Cam Brochu’s two-RBI drive to centerfield in Westbrook Saturday morning smashed a four-inning deadlock, scoring Sam Warren and Nick Lorello and putting Scarborough atop the Blue Blazes 2-0. The fired-up Red Storm soon added two more – and tallied some insurance in the seventh – to emerge victorious, 5-0.

Saturday’s road win bumped Scarborough to 7-5; the Red Storm opened their season with four successive, close losses, before finally earning a W, at Cheverus. Since then, the team has climbed the ranks, taking seven of eight – including a confidence-builder over South Portland, at the time No. 1. – to go from last to fifth in the Heal Points.

Jones feels the squad is perfectly slotted. “It’s a good position. It’s right where we deserve to be. We didn’t start off so hot – we were playing well, just had nothing to show for it. We’ve continued to play well, just started to rack up a couple wins. But we still have quite a bit to prove.”

“We needed to make a statement,” Austin Pemberton said, “because that was a huge game. Westbrook’s a good team. We needed to win to prove to other teams that we’re competitors.” Needing to win, Pemberton said, helped him perform – he went three-for-three on the day. “I feel like we can keep moving forward,” he said of the rankings.

“We’ve sort of found a groove, but we’re still not happy with where we are.”

Reigning State Champions Westbrook, meanwhile, slip to 7-5; despite having the same record as Scarborough, the Heal Points put the Blazes in 10th, a slot behind Thornton, but one ahead of Windham.

“That pitcher kept us off balance,” Jones said of Blazes starter Ethan Nash. “I think that’s why we didn’t score much early in the game; we hit a couple balls hard, but they were right at guys. Later in the game, those started to fall.”

Both teams logged hits in the early innings – as well as stranded men; neither lineup managed to light the scoreboard until Scarborough’s ups in the fifth, when the Storm’s first two batters grounded out, but their third, Warren drove a single past diving Westbrook shortstop Jack McCullough.

Nick Lorello followed Warren to the plate, and drove a hard-grounder single of his own into center-right. Nash then walked the bases loaded – intentionally, though, as he was facing Ben Greenberg, and Greenberg is a danger anywhere on the diamond. Nash’s decision proved ill-fated: Brochu immediately stepped into the box and blasted his two-RBI shot into center.

Pemberton delivered a single of his own, scoring Greenberg for 3-0. Brochu himself soon returned home for 4-0, and the Storm had all the lead they would need.

Westbrook couldn’t match the performance. They went one, two, three in the bottom fifth, and while Corey Walker reached first on a shortstop’s bobble in the sixth, he soon got caught in a double-play to end the inning.

Greenberg doubled in the top of the seventh, and Pemberton brought him home again on a double of his own, for 5-0. Westbrook went one, two, three once more to end the game.

Asked about his big swinging, Pemberton took a team-oriented perspective. “Ben was having a good day on the mound, so I needed to back him up.”

Both starters – Greenberg for the Storm and Nash for the Blazes – pitched complete games. Greenberg threw eight Ks, and gets the win for the Storm; Nash takes the loss for the Blazes.

“I felt good,” Greenberg said. “I didn’t feel great, earlier in the year, but my arm’s been doing a lot better…I felt confident coming in, but I think you have to feel confident as a pitcher, because every team’s pretty competitive.”

There’s no denying the league is wide open this year. Even Falmouth, A West’s current No. 1, has shown their beatability. The Yachtsmen have dropped games to seventh-ranked Kennebunk (8-5) and seventh-ranked – in Class B – Gray-New Gloucester (7-6), and they barely nosed by Freeport (4-8), Class B’s 12th-place lineup.

“There’s a lot of parity in the league this year,” Jones said. “Every team could beat any team on any given day.”

Greenberg concurred. “There’s no juggernaut,” he said.

Scarborough followed up Saturday’s game with a Tuesday-the-27th bout at Thornton, after deadline. The Storm host Gorham next, on Thursday the 29th at 7 p.m. Westbrook faced South Portland on Tuesday, and travels to Windham on Thursday for a 4 p.m. battle.

Scarborough ace Ben Greenberg had eight strikeouts in his team’s win at Westbrook Saturday morning.Westbrook starter Ethan Nash rips a pitch toward home.Scarborough third-baseman Nick Suchecki waits for the pitch; in the background, a Westbrook runner looms.Westbrook’s Austin Blake rounds third against Scarborough Saturday; Blake wouldn’t make it home, as a throw to first would end the inning.The Red Storm spill out of their dugout at Westbrook Saturday.Scarborough DH Austin Pemberton went 3-3 in the Red Storm’s victory at Westbrook Saturday.Westbrook fielders, including first-baseman DJ Henrikson (right), watch the action at home.