By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

AUBURN – It looked weird enough that Edward Little and Cony were playing an actual, live baseball game Friday afternoon at Auburn Suburban Little League complex with a mysterious, yellow-orange glow staring them in the eyes.

And the concept of sunlight, natural grass and real baselines only bred more weirdness.

Released from the gymnasium for the first time in a week, EL somehow survived putting the potential game-tying run at the plate in the sixth inning and on base in the seventh and maintained their grasp on a bizarre Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference victory, 11-8.

“On a day like this, you’ve got to put yourselves in a position to make good mistakes, you know, where you don’t hurt yourselves too much,” said EL coach Scott Annear, and the shoulder shrug was almost audible.

Kyle Giguere and Kevin Pontbriand, both went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, provided that leeway. Derek Doucette delivered a two-run base knock, while Matt Nadeau scored twice and Tyler Snowe slapped a pair of singles.

“Walks and mistakes almost killed us,” said Giguere, who ripped his second double of the day in a five-run fifth inning, “but we found a way to win.”

EL is 2-1 after overcoming 15 walks, four errors, allowing Cony’s leadoff man to reach base in every inning, and hitting into a 5-2-6-5-2-6 double play that you might see on your scorecard twice in a millennium. That head-scratching sequence cost the Red Eddies two runs at the end of the fourth inning.

They lost two more tallies in the other direction when Cony’s Steve Rodrigue benefited from a fourth strike in the fifth. Rodrigue cut and missed Jacob Marcum’s 1-2 offering to apparently end a bases-loaded threat, but nobody in the EL dugout challenged the home plate umpire’s subsequent call of two balls, two strikes until after Marcum’s next delivery, thus nullifying any protest.

Rodrigue bounced the ball to shortstop, and the throw on the attempted force play at second sailed wide. Joe Lajoie and Joe Brunelle scampered home to tie the game.

“We didn’t overanalyze. You still have the advantage as the home team at that point, because you have nine outs left and they have only six,” Annear said.

Tyler Dorris walked and Matt Nadeau took a pitch off his helmet to trigger the rally that put the Red Eddies in apparent command. After a wild pitch, Doucette stroked a single to center field to make it 8-6. Giguere and Pontbriand also plated insurance.

Marcum pitched three innings of relief to log the victory. He finished in style, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth by stabbing Tommy Poulin’s high one-hopper to the mound.

Then Marcum moved to right field, where he helped Dorris secure the save by snagging Ryan Cotnoir’s fly ball and firing a perfect strike to Nadeau that nailed Rodrigue attempting to score.

Dorris loaded the bases with freebies but caught Cory Ford gazing at a pitch on the outside corner to mercifully end it. Ford, Poulin and Lajoie each slapped two hits for the Rams (2-2).

“You look at who’s expected to be a tough at the beginning of the year, and some people say Cony is down,” Annear said. “But I think that’s a big win for us.”

One thing’s for sure: It was prettier than another day taking batting practice on the basketball court.