OLD ORCHARD BEACH — With heavy hitting and top-notch base running, the Yarmouth boy’s baseball team blew out Old Orchard Beach by a score of 11-2 at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach on Wednesday.

The game was the first of the season to be played in summerlike conditions, with the sun beating strong and temperatures reaching low 80s at times.

After the game Old Orchard Beach head coach Thomas LaChance stated that the sun definitely played a part in his team being unable to focus and make plays, amongst other factors.

“We had a lot of distractions going on,” LaChance said. “The kids have prom on Friday night, and you have that hot weather that’s thrown into it. Even living near a beach and being a beach community, that can take away from our focus; so with that I have to say today we weren’t focused.”

Yarmouth opened the scoring in the first inning with a run, then quickly added to their lead with another run in the second and two runs in the third, scored off a wild throw on a stolen base and a hard hit single with a man in scoring position.

From there the score sat at 4-0, until the fifth inning when the Clippers notched an infield single, followed by two walks to load the bases. Yarmouth brought those runners in with back-to-back singles, then after another pair of walked batters the Clippers smacked another single to bring in two more runs. At the end of the fifth the Yarmouth squad led 9-0.

The Gulls were able to load the bases in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of singles and a walk, and later brought in a run off a sacrifice fly out, preventing the shutout. Both teams would add to their run total slightly in the sixth and seventh innings.

Despite the big loss, LaChance said he expects the team to come together with a better showing next time.

“Today was our first day of staying focused in the heat, and that weighs on you during every pitch,” Lachance said. “I saw three, maybe four plays out there today that we could have made that would have changed the game if we had been more focused. I know we’ll make those plays next time.”

The loss pushes the Gulls to 5-5 on the season.

 

 

 

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