CAPE ELIZABTH — Small ball, solid pitching and a dose of timely hitting enabled Cape Elizabeth to earn a 6-1 victory over Kennebunk in a Western Maine Conference baseball game Saturday.

Cape Elizabeth, in its season opener, struck for two runs in the bottom of the first. Brendan Tinsman notched an RBI single on a grounder through the right side, then scored two batters later on a suicide squeeze.

Cape Elizabeth's Dylan Roberts is greeted at home plate by his teammates after hitting a home run in the sixth inning Saturday against Kennebunk. The Capers won their season opener, 6-1. Photos by John Ewing/ Staff Photographer

Kennebunk second baseman Derek Smith loses his cap while making a throw to first base for an out.

Kennebunk right-hander Eric Aiken held Cape Elizabeth scoreless for the next four innings, but the Rams (1-1) couldn’t produce much offense against senior left-hander Nate Ingalls.

“(Aiken) was probably a little hyped up (in the first inning),” said Kennebunk Coach Brian Dill.

Ingalls was sharp, allowing just two hits through the first five innings.

“I pitched the past two opening days here and we lost both, so it felt really good to get one before I leave,” said Ingalls.

Ingalls didn’t find out he was starting until Friday. Cape’s No. 1 pitcher, Marshall Peterson, is dealing with tendinitis in his elbow.

“(Peterson) went to see the doctor and had a little tendinitis, so we shut him down for a week,” said Cape Elizabeth Coach Andrew Wood. “We talked to Nate, he wanted the ball, and he threw as a senior should.”

Ingalls took a 2-0 lead into the sixth. After Aiken led off with a five-pitch walk, Ryan Coughlan, Kennebunk’s cleanup hitter, dropped a bunt down the third-base line but was thrown out at first on a barehanded play by third baseman Matt Riggle.

“(Coughlan) misread the sign there,” said Dill. “It wasn’t what we wanted.”

The next batter, Zander Kosmala, lined the first pitch to right field, just out of the diving reach of Sean Agrodnia. Kosmala dashed into third with an RBI triple, cutting the deficit to 2-1.

“I thought about taking (Ingalls) out the at-bat before (Kosmala) just because he was up there (in pitch count) and it’s early on in the year,” said Wood.

With the potential tying run at third, Tinsman relieved Ingalls and struck out the next two batters on six pitches – all fastballs.

“(Tinsman) is our go-to guy, especially with a guy at third and one out,” Wood said of the standout sophomore, who started the game at catcher. “That was a pretty key moment in the ballgame.”

Ingalls struck out five and issued two walks.

Dylan Roberts, who was hit by a pitch in his first two plate appearances, led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run over the center-field wall. The Capers added three more runs, capped by a safety squeeze by Agrodnia.

“The second it hit the bat, I kind of knew (it was gone),” Roberts said of his home run. “Even though it was a solo shot, the momentum of the team definitely carried from that and we put up a few more runs, so I think it was huge.”

Aiken finished with eight strikeouts while allowing five hits and two walks, along with three hit batters. Two of Cape’s runs were unearned.

Tinsman worked around a single in the seventh to record a save.

Kennebunk leadoff hitter Derek Smith had three of the Rams’ four hits.

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