FALMOUTH — In NEAAU baseball action this past weekend, the 12U Black Flies knocked off the Gladiators, 9-5, after a 6-6 tie in the opening game of a doubleheader.

With outstanding weather and many spectators, the Gladiators came out swinging against Black Flies starter Alex Marcotte.

Gladiators first baseman, Damien St.Pierre bashed a double past left fielder Cam Dube. Noah Bonsant then walked and Nate Howard loaded the bases with a single. Both St. Pierre and Bonsant scored when Logan McLaughlin singled to make it 2-0.

McLaughlin helped his cause on the mound giving up no runs despite singles by Brandon Burnell and Colby Emmertz. The Gladiators added two more in the second off Flies reliever Emmertz as Cianan Gamble and Kyle Champagne singled, followed by back-to-back RBI doubles by St.Pierre and Bonsant to make it 4-0 Gladiators. Howard added another hit in the inning but was stranded.

Those pesky Black Flies bit back in their next turn at bat. Spencer Todd led off with a double to center. Dube then got plunked before Charlie Emple singled home a run to make it 4-1. Cody Allen sacrificed Dube home. Despite McLaughlin’s good command of his pitches, Garret Aube and Jake Knop also singled in the inning, pulling the Flies back even at four.

The Black Flies added another run in the third off reliever James Sinclair to go up 5-4 on hits by Todd and Emmertz.

But the Gladiators battled back fiercely. With two outs in the fourth, St.Pierre stroked a single to right before Josh Joy hit a frozen rope deep to right, driving in a run. He later scored to put the Gladiators ahead 6-5.

Sinclair was efficient in the fourth, but gave up a lone single to start the fifth. A passed ball and two ground outs later, the game was tied at 6. Aube finished the game for the Black Flies striking out the side in the top of the sixth. Sinclair nearly matched the feat, retiring two of the last three on punchouts to preserve the tie. AAU rules dictate that games end at six innings.

The second contest of the day started in similar fashion. Damien St. Pierre got the start for the Gladiators. The southpaw got little support in the field, with three errors and three weak singles turning into four runs, two earned.

Flies starter Spencer Todd walked Bonsant, who then swiped second and scored on an Austin Gilboe single to make it 4-1.

St.Pierre blanked the Flies in the second and third, aided by an outstanding throw by Kyle Champagne to snuff out a run at the plate.

The Gladiators’ bats were hot in the second when Sinclair reached on a throwing error, Tanner Bernier singled, and Joy nearly lost the ball for a three run, inside-the-park homer to even the score at 4-4.

Howard relieved St. Pierre in the fourth but was greeted rudely. Two early walks turned into trouble when Jake Knop doubled home two runs before scoring himself on a Todd double to make it 7-4 Black Flies. Joy came in to relieve Howard and shut down the attack, striking out Griffin Aube looking to end the threat.

Joy worked a quick 1-2-3 inning in the fifth but struggled to start the sixth, walking the first batter and allowing a single to Garret Aube. A wild pitch advanced the runners before two straight sacrifice flies to center brought two more scampering home.

The score remained at 9-5 when the Gladiators were kept quiet by reliever Brandon Burnell to end the game.

The Gladiators return to action Sunday at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the Wainwright Complex in South Portland versus the Southern Maine Tomahawks.

Auburn Suburban

AUBURN — East Auburn defeated Pepsi 3-1 in closely contested major division pitchers’ duel. East Auburn was led by the strong pitching of Donnie Peterson and Ben Cassidy. Cassidy picked up the save in relief of Peterson.

Jaelen Coney, Jahvon Coney and Giles Paradie led the offensive attack in the victory. Ryan Kappleman and Gavin Bates provided strong pitching efforts on the Pepsi side. Bates led Pepsi on offense.

In the minor division, Dillingham and Son exploded for a total 13 runs in the fourth and fifth innings to win a shortened contest, 16-6 over M&P Auto.

Dillingham and Son rapped out 19 hits with Nate McBride (3-for-3) smacking two doubles and Luke Josephson and George Romano adding two-baggers of their own. Noah Harkins also had three hits for Dillingham. M&P’s offense was sparked by Keenan St. Pierre and Chase Martin. Martin also struck out the side in the third inning.

Elliot Ave.

LEWISTON — Elite Auto defeated Skelton, Taintor, & Abbott, 15-0, in a game shortened to four innings in the Major Division at Elliot Ave. Little League.

Grant Hartley pitched the first three innings, dominating the mound with eight strikeouts and allowing one hit to Logan Freve. Hunter Hughes made his season debut in relief, shutting the door with a 1-2-3 inning.

The offense started early and often as STA starter Jordan Dumont struggled with control, allowing five walks and hits to Hughes and Jared Rubin to plate four runs. Hughes and Jalen Allison led off the second with singles off reliever Ben Chasse. Rubin then doubled off the top of the fence in center scoring two runs. He later scored for Elite’s seventh run.

Sam Lemay, Alex Beaulieu, Hunter Steele and Hartley singled and Elite remained patient, drawing five walks en route to plating eight more runs. Despite the score, STA still played great defense with stellar plays by Dom Chasse and Ben St. Laurent. Hartley earned the win for Elite, while Dumont took the loss. Elite improved to 2-1 while STA dropped to 0-5.

After posting three wins to start the season, Melanson Paving has hit a speed bump. Two, actually.

In a game postponed from Saturday, United Ambulance came out sirens blaring on Sunday evening, leaving Melanson’s bats on life support. United starter Kaleb Morrisette threw a no-hitter, striking out eight along the way.

Elias Atkins singled and scored in the 2nd inning to give United a 1-0 lead. The paramedics added four more in their half of the fifth on hits by Jayden Webster and Brendan Bolduc. Tommy Turgeon and Marciano Webster also chipped in hits for the victors.

Melanson pitcher Dalton Wing pitched well, allowing only the first run before being knocked from the game by a line drive through the box. Gabe Escobar made a strong, accurate throw from short left to gun down a run at the plate.

In their second game in two days, the Pavers dared not come out flat, and they didn’t disappoint. They wasted little time getting on the board, capitalizing on back to back singles by Evan Cox and Dalton Wing and some opportune baserunning to go up 1-0 on Anthoine Financial pitcher Brock Belanger.

Cox, getting the start for Melanson, pitched well for 5 2/3 innings, striking out eight. But he ran into a rough patch in the top of the fourth when he walked Matt Wallingford before Belanger tripled deep down the line in right. He later scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-1 Anthoine.

With two outs in their half of the inning, Cox helped his own cause with a double and was helped home by an RBI single by Wing, tying the score at two apiece. Melanson reached Belanger twice more on sharply hit singles by Damien St. Pierre and Owen Cox, but both were stranded.

Anthoine added the winning run in the top half of the sixth, aided by an error and three walks when Cox tired and was relieved by Tony Beaupre. Mitchel Frisbie and Wallingford combined on a double play early in the first for Anthoine.

Melanson drops to 3-2 while Anthoine is 3-1 and United climbs to 2-1.