Coming into the American Legion state tournament, the Windham Merchants knew in order to be the best, they’d have to beat the best.

On Aug. 1, that’s exactly what they did. And they made it look easy.

The Zone 3 runners-up opened up a seven-run lead after two innings on Zone 4 champs Post 51 of Messalonskee and let star pitcher Cody Dube do the rest, decisively beating the reigning Class A state champs 13-1 in an opening round game at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach that was ended due to the mercy rule after seven innings.

Windham was sharp in all phases from the get go, something its manager chalked up to the bitter taste left after being knocked out of the Class A tournament early and wanting to show the eventual champions from the East they could compete.

“I knew we were hungry and wanted to come out early and score runs, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad,” Windham manager Nick Dubay said. “This is probably one of the best games we’ve played as a team in a long time.”

After both teams went down in order in the first, Windham put up the massive seven-spot in the second, using four singles, three walks and two Post 51 errors to open up the huge lead. Calvin Field, Mitchell Hodge, Joe Francoeur and Dube all had RBIs in the inning as Windham batted around.

From there, the Merchants were able to leave it in the hands of their ace Dube, who was 5-1 with a 0.61 ERA during the high school season. Getting the early lead took the pressure off of a team Dubay said has to be relaxed to play well, and let Dube concentrate on just getting outs.

“As soon as we started getting the score up, everyone was thinking lets get this in seven (innings) and save two innings of pitching,” Dube said. “We usually score early, the first or second inning we always put up runs and it’s usually one or two, but to put up seven, that really takes the pressure off.”

Windham wasn’t content to sit on its lead and went after the quick ending, finishing strong, adding runs in the third, fifth, three in the sixth and another in the seventh for good measure.

Post 51, meanwhile, could get very little going on Dube, scoring its lone run in the fourth on a Zack Mathieu groundout that plated Sam Dexter. When Dube struck out Joshua Doolan to end the seventh, it was game over.

“He’s always a big game pitcher,” Dubay said of his starter. “He was a little fired up, because just like anyone they want to show they’re the best team in Class A. I think that showed in the field and with the bats too, we tend to have a little more intensity in bigger games.”

In a marathon of a tournament that will take at least four wins in five days to conquer, having to use just Dube on the mound in the opener was a huge plus for Windham. As was getting into the winners’ bracket, which Dubay said would loosen his team up even more.

“It’s huge because you didn’t want to go into tomorrow win or go home right after that,” he said. “Now we can kind of relax with the first win, go into tomorrow not having that stressful mentality of if we lose we’re done.”

Windham will now take on Westbrook in a winners’ bracket game at 4 p.m. on Thursday at The Ballpark. Not only will the victor in that game be in a pole position to take this tournament, they’ll gain bragging rights in a rivalry that extends back to this time last season.

“They’re the team that knocked us out in the Junior Legion state finals last year in a really intense, emotional game,” Dubay explained. “And then we 10-run-ruled them during the high school season.

“Now that’s in the back of their mind, so they’re going to come out tomorrow and try to get some revenge on us. Should be interesting.”

Windham’s Cody Dube throws a pitch during the fifth inning of his team’s 13-1 victory over Messalonskee Wednesday at the American Legion state tournament in Old Orchard Beach. Dube struck out four in a seven-inning complete game and chipped in two RBIs in the win.