Aldridge shuts down SK
St. Raphael standout leads Collette to home victory
EAST PROVIDENCE — In his two previous starts this season, Brenden Aldridge sustained consecutive 2-0 and 5-3 losses to West Warwick Post Two and the Ocean State Waves, respectively.
In the former, he obviously didn’t receive much run support, and – during the latter in a Shamrock Tournament non-league tilt – he yielded four runs in the first inning but pitched extremely well the rest of the way.
Aldridge, a recent St. Raphael Academy grad, picked up where he left off – and then some – as Collette Riverside Post 10 strolled to a satisfying 6-2 triumph over South Kingstown Post 39 in an American Legion clash at Pierce Field on Thursday night.
The tall, lanky righty scattered a mere six hits (two in the his final frame) and two walks while fanning eight in a complete-game performance to improve to 1-2 on the campaign. More importantly, Collette battled back to reach .500 (3-3 in league action) for the first time this spring/summer.
“I knew I allowed six hits, but I didn’t know I struck out eight,” Aldridge stated after his outing. “I just wanted to throw strikes and do my thing out there. My off-speed pitches, the curve and change-up, were working well. I just tried to stay relaxed and not let anything get to me. When we were done hitting and it was my time to head back out, I just wanted to stay positive.
“I knew the curve was throwing them off; right from the beginning, I could tell it was bothering their timing.”
And, unlike his initial two starts, his teammates excelled at the bat, as seven of the nine batters in the lineup notched at least one hit. Fellow SRA graduate Pat Fleming finished 2-for2 with a pair of walks, a stolen bag and RBI, while 2016 East Providence product Ray Aponte and Bishop Feehan grad Colin Gauthier each went 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
Other key offensive influences included ex-Saints’ catcher Dylan Boisclair (1-for-3, run); Adam Duarte (1-for-3, two runs); the Townies’ Riley Cronin (1-for-3, run); and SRA grad Peter Spetelunas (0for-3, walk, RBI).
Post 39 righty starter Shaun Gamelin had issues from the get-go. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings, yielding six hits, six runs (four earned) and five walks with three strikeouts. He also had five wild pitches and a balk.
Colin Egan closed at 1-for-3 with an RBI and pass, while Brock Frendi went 1-for-2 with an RBI; and Cole Podedworny and Asa Nyblom 1-for3 with a run.
“Brenden was phenomenal; it was a tremendously-pitched game,” stated skipper Jim Russo. “He faced a very tough-hitting Waves team from South County in the tournament, and threw a shutout after the first. He was near-flawless (Thursday), and threw 113 pitches.
“We also hit the ball very well,” he added. “We took advantage of their mistakes on the basepaths.”
Post 10 took a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first, though they cane in unusual fashion.
Duarte stroked a one-out, oppo- site-field single to right, and he quickly took third on a pair of wild deliveries. Aponte then walked, and – as he robbed second – SK backstop Owen Mech airmailed his throw into center field, allowing Duarte to trot home.
Gamelin balked Aponte to third, and he scored on the righty’s third pitch-gone-awry of the frame.
The visitors nevertheless fought back to knot it in the top of the second, courtesy of Frendi’s oppositefield RBI hit to left (to plate Nyblom) and Egan’s bases-loaded RBI walk.
Gamelin kept Riverside at bay over the next two, though Post 10 erupted for four runs in the back half of the fourth to ice it.
Cronin opened with an infield hit, then moved to third on two straight wild offerings. Gauthier’s single to right pushed him across, and Boisclair and Duarte manufactured a hit and a walk to fill the bases. Aponte ripped a single to right to plate Gauthier, leaving SK no alternative but to move to lefty reliever Nyblom.
He immediately walked Spetelunas, scoring Boisclair, and – with the bases loaded – Fleming smoked a single to right, yet Nyblom escaped with no further damage.
After Jared Hayes roped a oneout hit to center in fourth, Aldridge retired 10 straight before Mech and Egan mustered back-to-back hits in the seventh. Still, Brendan Blessing’s lineout to shortstop Duarte closed the contest.
Post 39 fell to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in league play.
South Kingstown Post 39 020 000 0 –2 – 6 – 1 Collette/Riverside Post 10 200 400 x– 6 – 8 – 0 Shaun Gamelin, Asa Nyblom (4), Jared Hayes (6) and Owen Mech. Brenden Aldridge and Dylan Boisclair.