Mounties survive wild one
Barter comes through at the plate and on the mound in 9-5 win over Prout
SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Strong starts and finishes are something coaches look for regardless of the sport or situation.
The Mount St. Charles baseball team used a strong first half-inning and wild last inning to beat Division II rival Prout on the road on Saturday, 9-5.
The Mounties came right out of the gate by scoring twice in their first at-bat. They then sent 12 batters to the plate in a bizarre top of the seventh to secure a come-from-behind victory. Despite not recording a single hit in their final frame, the Mounties scored six times thanks to five walks and three Prout fielding errors.
“For once this season so far – it's still early – but for once this season our kids were extra patient at the plate,” Mount head coach Paul Jacques said following the win. “That definitely helped us a lot. We had problems in the beginning of the year swinging at bad pitches. We're starting to finally have plate discipline.”
Mountie batters earned nine free passes in the contest, and five of those walks would eventually turn into runs. The 3-4-5 hitters in the Mount lineup combined to account for four RBI, ensuring that Prout paid for its sloppy pitching.
Starting pitcher Joe Barter drove in a game-high two runs to go along with his victory on the mound. Barter had a rather inauspicious start to his pitching outing, facing nine batters in the first inning and conceding three runs.
“Joe definitely settled in after that first inning,” Jacques said. “Prout's a very good hitting team and Joe's had a little bit of a layoff. He just needed to get into that groove. Once he got going, he settled right in and threw fine.”
Barter walked the first two batters he faced in the game, and the first three Crusader batters all came around to score. A weak groundball was turned into a crucial double play, helping Barter avoid further trouble in the first.
The senior captain limited the damage
from there, scattering two earned runs through his last five-plus innings of work. After the rough first inning, Barter enjoyed two 1-2-3 innings and struck out four batters.
Even with Barter's resurgent pitching, Mount still trailed for most of the day. They added a single run to their total in the third inning thanks to a pair of well-hit balls.
Jacob Glod led off that frame with a triple that was smashed over the head of the Prout right fielder. Barter sent him home the very next at-bat by fisting a groundball through the infield.
“He's very flexible,” Jacques said of Glod. “So far this season he's put down a lot of sacrifice bunts, bunts for hits when we needed it. Then he gets us going with a triple. The biggest thing is he's one of the few seniors we have on this team. First senior in the lineup, he gets them going, motivated. His play at short stop has been phenomenal as well.”
The Mount bats quieted down for the next three innings. They stranded a runner on second in both of those frames, allowing Prout to take a 4-3 lead into the final inning.
That's when things went off the rails for the Crusaders, who had looked to be well in con- trol of things prior. Alex Gonfrade walked to start the rally, and Glod reached on an error after that.
A fielder's choice by Barter earned him another RBI and the next four Mount batters all reached either by walking or on an error.
When the lengthy inning finally came to a close, Mount had converted a 5-4 deficit into a 9-4 lead. Gonfrade replaced Barter on the mound after the senior allowed two Prout batters to reach to start the bottom of the seventh.
Gonfrade traded a groundball out for a run, and retired the final two batters via a weak fly ball and strike out looking.
Mount runs their record on the year to 4-1 with the win, remaining well-ensconced in the upper half of Division II.
“We hope so,” Jacques said, when asked if he thinks his team has what it takes to remain high in the D-II standings. “It's wide open [in D-II]. Ponaganset – defending state champions – are still strong. They beat Prout here on opening day. They're still in the upper echelon, hopefully we can get there.”
The Mounties have a pair of home games on the slate for next week. First up is Exeter/West Greenwich (0-3) on Monday and Barrington (2-2) follows suit on Wednesday.
“Plate discipline and gotta be able to hit the ball in the gaps,” is our focus, said Jacques. “That's one thing we need to work on. More power, big time hits.”