LEWISTON  — It took a while, but after a slow start, the Lewiston High School bats came alive in the the bottom of the fifth inning.

The Blue Devils scored seven runs in the frame to rally for an 8-6 victory over Skowhegan in Eastern Class A baseball action.

After an RBI single by Eddie Emerson and Eric Soucy tripled Emerson home — his second RBI of the game — to give the Blue Devils a 3-2 lead.

Brian Wigant delivered the big blow. With Soucy on third and the bases loaded after back-to-back walks, Wigant drove an 0-2 curveball into left field for a double to clear the bases, giving Lewiston a 6-2 lead.

“We had guys that managed to get their way on and I knew coming up, what I needed to do was get the ball through the infield to a spot where we can score some runs,” Wigant said. “The first one was a strike it was away. The second one, he threw me two curveballs, I didn’t want to hit that one or the one that broke high. I was sitting on a pitch I could drive.”

Gage Cote followed up two batters later with a two-run single scoring Wigant and Colt Bernier as the Blue Devils (1-0) sent eleven batters to the plate in the inning.

Lewiston head coach Dave Jordan knew the bats would come around.

“It’s the opening game, guys are getting the feel for the game seeing pitches and things like that,” Jordan said. “The second time around, our approach was a little more relaxed.”

The Indians chipped away at the Blue Devils’ lead as Kam Nelsen drove in Chase Nelsen with an RBI single in the top of the sixth.

Skowhegan coach Rick York was pleased with his team’s effort.

“It was a great comeback on our part,” York said. “The kids battled and that’s the positive thing that came out of here today.”

In the top of the seventh, pinch hitter Ethan Liberty reached base and later scored. Chase Nelsen knocked in two with a double.

“We have a lot of new starters and a lot of guys with new positions, I thought Skowhegan did a great job getting guys on,” Jordan said.

Emerson went 4 2/3 innings for Lewiston as the starting pitcher, giving up a run in the second inning as Kaleb Brown reached first base on a dropped third strike. Brown would later score on an Adam Clukey single. Trevor Hisler drove in Clukey in the fourth inning.

Emerson was lifted in the fifth inning as a blister formed on his pitching hand. Kyle Ulrich got the third out of the inning and picked up the win. Alex Small came on in the sixth, allowing four runs in two innings of work.

“Eddie battled for us, he got a little blister in the fourth inning,” Jordan added. “He tried to see if he could pitch with it, but it was a little too much.”   

Skowhegan starter Taylor Bacon also went 4 2/3 innings after giving up three runs. Ben Salley came on in relief and couldn’t close out the inning, allowing five runs. Kam Nelsen finished off the fifth and had a 1-2-3 sixth inning.

“They did a great job adjusting to (Bacon) and we gave up that big inning and that’s what we can’t do to win a ball game,” York said.

Lewiston will host Edward Little on Friday at 1 p.m. in its next contest.