‘whatever you want, coach.’”

The Riots stayed aggressive while running the bases against the Rams all afternoon, and it paid off immediately. In the first inning, Katlin Norton crushed a two-out line drive down the left field line for a double and then took third on a passed ball. She came home when Alexis Bogdanovich hit an RBI single the center to make it 1-0. Bogdanovich finished out the bottom of the inning by throwing two strikeouts and then forcing Gorham’s Caroline Fogarty to ground out to shortstop.

“We couldn’t put enough hits together to break the glass, and get that first run across,” said Gorham Head Coach Dennis Crowe. “That might have helped quite a bit. But that’s an excellent softball club. There’s no shame in losing to that team, but I thought we could have held them down a bit better than 11-0.”

South Portland’s biggest offensive inning against Gorham starter Alex Tracy came in the second, as McDonough led off with a pop single into shallow right, then stole second as Kelsey Morton struck out. The breakthrough moment for the Riots came as Libby Grant was able to work a 0-2 count full and then blast a single to center. McDonough attempted to take home on the play, and would have been out at the plate had Gorham catcher Valencia Jordan not dropped the ball. Later, with two outs and runners at first and second, Erin Bogdanovich knocked a ball to the wall in right center for a triple to make it 4-0.

“I was just ready for a strike, because the pitcher was obviously throwing strikes out there,” Erin Bogdanovich said. “We have gotten used to waiting on pitches from practice – that’s what our coach tells us to do.”

“What was interesting about this team was that we probably called about four changeups, and the ones that were in the zone, they roped to the fence,” Crowe added. “That was the first team I have seen that was that disciplined – to keep their hands back and just rope the ball.”

The Riots made it 5-0 in the third when Alexis Bogdanovich hit her first triple to center, coming home when Amanda Linscott lined a single into left. South Portland didn’t score in the fourth, although Alexis Bogdanovich more than atoned for this by striking out the side.

The Red Riots tacked on two more in the fifth, another pair in the sixth when Norton and Alexis Bogdanovich led off with back-to-back triples, and added their final run in the seventh. All the while, Alexis Bogdanovich kept the Gorham bats cool, fanning two in the fifth, another in the sixth and two more in the seventh when the Rams went down in order.

“She had a few problems out there – she was a little tired,” Aceto said. “I asked her at one point ‘are you going to turn it up?’ and she said ‘I’m tired coach.’ But, I think I’ve said it before, she’s a senior and she knows how to pitch. She can spot her balls, and when she wants to bring it, she’ll bring it, and otherwise she’ll put it where she wants.”

The win marks the start of a critical two-week stretch for the Riots. They’ll face Massabesic and one-loss Thornton Academy prior to contending with undefeated rival Scarborough on May 16, and then travel to Biddeford (a team also with just one loss) just a day later.

“This is the part of the season when we see who is going to get the Heal Points and who isn’t,” Aceto said.

“Scarborough has always been really good, and we have always been really competitive with them,” added Alexis Bogdanovich. “We know that all of those teams (Biddeford, Scarborough and Thornton Academy) are going to be tough, so we’re just going to take it one game at a time, and hope it turns out for the be

South Portland senior starting pitcher Alexis Bogdanovich had big strikeout numbers against Gorham on Monday afternoon, throwing 14 strikeouts and slamming the door on a couple of potential Ram rallies. (Staff photo by Emory Rounds)