SACO — Throughout its 11-game winning streak to end the regular season, the Thornton Academy softball team usually had some combination of good hitting, pitching and defense, and sometimes all three. In the Trojans’ first playoff game, only one of those three areas came through, but it was enough to lift second-seeded Thornton to an 11-5 win over No. 10 Gorham in a Western Class A quarterfinal on Tuesday.

The Trojans offense was its usual productive self, tallying 14 hits and four walks while striking out just once against Gorham starting pitcher Julia Gaudette.

The Rams, who lost 12-0 in five innings and didn’t record a hit in the regular season matchup against Thornton, wasted no time getting their offense going. Samantha Robinson led off the game with a bloop single over the head of third baseman Kaylee Burns into left field. An error by shortstop Brooke Cross on a bouncer followed, and a bunt single by Emily Deluca loaded the bases with no outs. Amber Cavarretta grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Robinson, but Thornton starting pitcher Bailey Tremblay got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pop-up.

“They came in and they said ”˜we better wake up here soon,’” Thornton head coach John Provost said of his girls’ reaction to the top of the first. “Yeah, it was a good wake-up call.”

The Trojans’ answer to Gorham’s run didn’t take long, as Taylor Lux offered at Gaudette’s first pitch of the game and sent over the fence in center for a home run.

“A little statement on that first pitch of that first at-bat ”¦ on that Lux home run,” said Provost.

Gaudette got two outs on a long fly out to center and a strikeout of Erin Brayden, but the third out didn’t come as easy. Tremblay kept the inning alive with a single to left-center, and Cross followed with a home run of her own. But the Trojans still weren’t done, as Burns walked on a 3-2 count, stole second, then scored on a single by Maizie Lee.

“It’s just all the cheering in the dugout. We get so loud, and all the fans get loud,” Cross said about what gets the Trojans offense going. “We can hear it when we’re at the plate. It’s just that little motivation, that little spark, that lights us off.”

Thornton looked like it might pull away, as a pair of doubles, a dropped liner in the outfield, and two singles led to four more runs in the bottom of the third, making it 8-1 Trojans. But the Rams fought back, and got to Tremblay in the fourth to break up a streak of six-straight outs.

Gorham hit three-consecutive singles to lead off the inning, with Courtney Roberts driving home Noelle Dibiase with the last of the procession, and after consecutive strikeouts by Tremblay, singles by Robinson and Lindsey Wilcox scored two more runs to cut the deficit to 8-4.

“It’s remarkable how much those girls have improved in the last four or five weeks,” Provost said of the Rams. “They were just a tremendous scrappy little team today. Hats off to them.”

The Trojans got back one run in the bottom of the frame as Brayden led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice bunt.

The Rams had another answer in the fifth, however, as Cavarretta belted her own lead-off double and scored on an RBI groundout.

“It was definitely good for some competition,” said Cross. “We were a little surprised, but it’s playoffs.”

Thornton put the scoring, and inevitably the game, to an end with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Lux drew a one-out walk, moved to second on a bunt, then scored on a close play at the plate after Brayden singled through the legs of Dibiase at third base. Brayden then scored in similar fashion when she came home from second on a single by Tremblay.

Tremblay shut down any Gorham hope of a comeback, as she retired eight of her final nine batters, including striking out Molly Dufour after a two-out infield single to end the game.

Tremblay had one of her rougher outings of the season, as she gave up five earned runs on 10 hits, but she did strike out nine against no walks.

“They put the bat on the ball, and that’s what they did against Biddeford; they put the ball in play,” Provost said of Gorham’s offense. “Defensively we didn’t play nearly as well today as we have played in the past, so there’s room for improvement.”

After the small scare the Trojans now advance to Saturday’s semifinals, where they will host No. 3 Cheverus at 3:30 p.m.

— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.