WINTHROP — A year ago Ben Allen was playing middle school baseball and thinking about his upcoming graduation.

Wednesday, the slender freshman found himself in the high school varsity spotlight, first on the mound and later at the plate. He came through in both instances.

With two outs in the sixth inning, Allen rapped a single to left to drive in a pair of runs and cap a five-run rally against Monmouth. Allen also pitched three innings of one-run relief to pick up his first varsity win. Tyler Reeve got the save as he fanned all three batters he faced in the seventh to preserve Winthrop’s 10-8 victory.

“I was pretty nervous before that last at-bat,” Allen said. “I was just thinking I’ve got to put the ball in play and hope something good happens.”

Allen singled just over shortstop to drive in Reeve and Tyler Foster. Reeve had drawn an intentional walk with a runner on second and Foster doubled in the game-tying run.

“I was looking up at the scoreboard and I needed to do something,” said Foster, who pitched the first three innings and left trailing 6-5. “Letting up those runs in the beginning … I got to that third inning and they found me and my stuff stopped.”

Allen got his game-winning hit against Josh Fournier, who relieved sophomore starter Kyle Fletcher, who left after throwing 98 pitches. The Ramblers (3-1) got 10 hits off Fletcher, who pitched well in spots and was hurt by six errors, three of those in Winthrop’s big sixth inning.

“I was leaving the ball too much over the plate,” Fletcher said. “We were trying to work them inside. I don’t know if we lost focus and felt like we were too comfortable but they crawled back into it.”

Monmouth (1-3) played well over the first few innings. The Mustangs scored five runs in the third inning on five hits. They played a little small ball with Devin West drawing a walk and stealing second and Fletcher laying down a perfect bunt for a base hit — he went 4 for 4 on the day. Fournier, Billy Cummings, Alex Curtis and Nate Gagne each followed with base hits, with Curtis driving in a pair of runs.

Allen came on in the fourth and kept the Mustangs off-balance with a variety of slow curve balls.

“I’ve got a lot of movement,” he said. “I’ve got to mix it up to be successful.”

The 5-foot-11, 150-pound left-hander gave up a hit and hit a batter in the fifth but escaped damage by striking out the side. He got out of the sixth with a run before giving way to the hard-throwing Reeve, who retired the side on 10 pitches.

“I start sometimes but lately I’ve been closing and I’m doing pretty well at it,” said Reeve, who also doubled and tripled in the game. “I like closing, come in, throw a couple of pitches and get out of here.”

The contrast between Allen and Reeve was extreme.

“The guys always tell me I throw about 40 and he throws about 80,” Allen said. “It’s a pretty good combination.”

Gary Hawkins — 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com

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