Lewiston’s Eddie Turgeon celebrates after scoring a run during Thursday’s baseball game against Edward Little.

Lewiston pitcher Gordon Beckwith winds up for a pitch during Thursday’s game against Edward Little.

LEWISTON — While Edward Little was extending Lewiston’s innings with its fielding mistakes early in Thursday’s rivalry baseball game, Lewiston pitcher Gordon Beckwith was keeping Edward Little’s innings very short.

Beckwith’s strong start and EL’s six errors were more than enough for the Blue Devils to jump out to a 9-0 lead and ultimately hold off the Red Eddies, 9-5.

“(Beckwith) did an awesome job. He’s starting to emerge as our work horse,” Lewiston coach Will Emerson said. “He was on today. He looked really confident. His fastball command was great and his breaking ball was great. He set the tone for us and I felt like our team rose to his level of play on the mound.”

Evan Cox had two hits and scored two runs to lead the Blue Devils, while Jared Rubin had a double and walked twice. Tyler Blanchard and C.J. Jipson had two hits to lead the Red Eddies, who outhit the Blue Devils, 10-5. 

“When you give up at least six walks and six errors, 12 free bases, you have to play a really good rest of the game to be able to come back and win,” EL coach Dave Jordan said. “I thought that they put a lot of pressure on us and we didn’t respond. They earned their win. They forced us into a lot of mistakes and we didn’t respond those first four innings.”

Cox reached on an infield single to start Lewiston’s first inning, advanced on a balk and an error and ultimately scored on a fielder’s choice.

EL committed four errors in Lewiston’s four-run second that made it 5-0. Three walks and a hit batter contributed to the carnage.

The Blue Devils piled on with two more walks and an RBI single by Cox in the third, then scored three more in the fourth to make it 9-0, thanks to a walk, a routine pop fly that dropped in the middle of the infield, an RBI single by Eddie Turgeon and RBI double by Rubin.

Beckwith was steady through the first four innings while the Blue Devils (2-4) built their lead. He was perfect in a 10-pitch first, allowed a harmless two-out single in the second, and buckled down after surrendering a single and walk in the third.

“I just felt like I was in the groove out there,” Beckwith said. “I came off the (3-1) win against Camden Hills (on April 28) just feeling good at practice and stuff and I was just hitting my spots early. I got a lot of run support, too. The guys did a phenomenal job there.”

“We haven’t had a lot of run support, but we got that done today,” said Lewiston catcher Brock Belanger, who reached base twice and scored a run. “(Beckwith) was just hitting his spots and his off-speed stuff was working real well.”

EL (3-2) finally got on the board with Mason Brushwein’s two-out RBI single in the fourth, then strung four straight hits together in the fifth and ultimately chased Beckwith from the game when Tyler Libby’s two-run single made it 9-5.

Ben Bossie relieved Beckwith and ended that rally with a pair of ground outs. But the Red Eddies threatened again in the sixth by loading the bases with two outs. Bossie struck out Maxx Bell to escape.

Libby kept the Eddies in it by holding the Devils scoreless over the final two innings.

EL got the tying run to the plate with two outs again in the seventh, but Bossie got Austin Brown to fly out to right to close it out.

“I felt like one of these games was bound to happen if we kept doing things the right way,” said Emerson, whose team’s four losses have been by a combined eight runs. “We put pressure on them and forced them to press a little bit and things started to go our way today.”

Lewiston’s Evan Cox is tagged out by Edward Little first baseman Ben Harris on a pickoff attempt during Thursday’s game in Lewiston.Edward Little’s CJ Jipson has to dive over Lewiston’s Hunter Landry to keep the throw from his catcher from going into the outfield as Landry slides into second with a stolen base during Thursday’s game in Lewiston.