Blakemore hurls NS to win over CF

CENTRAL FALLS – Pitch-count guidelines and three-game weeks can result in some creative juggling.

Central Falls, which hosted North Smithfield in Division III action on Monday, is still in the market for capable arms. Since head coach Bill Volpe’s has two more games on the docket this week, there was no hesitation to make a move in the second inning with freshman Kelvin Almonte replacing the starting pitcher, senior Rasec Torres.

North Smithfield’s Adam Blakemore took the ball and never relinquished it en route to a complete-game five-hitter in an 8-2 win at Macomber Stadium. He also aided his own cause with three hits and three runs scored.

Blakemore needed just 79 pitches to record 21 outs, thus under the new-for-this-season pitch-count regulations, the junior right-hander would need three-days’ rest before becoming eligible again.

If Northmen head coach Jon Leddy wanted, he could have Blakemore start Friday’s home game against Rogers. That’s not going to happen, though Blakemore should be commended for saving the pitching inventory on a day when North Smithfield (3-0) was missing two relievers due to illness.

“I knew I wanted to get as much as I could out of Adam,” Leddy said. “I had one kid slated to go in relief, but we didn’t need to get to him. We saved him for another day and see what happens.”

It may have been early in the game, yet Volpe’s decision to switch from Almonte to Torres was partially done so that Almonte would still be eligible to throw later this week. For a pitcher who tosses between 51-75 pitches, he must sit two days. For those who throw between 26-50 pitches, it’s one day of rest. The waiting period is waved for those who throw 25 or fewer pitches in a given outing.

The onus fell on Torres to keep North Smithfield in check after Central Falls (1-3) found itself in a 6-0 hole after an inning and a half. He held the Northmen off the scoreboard in three innings while the other two frames saw the visitors push across an unearned run.

“Kelvin has been consistent for us,” Volpe said. “He’s a young kid who’s showing us that he can throw strikes. That’s what he did today.”

North Smithfield took advantage of two walks and an error in the first inning with Blakemore collecting the frame’s lone run. The 2-0 lead grew to 6-0 in the second as two more walks were issued with both runners eventually coming around to score.

Central Falls junior Ethan Carnaghan got two runs back with a second-inning single that scored classmate Marion Oferman and Jeury Garcia. The Warriors had a runner in scoring position in the third after senior catcher Cameron Pita singled and stole second, but Blakemore and the Northmen escaped unharmed.

C.F. produced two hits in the fourth but Blakemore got a double-play ball and a strikeout to extinguish the threat. Blakemore closed out the win by retiring seven straight with two of his nine strikeouts coming in the bottom of the seventh.

The busy school vacation week continues Wednesday with North Smithfield traveling to Classical while Central Falls visits Paul Cuffee.