SACO — Benjamin Lambert and a four-run second inning carried Thornton Academy to a 4-0 win over South Portland in an SMAA baseball game on Tuesday.

“(Lambert) is awesome. He had a great day today,” said Thornton Academy Coach Ray Petit, whose team improved to 4-0.

Lambert was dominant, tossing a four-hit shutout and striking out 11, walking two.

“My fielders helped a lot behind me. (South Portland) is a very good team, so it’s good to get a win against them,” said Lambert.

“(Lambert) was more efficient than he had been in his other two wins,” said Petit.

South Portland (4-1) never had a runner reach third base.

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The bottom of the second inning began with a flyout, but Brandon Hall kicked off the rally with a seeing-eye single through the left side.

Hall stole second and went to third when Joshua LePauloue reached on an error.

With runners on the corners and one out, South Portland right-hander Sam Troiano tried to pick LePauloue off first base but the throw skipped away from first baseman Matt Crockett, allowing Hall to score.

“We talked all year about giving good teams extra outs,” said South Portland Coach Mike Owens. “I thought we could have kept (the deficit) at one or maybe two and maybe get to stay in the ballgame a little better, mentally.”

LePauloue stole second and remained there when Troiano got the next batter on a popout.

Andrew Coleman drew a seven-pitch walk that was followed by a single by Zachary Ham that scored LePauloue and moved Coleman to third.

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Ham stole second and scored along with Coleman on Luke Chessie’s single.

“Our guys got a couple good jumps, a couple stolen bases and we got a key hit from Luke Chessie, the freshman. He did a great job,” said Petit.

Troiano lasted three-plus innings, allowing four runs.

“(Troiano) wasn’t as sharp as he normally is. He probably could have gotten away with it against a different lineup but (the Trojan) lineup made him pay a little bit,” said Owens.

Troiano left in the fourth inning after allowing a leadoff single and a walk. Ben Conti came on in relief and pitched three shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out a pair.

Ham was the only Trojan with multiple hits with two singles.

“We don’t have a good approach at bat all the time,” said Petit. “(The second inning), we made (Troiano) throw pitches.

“We do that every inning, we’re going to be a tough team. If we don’t do that every inning, we’re just another team.”


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