WINTHROP – The Telstar Rebels aren’t the only team to make more than their share of errors in a baseball game this season. But they could have found a less dangerous team to make them against.

Winthrop took advantage of seven Telstar miscues and made quick work of the Rebels in an 11-1 rout that ended in the fifth inning due to the 10-run mercy rule.

Eric Duplessis had two hits and drove in three runs for Winthrop. Jacob Ward went the distance on the mound, yielding three hits while fanning six and walking three in five innings. Dan Whitney led Telstar with two hits and took the loss.

The young Rebels opened the door for the veteran Ramblers almost immediately, yielding four unearned runs in a three-error first inning.

“Some of it’s a little contagious,” Telstar coach Bob Remington said. “You can blame it on youth, but I’ve had older kids do the same thing.”

Whitney deserved a better fate, inducing two fly balls and a ground ball from the first three Winthrop hitters, but both fly balls were misplayed in the outfield.

“He got the first three batters in the game out on 11 pitches. He ended up having to throw 27 to get out of the inning,” Remington said.

The runs scored on an error, an infield hit by Dave Ketchen, a sacrifice fly by Ryan Conant and an RBI single by Duplessis.

The Ramblers (6-2) got two clean runs in the second. Brandon Dupuis led off with a single, moved to third on Jake Steele’s double, then scored on Riley Cobb’s ground out. Easton Morang plated Steele with a sacrifice fly.

A two-run single by Duplessis and RBI single by Ryan Castonguay helped round out Winthrop’s scoring.

Ward, who had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning last week against Georges Valley, stranded two runners apiece in the third and fourth innings before giving up his only run in the fifth. The southpaw, who improved to 2-0, has proven to be a solid No. 3 starter in Winthrop’s rotation.

“His first innings seem to be a little rough. His velocity doesn’t seem to be there,” Winthrop coach Marc Fortin said. “But once he gets into the second inning he gets into a nice little rhythm and changes them up nicely. He’s a nice surprise.”

The Ramblers play at Carrabec Friday before hosting the MVC’s only unbeaten team, Mountain Valley, next Wednesday.

The scheduled doesn’t get much easier for the Rebels (3-4). They face defending Western C champion Livermore Falls Friday.

“Baseball is a sport where you’ve just got to get over it as quickly as you can,” Remington said. “You drop balls. You make errors. You’ve just got to get on with it.”