SACO — After a disappointing loss to South Portland on Monday, a game in which they wasted a handful of chances to take control of the game, the Thornton Academy Trojans bounced back in a big way Wednesday, as they controlled every facet of the game in a 12-0, five-inning win over Gorham in an SMAA softball game at Thornton Academy.
The Rams’ second batter of the game, Lindsey Wilcox, reached on an error by Thornton shortstop Brooke Cross. A play that helped lead to the Trojans’ downfall on Monday didn’t have the same effect this time around, however. Cross went a perfect 4-for-4 fielding grounders the rest of the way, and more importantly, starting pitcher Bailey Tremblay was perfect on the mound, as the first-inning error was the only blemish in a no-hitter.
“Brooke was blaming it on her metal cleats. She didn’t have her metal cleats on and her foot slipped,” Thornton head coach John Provost said half-jokingly.
While the pitching and defense were good for Thornton, the offense might have been even better. Taylor Lux and Morgan Dube led off the bottom of the first inning with consecutive triples, and the Trojans knocked out 11 hits against Gorham starting pitcher Katelyn Wilson.
Thornton scored at least two runs in all four turns at the plate, and took advantage of nine Ram errors.
“We’ve got four or five speedy kids, and we told them we want them aggressive on the bases, and if we see a bobble, we go,” said Provost. “We’ll make the other team make the plays.”
Lux led the offensive attack, going 3-for-4 and a home run short of hitting for the cycle. She drove in two runs and scored two more of her own.
“I just had a really good day I guess,” said Lux.
Lux also made one of two highlight reel plays in the field for Thornton, as she made a leaping grab on a soft liner to shallow right-center to end the first. Dube made a spectacular play of her own to open up the third inning, as she made a diving catch of a shallow fly in center to rob Julia Gaudette of a hit.
Tremblay followed that with her second and final strikeout of the game, as she let her defense do the rest. The next six outs were groundouts to the right side before a fly out to left ended the game.
“Girls made great plays defensively. That’s all we ask for: Bailey to throw strikes and the girls play some defense,” said Provost.
The win got the Trojans back on the winning track, and allowed them to regain their confidence ahead of a tough stretch of games. Thornton plays Bonny Eagle on Friday before facing Scarborough and Noble next week.
The show they put on Wednesday, according to Lux, is closer to the team they want to be than the one that couldn’t conquer South Portland.
“I don’t think we played the best to our potential against South Portland. I think we wanted to show that we can play better,” said Lux. “We had to just brush it off. We did that.”
“It was a good bounce back,” said Provost. “We talked about just having to play solid defense and getting back to hitting the ball. And we did that today, so we’re happy.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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