Despite graduating 11 seniors, six of them starters, Westbrook is tied with Scarbrough for the best record in the Telegram League at 6-1.

The Blue Blazes also are ranked fourth in the Western Class A Heal point standings.

“It’s been our pitching, and we’ve been scoring enough runs and getting the right hit at the right time,” said first-year head coach Greg Souza. “We’ve got four pitchers who are good enough to win anytime they go out.”

The three returning starters are seniors Sam Stauble at first base, center fielder Joe Quinlan and Kyle Heath, a sophomore catcher.

Zach Bean pitched a 2-0 shutout Wednesday against Biddeford. Joe Dvilinsky has a 2-0 record and hasn’t given up an earned run. Keenan Lowe won his only start and Michael Rioux has pitched well, but doesn’t have a win. Andrew Duncanson also has contributed on the mound.

Because the Blazes have pitching depth, Souza feels they can handle backed-up games because of the weather.

Westbrook’s only loss was 8-2 to Marshwood last week. Souza said the score wasn’t indicative of the game.

Heath, Stauble and designated hitter Matt Moody have paced the offense. Heath and Stauble are hitting in the .400s, and Moody is at .381 and second in the league with eight RBI.

Quinlan hasn’t found his hitting stride, but Souza said the team’s leadoff hitter makes things happen. Through six games, Quinlan was 3 of 3 in stolen-base attempts.

The Blazes are comprised of their three returning starters, and material from last summer’s Junior American Legion regional champions.

BIDDEFORD GOT off to a slow start but turned things around, evidenced by its 9-4 victory Monday against top-ranked Marshwood.

“It was a very good win for us,” said first-year coach Keith LeBlanc. “Before the game we talked about how we have to compete in each game. We’ve been getting consistent pitching in all but one of our games. We just haven’t had timely hitting. Going into the Marshwood game, we had a lot of confidence in our pitcher, Bobby Cote.”

Cote struck out seven, walked one and scattered nine hits.

The Tigers had seven hits against the Hawks. Nate McKeown and Cote had the timely hits. McKeown had a three-run double in the six-run second inning and Cote singled home two runs.

Biddeford opened the season with a 10-4 victory against South Portland. The Tigers dropped their next three games before righting the ship with a 1-0 shutout of Portland.

On Wednesday, the Tigers lost 2-0 to Westbrook. Zach Bean of the Blue Blazes got the better of Patrick Wilson of the Tigers in a pitchers’ duel. Wilson allowed four hits; Bean gave up six.

“Sometimes when you stumble, you refocus. Going into the season I thought our pitching was strong. We had a bunch of new guys who hadn’t faced varsity pitching, but we also had some guys who had hit last season,” said LeBlanc.

Cote has a 3-1 record with a 0.87 ERA.

Brady Fleurant leads Biddeford in hitting with a .375 average.

Taylor Reuillard, who had an outstanding junior season with a league-leading four homers and 24 RBI, has started to find his form. He has a home run and a double in recent games.

BRYCE SNYDER of Yarmouth is off to a hot start. After a victory against Fryeburg Academy last Saturday, Snyder, a senior, was hitting .455 with five doubles and 14 RBI.

He had an RBI double that helped the Clippers take a 3-0 advantage in the first inning en route to a 6-0 victory over the Raiders.

With a new team this season with the exception of Snyder and Ryan Cote, the other returning starter, Yarmouth has rebounded well after dropping its first two games.

Both Snyder and Cote are playing different positions this season — Snyder at third and Cote at second.

A right fielder last season, Snyder was one of the top run-producers for the Clippers a year ago.

Yarmouth will play Greely tonight at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach at 7 p.m. It’s a rematch of last year’s Western Class B final won by the Rangers, 7-5.

“We’re playing on a great field, under the lights and against a team that’s the best in Class B,” said Yarmouth Coach Marc Halsted. “It’s a playoff atmosphere.”

This will be Greely’s fifth regular-season game in three years at The Ballpark.

Coach Derek Soule said his team has gone 2-2 in its previous games there.

“The kids love it down there,” said Soule. “They get excited about playing on the field. It’s fun to see their excitement.”

It costs $250 to rent The Ballpark for night games.

“It’s a very reasonable price considering the venue,” said Soule.

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

tchard@pressherald.com

Twitter: TomChardPPH

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