WINDHAM — Thornton Academy managed only five hits against Windham on Tuesday, but the Trojans made the most out of all of them, as they out-worked the Eagles on their way to a 5-3 win in an SMAA baseball game at Windham High School.

The Trojans (1-1) showed patience in the top of the first, as they made Windham starting pitcher Eli Williams throw 29 pitches. Williams threw just nine of those for strikes while walking the bases loaded, but Matt Rutherford flied out to center after an eight-pitch at-bat to end the inning.

Thornton came right back in the top of the second undeterred, as Drew Gelinas led off with a single for the game’s first hit. Four batters later, after a sacrifice bunt, a groundout and a four-pitch walk, Drew Lavigne drove home Gelinas with a hard single past first. The rally continued as Alex Fallon reached on a throwing error by the third baseman, scoring Ryder Kenney.

“We kept things going. It didn’t affect us,” Thornton head coach Ray Petit said of moving on from an empty first inning offensively. “And that’s what we need to do to be successful.”

The Eagles (1-1) got both runs back in the bottom of the inning, as the Trojans got momentarily sloppy. Gelinas struck out Tanner Laberge on a 3-2 pitch to start off the inning, but the third strike got by catcher Brandon Hall, allowing Laberge to reach first. Laberge stole second, then moved to third on a bunt by Alex Loftis, who also reached as Gelinas misplayed the comebacker. Laberge scored on a wild pitch, then two batters later, Loftis scored on an Ethan Petty single to tie the game.

Gelinas the hitter helped out Gelinas the pitcher in the top of the third as Zach Conley took over for Williams on the mound for Windham. Evan Wright led off by reaching on an error, stole second, moved to third on a Rutherford single, then Gelinas drove him home with a single to left that gave the Trojans a lead they didn’t relinquish.

“We did little things right; we bunted, moved people over, got some runs. We forced some mistakes, and came out on the good side of it,” said Gelinas.

Gelinas ran into trouble in the bottom half of the frame, as he loaded the bases with two outs, but a throw by second baseman Ben Lambert to first just beat out Andrew Whiting for the third out.

Gelinas allowed just five base runners over his final three innings, with the Eagles’ final run coming on a pick-off attempt with runners on the corners that netted an out in the bottom of the fifth. Gelinas threw 97 pitches over six innings and gave up just one earned run on four hits, three walks and two strikeouts.

“That was my first time out for the season, but I was feeling good. It was a little cold, but you get used to it, get warmed up. It’s just getting into a groove,” said Gelinas. “They didn’t really know what was coming, so that definitely helps. I felt like I was doing a good job of keeping them off-balance a little bit.”

The Thornton offense gave Gelinas some breathing room for his final two innings of work, as the Trojans plated two insurance runs in the top of the fifth. Evan Balzano blasted a ground-rule double to deep right with two on and one out to score Rutherford, and Gelinas came home two batters later when Ryder Kenney beat out a throw to first on a grounder.

Gelinas was just as successful at the plate as he was on the mound, as he was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

“Last game, I struggled a little bit. So I just took some extra BP, and the ball looked like a watermelon out there,” said Gelinas.

Gelinas gave way to Lambert in the bottom of the seventh, and Lambert was able to retire the side in order, striking out Ryan Gorman swinging on a 3-2 pitch for the save.

“If we play the way that we played today, and play the way that we can, we’re going to be a hard team to beat,” said Gelinas.

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