WINDHAM – The Windham baseball team opened the season with a 6-0 win over Marshwood. On Thursday, the Eagles shut out Scarborough, 4-0.

Those two teams happen to be the Nos. 1- and 2-ranked teams in Western Class A.

The common denominator in both victories? Hard-throwing right-hander Cody Dube.

Dube and some strong support from his teammates have made the Eagles a serious contender.

Could the Eagles rise to the No. 1 seed for the tournament?

“I’ll let the Heal point math figure that out,” said Coach Mike Fullerton. “It’s just a seed. What happens in the playoffs is what counts. Regardless, those teams will be in the tournament and we might see them again.”

Dube allowed only one hit and struck out 13 to spark third-ranked Windham to its 11th straight win. Dube beat Marshwood in April.

With the Eagles leading 2-0, Robbie Hamilton’s double to left-center sealed it as two more runs came across.

Sealed it because Dube, who will attend Keene State in the fall, was in control.

Scarborough put runners on second and third with one out in the sixth. But Dube got the next two hitters.

“Cody has beaten some of the best in the league,” said Fullerton. “He loves the pressure and doesn’t get rattled. He’s very thorough in the way he plays. It was a good win for us. The kids came to play. We like to score early so that we can take the pressure off.”

After beating Marshwood, Windham (12-2) lost its next two. The Eagles haven’t lost since. They have games remaining with Biddeford on Saturday and Cheverus on Tuesday.

Dube bested another hard-throwing right-hander in Joe Cronin. Conor McCann’s single to center in the fourth was Scarborough’s only hit.

With injuries to pitchers Ben Wessel and Ben Greenberg, Cronin has been thrust into the No. 1 slot. He’s been successful in relief for the last two seasons.

Cronin, headed to Boston College on a scholarship, hurt his cause by hitting two batters and uncorking a wild pitch that scored Windham’s second run. He gave up five hits and struck out six.

“It was like a tournament game,” said Scarborough Coach Mike Coutts. “Dube pitched great. We have some injuries but you can’t use that as an excuse. Hopefully our younger players gained some experience in this one. There’s a good chance we’ll see them in the tournament.”

Wessel injured his arm pitching against Westbrook on Tuesday. He had an MRI on Wednesday and said he will learn the results today. Greenberg has tendinitis in his forearm but should be ready by next week.

Matt McClean drove home the Eagles’ first run with a sharp ground single past third base in the bottom of the first.

He scored McGyver Poulin, who led off with an infield single and went to third on a throwing error.

The Eagles made it 2-0 in the third without a hit. In the fourth, Joe Francoeur walked and went to second on Jack Herzig’s sacrifice. Francoeur stole third. Poulin was hit by a pitch. Both scored on Hamilton’s double that rolled to the fence in left- center.

“It was a fastball down the middle,” said Hamilton. “In my previous at-bat I fouled off the same pitch. That felt good and I got my timing down for this one.

“We’re beating teams nobody thought we could beat when the season began. We have a lot of confidence now. We just have to keep it going.

“We have five seniors who have played together since Little League. The younger players are doing a great job.”

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at:

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH