AUBURN — St. Dominic Academy senior Timothee Ouellette’s bases-loaded triple in the bottom of the fifth inning finished off the Saints’ 12-2 mercy rule victory over Old Orchard Beach in Western Maine Conference baseball action.

“With bases loaded, I was looking to drive one,” Ouellette said. “Just like (coach Bob) Blackman said, ‘Pick one and drive one early in the count, and that’s what I did.”

Saturday wasn’t the first time Ouellette has come through in the clutch against Old Orchard Beach (0-4).

“He beat us the same way last year, again with a walk-off,” Seagulls coach Tom LaChance said. “… You have to tip your hat to a kid that barrels it up at the right time.”

Ouellette, who batted second in St. Dom’s lineup, leadoff hitter Ashton Hammond and No. 3 Ridge Dionne combined for seven hits.

“We are all very talented hitters, obviously,” Hammond said. “We all came out with the mindset of doing damage early in the count — look for a fastball down the middle and drive it. That’s what we did.”

Hammond started the bottom of the first with a walk, and Ouellette followed with a single that sent Hammond to third. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Dionne and Curtis Wheeler gave the Saints a 2-0 lead after one inning.

“I missed the ball; I was happy I got the ball out that fair in the outfield,” Dionne said of his sac fly.

The bottom of the St. Dom’s (3-0) lineup got the offense going in the second inning. Thomas Casserly, the seventh hitter, doubled to center, and No. 9 hitter Brady Blash walked. Singles by Hammond and Ouellette brought Casserly and Blash home, then Dionne’s single scored Hammond and Ouellette for a 6-0 lead.

Dionne said he a similar mentality in his second at-bat as in his first.

“Same thing, put the ball in the outfield, try to get one home, or as many as I could,” Dionne said. “I lucked out and got a base hit.”

The Seagulls got their timing down the second time through facing Hammond, who was making his first start of the season. Trot Moody’s single to center brought home a run in the top of the third. Moody later scored on a Kooper Gervais single to cut the deficit to 6-2.

“He’s a talented sophomore,” LaChance said of Moody, who finished the game with two hits. “Our whole pitching is sophomores and freshmen. We are going to build on it and keep fighting to the end.”

St. Dom’s scored three more times in the bottom of the third. Two runs scored in Blash’s at-bat. Casserly came home on a balk by Gervais that also sent Ben Dumais to second. Then Blash drove home Dumais with a single. Hammond followed with a double that scored Dumais for a 9-2 lead.

St. Dom’s coach, Bob Blackman, said the bottom of the order did their part in the win.

“He got his first two high school hits,” Blackman said of Blash. “The Dumais boy is swinging a good bat. Everybody today got involved, and that’s what I was happy to see.”

Hammond got in another jam in the fifth when Old Orchard Beach’s Asher Hubert singled and Moody doubled with one out. Old Orchard Beach left both men in scoring position after Hammond got the next two batters out.

“We had situations where we needed kids to barrel up, but we are too young,” LaChance said. “We are a couple of years away from being back to being a contender.”

Hammond allowed five hits, had six strikeouts and walked one and hit a batter.

“Pitching-wise, I was in a grove,” Hammond said. “There were some innings where I struggled getting the fastball down, but after that, it was pretty easy because I was in a groove.”

Dumais, Blash and Hammond all singled to get on base in the bottom of the fifth to set up Ouellette’s triple to end the contest.

“I think today is the best day, we put a full game together,” Blackman said. “They hit the ball well and we pitched well.”

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