PORTLAND – Deering put it all together Thursday to cruise to its sixth consecutive Telegram League baseball victory.

Left-hander Nick DiBiase pitched his second consecutive shutout and his teammates banged out nine timely hits as the Rams rolled to an 11-0 victory against Portland at Hadlock Field in a game that ended in the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule.

“I don’t think we played badly,” Portland Coach Tony DiBiase said.

“(Deering) just hit the ball all over the ballpark, and we just knocked back on our heels a little bit, and that was basically the whole game.”

DiBiase, who had a season-high nine strikeouts, allowed three hits with no walks.

“Thing about Nick is he always throws strikes,” Deering Coach Mark Sutton said. “He’s always around the plate, a real tough competitive.”

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DiBiase, who threw a two-hitter May 3 in a 5-0 win against Massabesic, only allowed four balls out of the infield.

“He moves the ball around,” Sutton said. “He throws high. He throws low. He works in and out. He’s not afraid to work the ball around, which makes for a great game.”

DiBiase got all the offense he needed in the first inning, when the Rams (7-1) sent 14 hitters to the plate, building a 9-0 lead.

“What I like about what (the Deering hitters have) been doing the last three or four games is they have been hitting their pitches instead of going after pitches they can’t hit,” said Sutton, in his first year as head coach at Deering after two seasons as an assistant.

“They’re being a lot more selective, which is very good to see at this point in the season. A lot of it is pitch selection. Being patient up there and getting your pitch to hit.”

The Rams roughed up Caleb Fraser, Portland’s sophomore ace.

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In the first inning, John Hardy pulled a two-run double to deep left, John Miranda and John Hannigan stroked two-run singles, and Jamie Ross pulled a run-producing double down the left-field line. An error, three walks and a hit batsman made sure those hitters had plenty of runners to drive in.

Last Saturday night, Fraser scattered five hits in leading the Bulldogs (4-4) to a 3-2 victory against Biddeford, the top-ranked team in Western Class A at the time.

“He’s a sophomore,” DiBiase said. “He’s going to have good games and not-so-good games. I thought he was missing his spots a little bit.”

Ricky DiMillo replaced Fraser in the first but Deering kept getting timely hits.

The Rams took a 10-0 lead in the second when Jamie Gullbrand doubled to deep left, moved to third on a grounder and scored when Hardy blooped a single into left for his third RBI of the game.

Deering added a run when Matt Bevilacqua led off the third with a double, moved up on an error and scored when Miranda singled sharply up the middle for his third RBI of the game.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

 


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