GORHAM — Saturdays are for being lazy and hanging out with friends. The Thornton Academy baseball team did both Saturday in a game against Gorham, and in the end it was a happy day for the Trojans.

Thornton jumped on top early, coughed up that lead, then came back in the end for a 9-4 victory over the Rams in an SMAA late-season contest at Gorham High School.

Ben Lambert swung at the first pitch of the game for a single, then moved around to third on a steal and a throwing error by Gorham (5-7) catcher Jason Komulainen. Lambert then scored on a wild pitch from Rams starter Logan Drouin.

After Drouin struck out Mitchell Jacques, Brandon Hall walked and came home on Evan Balzano’s triple. An RBI groundout by Conor Purvis scored Balzano, putting the Trojans (10-3) up 3-0.

Purvis then took the mound for Thornton and got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first. A double play negated a one-out double by Komulainen in the second.

Purvis then ran into trouble in the third, with his defense helping fan the flames. Michael Chapin reached on an error by Lambert with one out, then scored on a double by Andrew Schmidt. A single by Jackson Taylor to left that was misplayed by Josh LePauloue brought home Schmidt, and Taylor scored two batters later on Drouin’s RBI single, tying the game up 3-3.

“We jumped on them, then all of a sudden we went to sleep,” said Thornton head coach Ray Petit. “We weren’t ready to play in the field, and that’s a good team.

“If you’re not awake and play the whole game you could run into some problems.”

Purvis ran into more trouble in the fourth, as Cam Smith led off with a double and scored on a single by Komulainen.

“Once I was throwing a little bit behind the batter they were hitting me, and it was a little bit of a struggle,” said Purvis. “I knew right from the start it wasn’t going to be the best day that I’ve had. My arm was a tiny bit tight, but it got a little bit better as it went on. I still needed to throw strikes.”

The Trojans weren’t behind for long, as their bats came alive again in the top of the fifth after a three-inning hiatus. No. 9 hitter Brogan Searle-Belanger led off with a single, then Lambert and Jacques both reached on errors, with Searle-Belanger coming home on Jacques’ bunt that was misplayed by Drouin.

“We did a good job putting pressure on them. We had a couple steals, a couple hit-and-runs, bunt-and-runs,” said Petit. “If you’re in situations you can keep the pressure on and get that four-run, five-run situation it’s a lot easier to play.”

Lambert scored on a wild pitch to put TA up 5-4, then Hall walked for the second time in the game and Balzano drew a free pass as well. Two batters later, Tourner Moseley doubled to bring in Hall.

“That 3-0 lead, we kind of stepped back after that. I think we got a little lazy. But right when they tied it up, we kind of came back together and got some more runs,” said Purvis, who credited a between innings speech by Petit for “sparking the flame.”

“We got a little motto ”“ back each other up and pick each other up, and they pick each other up,” said Petit.

Purvis got backed up by reliever Andrew Coleman after Purvis put two runners on with two outs in the fifth. Coleman walked Smith to load the bases, then ran up a 3-1 count on Komulainen before getting him to fly out to end the threat.

“Coleman did a good job coming in picking up Purvis,” said Petit.

Thornton plated two runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to create some breathing room ”“ something the Trojans thought they had after the first inning, only to see it vanish in a hurry. But there was no second comeback for Gorham, as Coleman retired seven of the final eight batters of the game.

“I think they saw that. We were up 3-0, they scored four runs. They finally said ”˜hey, you know what, we got to put some runs up on the board because they can put runs on the board,’” said Petit.

The win was the Trojans’ 10th of the season ”“ two more than they won all of last season.

Purvis said he thinks the reason for the team’s success this year is simple.

“Team chemistry,” said Purvis, who is one of the team’s senior leaders. “We just spend a lot of time together. We have a good relationship. I’ve grown up with these kids.”

“The secret to these guys is they really like each other,” said Petit. “They’re a great bunch of kids to be around. They practice hard, but they have a good time.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.