BIDDEFORD — It went from the “Battle of the Bridge” to the “Battle of the Aces” Monday afternoon.

Sarah Gilblair of Biddeford and Julia Geaumont of Thornton Academy put on a pitching clinic in front of the fans, however, it would be Gilblair who would get the edge in the Tigers 2-1 victory.

“It was just like a normal game, treated it the same, nothing different,” Gilblair said. “The rival thing makes it more exciting, but we did fine.”

Gilblair, a junior, picked up the complete game win, striking out 11 batters, giving up four hits and no walks to cement the win for Biddeford.

The performance impressed Biddeford head coach Leon Paquin.

“She made a lot of quality pitches when she had to,” Paquin said. “The last inning, she had [Thornton first baseman Hannah Ebling] trying to go the other way, threw some curves at her hands and she wasn’t able to hit it. But she still has to hit her spots because there are games where she doesn’t hit those spots and they go for doubles and stuff like that. She was calm, looked real good, kept the ball down. It was one of her better performances this year at a very good time against a very good team.”

Geaumont, a sophomore, was no chopped liver, striking out eight in six innings of work, giving up two runs on six hits, with one walk and two hit batsmen.

Paquin, knowing Geaumont liked to throw on the outside of the plate, told his players to crowd the plate as much as possible.

“She likes to go inside and outside, but mostly she likes to stay outside,” Paquin said. “I just told the kids to crowd the plate, and if you’re 0 for 4, and you go up again, expect to hit the ball. Every time you go up, if you expect to hit, well, it will start you going too. We had a girl that did.”

Runs came at a premium, but Tigers second baseman Kristina McCurry delivered the game-winning single in the fifth inning, scoring catcher Amethyst Hersom, who had reached base on a pop up that landed between the first and second baseman, and stole second base to get into scoring position.

Biddeford took the lead in the second inning, when third baseman Bryanna Michaud hit an RBI single to score Rene Trottier. Thornton tied the game the following inning. Kelsey Boissonneault hit a double to start the inning, reaching third on a sacrifice bunt by Ebling before scoring on a fielding error on a ground ball hit by Sammi Martemucci to tie the game 1-1.

Neither team would threaten again until the Tigers took the lead over in the fifth.

“Gilblair pitched a great game, kept the girls off balance most of the day,” Thornton head coach John Provost said. “We got down 0-2 [in the count] too many times. For us, it came down to making plays again. We had a ball fall between the first and second baseman. That’s the winning run. The other day [against Scarborugh], that’s the winning run. We couldn’t move runners over. We had runners on first and second and couldn’t execute. It’s just executing, and not doing it.”

Katelyn Lebreux was the leading hitter for Biddeford, going 2 for 4 at the plate with a double and a stolen base.

Boissonneault and Kristen Duross each collected two hits for the Trojans. Duross also collected a stolen base.

The contest was the first meeting between the ancient rivals since the Quarterfinals of last year’s Western Class A playoffs, when Thornton ended the Tigers season.

Only Scarborough and South Portland have better records than Biddeford (7-1) in Western Class A, although Kennebunk has more Heal Points, according to the Maine Principal Association. The Tigers have a tough week ahead, playing Scarborugh on Wednesday before playing against South Portland on May 20.

The Trojans (5-2), now in the midst of a two-game losing streak, gets back at it Wednesday against Portland, before playing against South Portland on Friday.

— Contact Staff Writer Dave Dyer at 282-1535, Ext. 318.