SOUTH PORTLAND — Pitcher Noah Lewis might have been able to hold Noble at bay by himself, but was happy to get some late support from his South Portland teammates in a midseason SMAA baseball showdown Thursday.

Lewis, a sophomore in just his second varsity start, shut out the Knights for five innings as the Red Riots clung to a 1-0 lead.

Then, in the bottom of the fifth, South Portland came up with six runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Riley Hasson and a two-run triple from Jake Poole, to blow it open.

Lewis slammed the door from there and completed a five-hit shutout, striking out 10 batters in a 7-0 win, his first varsity victory.

“It feels really good to get a win,” Lewis said. “I came out and threw as fast as I could. My fastball felt good but my curveball and change-up were good, too. My defense had me. I just wanted to pound the zone and not walk anybody.”

Lewis escaped a jam in the top of the first when right fielder Anthony Poole threw out a runner at third.

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In the bottom of the inning, against Knights starter Jake Lacroix, Anthony Poole beat out an infield hit, took second on an error, moved to third on Noah McHugh’s single, then scored when Hasson grounded out.

That was enough for Lewis, who retired the Knights in order in the second and third innings, worked out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the fourth with a pair of strikeouts, then set Noble down 1-2-3 in the fifth.

“Noah was the story,” said South Portland Coach Mike Owens. “We know what he’s capable of. It’s always good to see him go out like that against a really good team. I thought he dominated with his fastball.”

The Red Riots’ offense came to life in the bottom of the fifth, when a throwing error scored one run, Hasson hit a two-run single with the bases loaded, Zach Johnson reached on an infield hit to score another run and Jake Poole came up with a two-run triple over the head of Noble center fielder Owen Podolec to make it 7-0.

“My first at-bat, I was out in front,” Jake Poole said. “Second at-bat, I just missed. Third at-bat, I was out in front of my first pitch, then made an adjustment.

“I got the pitch I was looking for and I just drove it.”

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“Our lineup is deep so we can put a big number up in a hurry,” Owens said. “That obviously settled everyone down and ended the game.”

South Portland (6-2) got nine hits from nine players. Lewis allowed no walks and evened his record at 1-1.

“It was great to see a sophomore come out and pitch like that and lead the team to the win,” Jake Poole said. “I could tell in warmups that he was focused. He locked in and just kept rolling.”

Noble (5-3) collected three hits from Lacroix and another two from Coby Johnson.

Lacroix fell to 3-1 after surrendering seven runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings. Bryce Cantin pitched the final inning in relief.


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