Baseball: Gorham shuts out Kennebunk

GORHAM—After Trevor Gray scored on an Aaron Mains sac fly in the bottom of the first on Saturday morning, May 11, Gorham were as far ahead of their guests – Kennebunk – as they needed to be. The team turned in an excellent outing on both sides of the ball to ultimately piled up a shutout W, 4-0.

“It was a good day with the bats,” Gorham head coach Chuck Nadeau said. “We’ve been working really hard on getting the ball in play, and making the defense make plays. And we not only got the ball in play today, we ended up getting some big hits, and hits when we needed them.”

Aaron Goschke started on the mound for Gorham, tallying 10 Ks across six innings of work. Zack Green relieved Goschke in the seventh, and hammered the last nails in Kennebunk’s coffin.

Gray grounded to kick off the bottom of the first, reaching base safely on a slip-in-the-dirt/bobble error by the Kennebunk shortstop. Gray rounded to third on Joey Hansen contact – another shot to short that resulted in another Kennebunk error – and came home when Mains flied out to left. 1-0.

Gorham then inched gradually ahead as the innings elapsed. Bode Meader scored the team’s second run, in the bottom of the second. Meader took first after taking a pitch in the body; he then stole a base during Goschke’s at-bat and zipped home when Goschke drove a double into left-center. Meader scored again on another Goschke double – this one to deep right field – in the bottom of the fourth. That made it 3-0.

Kevin Mollison plied his impressive speed to score Gorham’s final run of the day. Mollison singled to third in the bottom of the fifth, beating out what the throw to first not because any Kennebunker erred, but just because he’s so fast. He stole second during Gray’s at-bat, and – when the attempt to pick him off got past the Kennebunk baseman and rolled into center – he stole third as well. He came home again on a Gray sac grounder to short.

“(Once Kevin was on third), he got a got a really good jump on a difficult ball to read, a slow chopper back towards the pitcher’s mound,” Nadeau said. “Kevin read that it was going to be slightly over the guy’s head. And Kevin’s quick. We don’t have a lot of team speed, so it was nice to see him create some offense with his legs.”

Kennebunk did threaten occasionally – in the sixth, for instance, when Goschke perhaps started to feel a little fatigued and walked the first two batters he faced.

“Aaron got a little out of the strike zone,” Nadeau said. “He had first and second with nobody out, so he was a little worried about baserunners. But with a four-run lead, I think he just buckled down and understood his job was just to get hitters and get outs, and he ended up getting out of the sixth without any damage.”

Goschke looked more concerned than maybe he needed to about Kennebunk’s man on second, Derek Smith, during that stretch – he even tried to pick Smith off, but his throw went a bit errant and into centerfield. Smith dashed over to third, given the chance.

Goschke refocused on the plate after that, and went back to working his magic.

“The kids don’t always understand the situation,” Nadeau said. “With a 4-0 lead, it’s time to come get a hitter. But you also don’t want to take the edge away when they’re really focusing on holding runners. In the end, he did his job.”

Nadeau applauded several of his boys, including both pitchers. “This was the most complete game we played,” he said. “Aaron looked really great. And we just have so much confidence in Zack. Bode Meader really hit the ball; on that double, he really drove the ball. We moved Trevor Gray up to lead-off spot, and he did a great job putting it in play. Kevin Mollison, he really created our fourth run himself.”

In addition to his two doubles, Goschke also had a single on the day, for a total of three hits; Meader and Joey Curesky logged doubles for the team as well.

The win over No. 4 Kennebunk – to that point, a healthy 6-2 – bumped Gorham to 4-6. Gorham currently occupies sixth, though as Heal Points go, they’re neck-and-neck with No. 5 Bonny Eagle (7-2). Gorham will get a chance at an additional W when they travel to Westbrook on Tuesday the 14th.

Adam Birt can be reached at abirt@keepmecurrent.com. Follow him on Twitter: @CurrentSportsME.

Trevor Gray mans first base for Gorham.

Gorhamite Kevin Mollison slides for second. The attempt to pick Mollison off missed its mark (as you can see) and actually rounded all the way to third.