Junior catcher Nick Troiano is one of the anchors of the undefeated South Portland baseball team. He showed that once again Tuesday as the Red Riots edged Deering 2-1 at Hadlock Field.

In a game devoid of offense, it was the little things that helped the Red Riots improve to 5-0. And Troiano had a hand in most of those little things. He threw out a runner trying to steal third base after Deering had put its first two runners on in the third.

Troiano caught a foul pop at the screen in the first and made an even more impressive grab by Deering’s dugout for the second out in the bottom of the seventh.

And his play behind the plate?

“Nick blocked a lot of balls in the dirt that prevented Deering from taking the extra base,” said Coach Mike Owens.

From little things to a big thing in the first inning, Troiano had his fingerprints all over this one.

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With two outs in the bottom of the first, Troiano doubled over the left fielder’s head to score his brother, Sam, who had singled and moved to second on a balk.

The Riots made it 2-0 in the second when Jacob Brown doubled to left and ended up on third on an error. Hayden Owen later lined out to deep right, scoring Brown on the sacrifice fly.

“That was a great at-bat by Hayden,” said Coach Owens. “He fought off several pitches to get the job done.”

And while Troiano was swinging a key bat and doing all the dirty work catchers do, he was providing guidance to his sophomore brother, who is pitching varsity this season for the first time.

Troiano showed plenty of velocity, but his inexperience and nervousness showed with multiple balks.

Good pitching and timely hitting have enabled the Riots to get off to a 5-0 start, said Nick Troiano.

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“We didn’t have a lot of hits today, but they were timely,” he said. “That’s been a key to our fast start along with good pitching.”

Deering scored in the second. Luciano Minervino led off by walking and moved to second and third on balks and scored on Ian Westphal’s single to right.

Deering (3-2) had its chances early. The Rams left eight runners on in the first five innings and couldn’t muster much offense against relievers Brad Sowerby and ace Henry Curran. Deering had only one hit over the last five innings and finished with three hits for the game.

Sowerby, in his first appearance of the season, allowed one hit in two innings while the fireballer Curran retired the side in order over the last two innings.

Both teams had to come away feeling good. The Riots are perfect so far in what is shaping up as a balanced league. They have plenty of momentum heading into games with Cheverus on Saturday and Marshwood next Tuesday.

For Deering, a dominant power for years, is trying to regain respect after recent down seasons.

“The kids are starting to believe in themselves,” said first-year coach Josh Stowell, a former Deering standout. “It’s a sign of respect when the other team brings in their No. 1 pitcher to close out the game. That will be my message to the kids. This was a character building game.”

Rams sophomore left-hander Colby Dame settled down after the first two innings and allowed five hits in going the distance.

 


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