Baseball Game Preview: Thornton Academy Trojans vs. South Portland Red Riots

The Thornton Academy Trojans will challenge the South Portland Red Riots at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Thornton Academy 2.6, South Portland 2.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Thornton Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Maine's top teams: Biddeford, who was ranked 22nd at the time (Thornton Academy was ranked 23rd). The Trojans were the clear victors by a 14-2 margin over the Tigers on Monday. The result was nothing new for the Trojans, who have now won seven games by eight runs or more so far this season.

Meanwhile, South Portland had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 9 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. They never let the Rams get on the board and left with a 5-0 victory. Give some credit to the fans of both teams: the last four times they've met, the home team has come away the winner.

Ben Morin tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run while striking out seven over 6.2 innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

At the plate, South Portland got a big performance out of Easton Healy, who went 2-for-3 with two runs, two doubles, and one RBI. Those two doubles gave Healy a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Parker Reny, who went 1-for-2 with one home run and two RBI.

The win made it two in a row for Thornton Academy and bumps their season record up to 12-3-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.5 runs over those games. As for South Portland, their win bumped their record up to 10-4.

Thornton Academy was able to grind out a solid victory over South Portland when the teams last played back in May of 2024, winning 5-1. Do the Trojans have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Red Riots turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.