Post 10 meets Upper Deck Monday night
WESTWARWICK — In the end, like so many other close baseball contests, Saturday’s Legion quarterfinal Game 3 between No. 3 West Warwick Post Two and No. 6 Collette/Riverside Post 10 came down to a matter of execution.
With two evenly matched clubs going against one another, a single play at the right moment was likely to make all the difference. On this particular occasion, it was Post 10 getting the upper hand as they managed to escape a bases-loaded situation in the ninth inning and hold on for a 2-1 victory behind a dominant dual pitching performance from lefty Colin Gauthier and reliever Adam Duarte.
“Another great game. We’ve played them three great games,” winning coach Jim Russo said.
Two days earlier, an offensive onslaught by both clubs resulted in a 17-12 win for Post Two, giving them a 1-0 series lead. That offensive explosion in Game 1 by both teams would prove to be the outlier in the series, as pitching told the tale for there on.
Jared Schott started on the mound for Post 10 the following night back on their home field, as he guided the club to a 3-1 victory, slightly outperforming his counterpart, Brendan Organ.
The very next morning, it was back to McCarthy Field to decide who would face No. 5 Upper Deck in the semifinals Monday night.
Matt Gowdey got the start for Post Two, as he and Gauthier put on daz- zling performances on the mound, setting down the opposition with relative ease.
“Matt Gowdey was magnificent today,” Post Two skipper John Parente said of his starter who lasted 7.1 innings, while allowing just two runs, only one of them earned.
Parente had high praise for the other team’s starter as well.
“Give Gauthier a lot of credit too. He battled,” he said.
The game was scoreless through the first five and a half innings of play before Post 2 grabbed a 1-0 lead, though the run they scored would be unearned. Nick D’Ambra led the frame off with a double to right before shortstop Dan McManus successfully moved him up to third on a sacrifice bunt. Organ then came to the plate and ripped a pitch to short that Adam Duarte didn’t snag, allowing D’Ambra to score.
Though they had been shut out through the first six innings of play, Post 10 quickly responded in the top of the seventh, plating what would turn out to be their only two runs of the day. With runners on the corners and two down, Shung-Wen Pappas reached base safely on an infield single, benefited by the thick grass that brought the ball to a nearly complete stop, tying the game at 1. Dylan Bosclair benefited from an error at third by Jake Mellor, allowing Post 10 to grab a 2-1 lead.
With Gauthier having gone six full innings, Russo elected to have Duarte take over on the mound. The righty recorded the final nine outs of the game, preserving the 2-1 victory for the visitors.
“They were tremendous. Colin, six innings, one unearned run and Adam was able to get the save which was fantastic,” Russo said.
The win did not come easily though, as Post Two fought to the end, finishing just a base hit shy of either tying or possibly winning the game. Catcher Cam Reid came up with runners on the corners and two down in the eighth, but Duarte was able to get him to pop up to end the threat.