KENNEBUNK — Five days can be a long time in high school baseball. Just ask Falmouth and Kennebunk.
After being shut down by Rams pitcher Eric Aiken in a 3-1 loss Monday, Falmouth turned the tables Saturday, getting a great pitching performance from Cam Guarino and pounding out 11 hits for an 8-2 victory in a Western Maine Conference baseball game between Class A teams.
“They got us at our place, now we get them at their place,” Falmouth Coach Kevin Winship said. “They’re a tough team, so it’s nice to get a split with them.”
Guarino picked up the loss against Kennebunk on Monday but was in command throughout his six innings in the rematch, striking out five, walking none and allowing two hits.
He said encountering the same lineup in the short time span helped.
“Facing them twice gave me a better idea of their hitters, where they’re going to hit the ball, where to position the fielders when I was on the mound,” Guarino said. “I attacked the batters more and tried to get them out of their comfort zone.”
After throwing nearly 100 pitches Monday, Guarino was also efficient, throwing 50 of his 72 pitches for strikes and going to a three-ball count against only two batters.
“I did not feel like throwing another 100 pitches,” Guarino said. “It would have killed my arm.”
Aiken threw a three-hitter Monday but struggled with his command in the rematch, hitting three batters and walking two. He gave up six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
“Sometimes that’s baseball. The same two pitchers aren’t the same from one start to the next,” Kennebunk Coach Brian Dill said. “Guarino was much better than he was Monday and Eric wasn’t as sharp.”
Reece and Robbie Armitage led the Yachtsmen offensively. Reece, the eighth batter in the lineup, got Falmouth on the board in the second with a single to left that plated Tyler Gee. He scored after doubling to lead off the fourth.
Robbie Armitage made it 2-0 in the third with a run-scoring double and added a two-run single during a four-run seventh that salted the game away.
Eight players had a hit for the Yachtsmen, with 11 players reaching base.
“Seeing (Aiken) twice in one week was a big change,” said Robbie Armitage, who allowed the Rams’ two runs on a Jack Lapham double in mop-up duty in the seventh inning. “Last time we were thinking about it a little too much. This time we just got up there and whacked it around.”
It was the fourth game in six days for both teams.
Falmouth (7-3) had also fallen to Lake Region 6-2 on Wednesday before rebounding to beat Wells on Thursday.
“When we lost to Lake Region, that set the tone for how we need to start playing,” Guarino said. “Now we have some momentum.”
After the win Monday, Kennebunk (6-5) is trending in the opposite direction and has now dropped three straight.
“We knew Falmouth didn’t want to lose to us twice and you saw that today,” Dill said. “The losses the last few days makes this one even tougher.”
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