LEWISTON — Edward Little’s opening salvo of four doubles in the first inning coupled with Drew Smith’s solid pitching set the tone in a Class A baseball game against Twin City rival Lewiston.
The Red Eddies shook off the stubborn Blue Devils for a 13-3 victory in a five-inning game on Monday.
“I thought our guys did a nice job of coming out right off the bat and being pretty focused with their approaches, and they had some good hits,” Edward Little coach Dave Jordan said. “We’ve been getting pull happy at times, and I think today they just kind of took what was given to them and did a nice job of hitting the ball hard.”
Smith’s hard-throwing action on the mound helped the Eddies move forward. Smith pitched all five innings and struck out 11 batters.
“Absolutely, especially when you have one of your aces on the mound,” Jordan said. “You know, we have three really good pitchers, and (Drew) is definitely one those three and he gave them a lot of confidence. I think he did a really nice job of attacking.”
Edward Little outfielder Eli St. Laurent ripped the team’s first double of the first inning. He came home on Brady Vincent’s double. Kade Masselli walked, then Smith smashed a two-run double to bring home Vincent and Masselli. Caleb Albert walked and designated hitter Gage Ducharme smacked a two-run double, bringing Smith and Albert home.
Ducharme scored on Gavin Levesque’s single to provide the Red Eddies with a 6-0 lead. Edward Little’s five-hit, six-run inning knocked out Lewiston starting pitcher Joseph Dube. Mike Caron came in with one out in the first and went the rest of the way.
Ducharme went 3 for 4 in the contest and drove in four runs.
“I am just glad my team got the bats going,” Ducharme said. “It helps when your teammates around you are getting the bats going.”
Ducharme said Smith also played a key role in Monday’s win.
“Drew always does a great job,” Ducharme said. “I like how he goes up and he pumps strikes. That helps a lot. When he can go in and mow them down, it helps our bats.”
The Red Eddies (6-5) plated five more runs in the top of the third inning. A dropped strike led to throwing error, a couple of walks and RBI ground out to third base by St. Laurent as Edward Little extended its lead to 11-0.
The Blue Devils (0-10) responded with three runs in the bottom of the third. Dylan Whitlow singled and moved to third on two passed balls. Ethan Blue walked. Whitlow came home on Mike Caron’s single. Blue and Caron both scored on a throwing error.
“It’s tough,” Lewiston coach Chris Reed said. “They came out and swung the bats early (and) get up 6-0. It is a bear when you got a kid like Drew who, if he is going to throw strikes, he is going to be handful for anybody.
“So 6-0, their ace throwing strikes, put us in a little bit of a hole.”
Edward Little capped its scoring with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth. Smith walked and moved to third on two stolen bases and Payton Dyer singled, then both came home Ducharme’s two-run single.
The Red Eddies finished with 13 hits. St. Laurent and Smith each had three.
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