Clippers’ season is over
Cumberland eliminated by Coventry
Coventry knocks off Cumberland
COVENTRY— Following a pair of rainouts and a graduation ceremony, the Coventry baseball team was finally back in action on Thursday afternoon, playing host to Cumberland in the Division I losers’ bracket.
The three days off did not prove to have any negative impact on the Oakers as they would ride a complete game effort behind starting pitcher Brendan Organ en route to a 52 victory over the Clippers, setting up a rematch with Bishop Hendricken.
Third baseman Jarrad Grossguth drove home a pair of runs, including what would prove to be the game-winning single in the bottom of the third off of Clipper starter Zach Fogell. Lucas Garcia also had a strong day at the plate, accounting for two hits and one RBI.
Fogell was on the mound the last time the two clubs met during the regular season, with the southpaw holding the Oakers’ bats in check in a 5-3 win. Though he lasted five innings on Thursday, his command was off at times, with one of the runs he surrendered coming via a wild pitch.
It was small miscues like those that ultimately did Cumberland in.
“Our regular season matchup with them was just like this. It was a good game, a close game, a well-pitched game and it just came down to a few pitches here and there,” Cumberland coach Andy Tuetken said.
“I give (credit) to Coventry. They’re one heck of a team.”
Organ was nothing short of spectacular for the Oakers on the mound, lasting all seven innings, allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out six. His approach was fairly straightforward, something he touched on after the win.
“I just tried getting ahead early in the count and going to my curveball,” he said.
“That was working pretty decent today, just trying to let my defense do their work behind me,” he added.
Coventry coach Leo Bush acknowledged the value of Organ in the team’s overall rotation, something he was not certain of a couple of months ago.
“We had so many question marks coming into the season with our pitching and he has bolstered down our staff and given us a tremendous effort in the playoffs to really call himself our ace,” he said.
His lone blemish came in the top of the third when shortstop Addison Kopack took him deep for a two-run home run, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead at the time. Even on the home run pitch, Organ looked strong.
“It was a tough pitch, too,” Bush said. “It was low and away and the kid golfed it, put a good swing on a tough pitch/”
Though he got Steve Verrier to strike out looking on a 3-2 pitch with runners on second and third to end the previous inning, the following frame was when Fogell encountered trouble.
Garcia singled to right for Coventry’s first hit. Two batters later, after a Nick D’Ambra bunt single and a walk drawn by Josh Andrade, the bases were loaded with no one out. Catcher Cam Reid grounded out to short, but Garcia scored from third, cutting Cumberland’s lead in half. With Rob Regine at the plate, D’Ambra was bolted homeon a wild pitch, tying the game at 2, with Andrade moving to third. Regine lined out to short, but Grossguth managed to push across the go-ahead run on a single to right, making it 3-2.
While Fogell may not have had his best stuff on Thursday, Bush was still impressed with the way his team swung the bats.
“Another great pitcher that we had to beat. We had to do it from the left side, which we struggled with all year,” Bush said. “For us to be able to do it today was big for us.”
With an emphasis on trying to hit to the opposite field, Bush credited the way his hitters adjusted their game plan against Fogell the second time seeing him this year.
“I saw a much better approach from our guys, definitely. We weren’t trying to do too much,” he said.
The score remained the same until the bottom of the fifth when Grossguth drove Regine home all the way from first on a pitch crushed to straightway center. Grossguth was thrown out at third trying to stretch a double into a triple, which led to some controversy between the umpires after the inning, but Regine’s run was allowed to stand as it was deemed that he scored before the out was made.
With Nick Croteau on for relief in the bottom of the sixth, Garcia singled home Kyle Brown to stretch the lead to 5-2, which was more than enough for Organ who retired the Clippers in order in the top of the seventh.
Despite the loss, Tuetken feels confident in the direction his team, a predominantly younger one, is headed in.
“They battled. They’re excited to be out there, they work hard and we’re excited for the future,” he said.
As for Coventry, the focus is all on Bishop Hendricken with the two teams set to meet today at 5 p.m. at Rhode Island College.
Organ knows that the bats will need to wake up if the Oakers want to avoid a repeat of their last meeting with the Hawks a week earlier when Hendricken cruised to a 10-0 win.
“We’re definitely going to have to hit against them because when we played them before,they shut us out, so we’re definitely going to need to hit,” he said.
Bush said that the team’s starting pitcher has yet to be named.
“We’re going to talk about it, figure it out and give them everything we’ve got,” he said.