Spartans sink Tigers
PAWTUCKET — Scituate scored the first nine runs of Friday afternoon’s Division II game at Slater Park against Tolman and cruised to an 11-1 victory over the Tigers.
Tolman (1-2 Division II) received a pair of singles from Tim Greene, while starting pitcher Peter Microulis took the loss, as he pitched into the fifth inning. Isaiah Riviera-Lopez and Andrew Roy both allowed runs in relief.
The Tigers’ lone run came in the fifth inning when Kyle Depatie drew a walk against Scituate starter Max Pierce. Greene followed with a single and Depatie scored on a RiveraLopez single.
Tolman is back in action Saturday morning at Tiverton.
“I think it’s good we’re playing again Saturday,” Tolman coach Theo Murray said. “We just need to push this one aside and play some baseball.”
After giving up two hits to the first nine Panthers he faced, Crowe was simply dominant. The senior set down the final 12 batters he faced to finish the afternoon with a two-hit shutout, and – to finish a splendid Good Friday – Crowe blooped a two-out single in the sixth inning to plate Addison Kopack and Zack Fogell to finish off a 10-0 Division I six-inning victory over the struggling Panthers.
“Nick did an excellent job and this is what we expect from him,” Cumberland coach Andy Tuetken said. “We know that he’s going to throw strikes and we know that he’s going to pitch to contact – and he did just that. He kept batters off balance and he located all of his pitchers, especially early in the count.
“He did that all game. There weren’t too many balls squared up by a good hitting Johnston team. Great job on the mound by him.”
Cumberland (2-1 Division I) has rebounded nicely after suffering a 4-1 defeat to La Salle with Fogell, the team’s ace, on the mound. The Clippers defeated reigning state champion Hendricken on the road Thursday and followed it up with their most comprehensive performance of the young season.
Of course, Division I is loaded with talented teams and another one comes to Tucker Tuesday morning. Undefeated Coventry (4-0), which boasts Army-bound shortstop Rob Regine, along with talented hitters Cam Reid, Jarrad Grossguth and Nick D’Ambra, comes to town.
“Zach’s excited to get the ball against a good team like that,” Tuetken said. “Coventry is strong everywhere, but especially in that batter’s box, so Zach is going to need his A-game. If we can carry the momentum we’ve built in these last few days, I think we’ll have some success.”
Johnston (0-3 Division I) has scored just one run this season and Friday they only had three base runners against Crowe. Frank Heredia recorded a twoout double in the opening inning, the Panthers earned a lead-off error in the second and a lead-off single in the third. Only one Panther reached third base.
The Clippers took advantage of three Johnston errors in the second inning to score all the runs they would need. Stater Zach Clesas was the victim of the poor defense, as an error on a ball hit by Kopack set the stage for the big inning.
Fogell drove in the sophomore with a single. After Clesas struck out Reuben Hancock, Nick Croteau reached base on miss played strike three. Nick Larson followed with an RBI single and sophomore C.J. Davock laced a two-run double to right. Lead-off hitter Drew Szafranski scored Davock with a single and the junior made it 6-0 on a wild pitch.
“Everyone understood that winning a big game is huge, but it’s the momentum you carry in as the season goes on that’s important,” Tuetken said. “The energy and intensity they had, to put up 10 on Johnston is excellent.”
Crowe, who pitched out of the bullpen last season, allowed a lead-off single to start the third, but then he set down the final 12 Panthers he faced. Crowe didn’t strike any batters out over the final four innings, but rarely did a Panther square up a pitch.
“I know a have a good defense behind and that’s good to know because I’m more of a contact pitcher than a strikeout pitcher,” Crowe said. “I was just hitting my spots and not throwing it down the middle, so they can just hit bombs.”
Croteau scored Davock with a sacrifice fly in the fourth off of Heredia, who reliever Clesas in the fourth, before the Clippers added three runs in the sixth. Szafranski scored on a wild pitch and then Kopack (hit by pitch) and Fogell (walk) scored on Crowe’s bloop to center to end the game.
“It did,” Crowe said when asked if the hit finished off a perfect afternoon.