PORTLAND – As Kelly Shoppach put some meatballs on his plate in the Portland Sea Dogs clubhouse late Saturday afternoon, manager Ron Johnson meandered out of his office.

“Here’s my hero,” Johnson said, ribbing his catcher.

Johnson had reason to be in such a jovial mood after watching Shoppach drill a walk-off, two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Sea Dogs a 4-2 victory over New Britain at sold-out Hadlock Field.

Shoppach hit the first pitch he saw from reliever Kevin Hodge over the wall in straightaway center field.

“I was actually looking for a fastball,” said Shoppach. “He threw me a slider and the bat ran into it. Sometimes you get lucky.”

Shoppach had no problem recalling the last time he hit a walk-off

home run.

“It was against the University of Texas,” the product of in-state rival Baylor University said before repeating the sentence with emphasis.

New Britain had tied the game on Matt Scanlon’s fourth hit of the day, a solo home run over the Sea Dogs’ bullpen in right field in the top of the eighth inning against James Johnson.

Johnson (1-2) picked up his first win as a member of the Red Sox organization after allowing three hits and striking out six in three innings.

Portland manufactured a run in the bottom of the first inning against former University of Maine pitcher Pete Fisher.

With Shoppach at the plate and runners at the corners with one out, Johnson called for a steal.

Shoppach struck out on the pitch as Justin Headley headed for second base. When New Britain catcher Kelley Gulledge threw to second, Raul Nieves broke for home from third and beat the throw of second baseman Juan Lorenzo.

“It’s a gamble one way or the other,” said Johnson, who had watched a night earlier as Nieves was tagged out between first and second base on a similar play. “You take a shot, especially when you’re having a tough time scoring runs.”

“We executed fine,” said New Britain manager Stan Cliburn. “It was just a bad relay throw from Lorenzo. He threw kind of a rainbow in there.”

Sea Dogs starter Tim Kester worked his way out of a couple of early jams, including a bases-loaded one-out situation in the top of the fourth before the Rock Cats tied it in the fifth on Josh Rabe’s two-out single.

Kester left after the sixth inning having given up seven hits while striking out six and walking none.

The veteran right-hander has allowed just two runs in his last three starts.

“He just goes out and throws strikes and gives us a chance to win,” Shoppach said of his battery mate. “That’s all you can ask for.”

Shoppach made a big defensive play in the top of seventh, picking Jason Bartlett off of first base just before Lorenzo doubled off the left-field wall.

“You’ve got to take a chance,” said Shoppach, who uncorked a throw into right field against Reading on the last homestand. “You win being aggressive. You have to put the pressure on the other team and make things happen.”

Jeremy Owens’ sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh gave the Sea Dogs a lead that Scanlon erased in a hurry.

Kevin Youkilis, who has now reached base in all 23 games he has played, led off the bottom of the 10th with a single to left field that bounced on one hop off the wall.

One out later, Shoppach, who was 0-for-4 at that point, sent the throng of 6,975 home happy.

“It was good to get a second chance,” said Shoppach. “Fortunately, I got all that stuff out of the way early.”

Sea Dogs notes: New Britain is now 0-5 in extra innings…Red Sox pitcher Matt White, a Rule 5 selection from the Cleveland Indians, will make his final appearance with Class-A Sarasota today before joining the Sea Dogs. White, who strained an oblique muscle during spring training, must be placed on Boston’s roster by June 6 or offered back to the Indians for $25,000…. Josh Stevens (3-1, 2.84 ERA) opposes New Britain’s Brian Wolfe in the series finale today at 1 p.m. The first 600 mothers through the gates will receive flowers from a Sea Dogs’ player in recognition of Mother’s Day.

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