SOUTH BERWICK — In his first at-bat against Marshwood reliever Cooper Whitehouse, South Portland’s Jake Poole struck out.

When he faced Whitehouse again, with his team down 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning, the Red Riots’ first baseman ripped a first-pitch, two-run double to power South Portland to a 3-2 victory.

“I struggled today and (in a 5-2 loss Friday to Scarborough), but we always talk about the ‘next play’ and that nothing matters (from before),” said Poole.

“It was difficult to think like that today because it was a tough day for me before that at-bat.

“I was looking for one pitch, and on the first pitch I got it. I focused on keeping my bat through the zone and things turned out the way I wanted to.”

The Red Riots (4-2) had trouble through the first six innings against both Marshwood starting pitcher Max Horton and Whitehouse, but Riley Hasson started the seventh-inning rally with a solid single to right field, and Noah McHugh got on base when his bunt to Whitehouse was thrown away.

Following an out, Poole crushed the first pitch he saw to the left-field wall, just to the right of the 340-foot marker.

The come-from-behind victory enabled South Portland to rebound from its loss a day earlier to Scarborough, when it allowed the go-ahead runs in the sixth inning.

“We talked a lot (Friday) after the game that we will be in these situations a lot – the league is good and anyone can beat anyone,” Red Riots Coach Mike Owens said. “We need to be prepared no matter if we are up, down or tied. We need to continue to play and continue to keep our heads up.

“I thought this was a best-case scenario, that we didn’t have another day to think about (Friday’s) loss. We were able to get back on the field and come away with a win.”

Marshwood (3-3) jumped on South Portland starter Hunter Owen for a pair of first-inning runs. Nate Curtis ripped a triple to the left-field gap to drive in Horton, and Connor Caverly followed with a single.

Owen held the Hawks scoreless the rest of the way, with lots of help from his defense. He finished with a six-hitter, with nine strikeouts and six walks.

Marshwood was caught stealing three times and had a runner picked off. And Owen made a nifty play in the fifth inning when he fielded a bunt and nailed Jack Cahill at the plate.

“We were not playing well today,” Marshwood Coach Eric Fernandes said.

“We ran the bases poorly. We ran into outs. It cost us four or five runs. We didn’t come to play today.”

Owen, a 6-foot-5 sophomore who improved to 3-0, has impressed his teammates.

“We call (Hunter) Big Crazy because he doesn’t really think out there, but he goes out and does what he needs to do,” said Poole.

“He’s only a sophomore, which is incredible because he is a leader on our team and does great things for us. He’s our guy, and when he’s out there we roll with him.

“When he gave up two runs in the first, we expected him to do what he did the rest of the game, and he showed he deserved our trust.”

The Red Riots got on the board in the fourth inning. Owen reached on an error, and pinch runner Kody Hammond-Daniels came around to score on Anthony Poole’s RBI single.

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