Poland comes undone in the first inning as Gorham runs off with an 8-3 victory.
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

POLAND – The top of the first inning in Monday’s Western Maine Conference tilt between Gorham and Poland reads like the first half of “The 12 Days of Christmas”. And the Knights couldn’t help but feel like they had given the Rams a gift when the game was over.

Gorham’s first turn at bat went like this – six base on balls, five stolen bases, four wild pitches, three errors, two runs scored during run-downs, a balk, and a double-steal to score another run. The five runs the Rams got in that inning, without a hit, proved to be the difference in Gorham’s 8-3 victory.

Poland starter Kyle Purrington yielded the six walks to the first 10 batters he faced. Three errors and a balk exacerbated his control problems. In between, the Rams (6-1) put relentless pressure on the Poland defense, sending runners in motion every time they got runners at first and third base. Three of the five runs in the inning scored on double-steals or attempted double-steals. The other two scored on a passed ball and a ground out.

“If you can make some things happen early and put a team in a hole, it’s just such an advantage,” said Gorham coach Rocky Myers. “And it’s a good thing we did. We played them 3-3 the rest of the way.”

“We just came out a little flat mentally,” said Poland coach Charlie Green. “They took advantage of those first and third situations and we couldn’t stop it.”

Ironically, it seemed to take the Rams longer to recover from the first inning than the Knights (3-3). Purrington went to the mound in the second inning with better control. The Rams kept their bats on their shoulders, and Purrington struck out the side.

“In the last three or so games, we’ve averaged 10 walks a game,” Myers said. “You’ve got to compliment the hitters on walking, but when you keep walking, you don’t really get that big momentum swing, that big hit, that gets everybody into it. You’re moving up one spot on the bases and as a hitter, you’re half asleep. It slows the game down and it’s really taken us out of our rhythm defensively.”

That was evident in the bottom of the second, when the Rams committed two errors that allowed Pat Woodbrey and Eric Piper to score to make it 5-2. The Knights put another run across in the third when Nick Berube (two hits) doubled with one out, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Woodbrey’s ground out to second.

Purrington, meanwhile, was in the midst of retiring eight in a row and 12 of 13.

“Kyle seemed to get a little more confidence. He was throwing strikes,” Green said. “He had some good pop on his fastball. He settled right down and from (the second inning) on he pitched a good game.”

Purrington’s control left him again in the sixth, as he walked the first two batters of the frame before giving way to reliever Alex Smith. The Rams just barely pulled off another double-steal to score Brian Schools on a very close play at home. Jared Gardner’s sacrifice fly and Kim Hart’s two-out RBI single gave the Rams a five run lead for good.