PORTLAND — After spending its April vacation warming up for the softball season in Florida, Thornton Academy was greeted by low temperatures and high winds in its season opener against Portland Friday. Thankfully for the Trojans, they had Bailey Tremblay toeing the rubber, and she looked to be in midseason form as she led TA to a 12-2 victory at Kiley Field.

After the Trojans (1-0) plated one run in the top of the first before Tremblay even stepped into the circle, the senior fireballer then took her spot and was on point from the start, striking out the first five Portland (1-1) batters.

“Good start to a lousy day,” said Thornton Academy head coach John Provost.

The Trojans plated three more runs in the top of the second on a walk, a single, a double and a wild pitch in successive at-bats.

Two more runs came home in the fourth, as Taylor Paquette hit a one-out infield single and Maizie Lee followed with a double to left-center that saw her round the bases thanks to a pair of untimely Portland throws.

“We’ve talked about it for years, it’s aggressive on the bases, make the team make plays, and if they do hats off to them,” Provost said of his offensive philosophy, which Lee executed to perfection.

While the run support was nice for Tremblay, she didn’t appear to need it through her first four innings of work, as she set down the Bulldogs in order in each frame.

But after striking out Maddie Kennie to lead off the fifth, the Bulldogs offense finally struck against Tremblay. Molly Rickett laced a hard grounder past Tremblay for a single, then a walk and a bunt loaded the bases. Tremblay got out of the jam, however, with a pop up and another strikeout.

The Thornton ace wasn’t so lucky in the sixth. She gave up a lead-off single to Morgan Boyle, followed by an error that put Boyle and Taylor Crosby on third and second, respectively.

Isabelle Dimillo next popped a bunt right in front of the plate that TA third baseman Kaylee Burns nearly caught, but it didn’t stay in the glove and Burns couldn’t get a throw off as she collided with catcher Keira Fitzgerald.

Kennie sacrificed Boyle home with a groundout and pinch runner Mayzie Corman came home on a dropped third strike against Rickett.

All of a sudden, a comfortable 6-0 lead for the Trojans turned into a 6-2 game heading into the last inning.

But the defending Western Maine champions made themselves comfortable once more. Eleven TA batters stepped to the plate in the seventh, plating six runs on seven hits and a walk.

“We talked about it after the sixth inning, is come back with a couple runs and just finish it defensively,” said Provost.

Tremblay made quick work of the Bulldogs in the bottom of the frame, sandwiching a pair of groundouts around her 13th and final strikeout of the game.

“She did a great job today. Her changeup was keeping them off-balance, and yeah, she had full control,” Provost said of Tremblay.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.