PORTLAND – With Cody Dube on the mound looking for his sixth win of the season, the Windham Eagles looked to close the regular season strong with a win over the defending state champion Cheverus. Louis DiStasio had other plans.

DiStasio pitched a complete game one-hitter, striking out 10 and surrendering no walks in the 1-0 win in Portland on Wednesday.

Windham (12-4) enters the Class A West tournament as the No. 3 seed, behind No. 1 Marshwood and No. 2 Scarborough and ahead of No. 4 Cheverus. Windham beat Marshwood and Cheverus to open the season, and Dube shutout Scarborough 4-0 on May 24.

The Eagles will host a quarterfinal matchup next week against the winner of a preliminary game between No. 6 Westbrook (11-5) and No. 11 South Portland (6-10).

In regards to DiStasio’s domination, Windham coach Mike Fullerton summed it up best, saying, “I’d take nine of him all day.”

DiStasio was perfect through the first five innings before Joe Francouer stepped in. Trailing in the count 0-2, Francouer ripped a single up the middle for the Eagles’ first hit and first base runner of the contest.

After a groundout by John Herzig allowed pinch runner Spencer Hodge pinch runner to move to second, DiStasio settled in again, striking out Tanner Laberge before inducing a groundout to third by McGyver Poulin to retire the side and squash the Eagles’ rally.

Since temporarily taking over the top seed in the Western Class A standings with a win over the previously No. 1 Scarborough Red Storm, the Eagles’ bats have gone cold, and Marshwood is now the top seed heading in to the wide-open playoffs.

With their bats struggling, a lone run by the Stags – thanks to an RBI double by Mitch Powers in the bottom of the first inning to score Harry Ridge – was all that the Stags would need to send the Eagles into the postseason on a two-game losing streak.

The Stags looked to add to their slim advantage in the bottom of the sixth as they saw their first two hitters reach base on a single and an error. Dube, however, showcased his resiliency. Dube induced a chopper back to the mound by Ryan Casale and followed that up with back-to-back strikeouts of Chris Tinsman and Tyler Flaherty to retire the side.

“It’s a testament to his overall approach. He just kind of takes it all in stride and is able to deal with adversity,” said Fullerton. “The way the game constantly changes, his approach remains the same, always doing his job. That’s something that’s been pretty special in a kid at the high school level, especially when he’s 17.”

Despite a solid, six-inning effort in which he gave up only six hits and struck out nine, Dube fell to 5-1 on the season with the loss.

In the top of the seventh, DiStasio faced the meat of the Eagles’ lineup but pitched his best inning of the game on an already stellar day, striking out Robbie Hamilton, Dube and Matt McLean.

Jeff Francouer of Windham breaks up the no-hit bid of Cheverus’ Louis DiStasio with a single in the sixth inning. (Photos by Rich Obrey)
Windham catcher Joe Herzig, above, hustles after a bunt before it rolls foul.