GORHAM — Baseball can be a cruel game.

The Biddeford Tigers have learned that the past two times they have played.

After losing a heartbreaker earlier this week to Noble in late innings, the Tigers fell again in the last inning, this time to Gorham, 2-1, on Thursday afternoon.

Biddeford clung to a 1-0 lead against the Rams for five innings, only to see it vanish with the stroke of the bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. Gorham’s Alex Yankowskey ripped the ball toward second base with the bases loaded, invoking an error and plating the tying and winning runs. It gave the Rams their third win of the season.

The untimely miscue came after Biddeford purposely loaded the bases with one out, brought in the infield and hoped for a ground ball. The Tigers got what they wanted, but the bounce didn’t go their way as the Tigers walked off the field watching the Rams celebrate behind home plate.

“It was just one of those games,” Biddeford coach Keith Leblanc said. “It was the ground ball we wanted, but those things just happen. We just need to put it behind us.”

For six innings, Biddeford pitcher Bobby Cote mixed a moving fastball with a sharp curveball, keeping Gorham hitters at bay. He struck out four, walked zero and scattered five singles.

“He was the story of the game up until our last at bat,” Gorham coach Charles Nadeau said. “He really kept our hitters off balance and threw that curveball with confidence during any point and at any count. He’s such a great pitcher and I like to watch him pitch, just not against us.”

Gorham No. 3 hitter Damon Wallace, however, smacked the only extra-base hit of the game when he led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a towering double to left field.

The next batter, Nick Greatorex, reached on a dropped pop fly that put runners on first and third.

Cote then got the next hitter to fly out to second base before Greatorex stole second. Leblanc opted to walk Dylan Turner to load the bases, allowing Biddeford to have a force out at the plate on a ground ball. The strategy worked, but the error allowed two runs to score for the win.

“We are the kind of team that is going to make it hard to beat us,” Nadeau said. “We are going to play hard until the final out.”

Leblanc said he told his team after the game that they can’t blame the loss on the seventh inning’s events.

“It wasn’t just that seventh inning that cost us the game,” he said. “We had our chances to squeak runs across and we didn’t take advantage.”

Biddeford loaded the bases with one out in the first inning after Brady Fleurent ripped a single to left field, but couldn’t score as Elliot Spiers ­”“ who picked up the complete game win ”“ struck out the next batter and finished the inning with a groundout.

The Tigers left 10 runners on base and couldn’t capitalize on four Gorham errors.

Biddeford scored its only run in the second inning when Cory Greenleaf crossed the plate on an errant throw from third to first base.

It marked the second game in a row the Tigers had left at least eight runners on base.

“We need to take advantage and jump on teams early,” Leblanc said. “We need to capitalize on our chances because if we don’t, we allow the other team to gain confidence. We can’t let them hang around.”

Biddeford (1-2) plays again when it hosts Scarborough Saturday at 11 a.m.

— Contact Al Edwards at 282-1535, Ext. 323.