Upper Deck keeps title hopes alive
Lincoln’s Marques hurls UD to win
WESTWARWICK — It was a big spot in a do-or-die contest. Luckily for Upper Deck Post 86/14, their big-game pitcher was on the mound at McCarthy Field.
Upper Deck probably doesn’t live to see another day had Lincoln High alum and Wheaton College sophomore-to-be Trevor Marques not come through in the sixth inning of Wednesday’s R.I. American Legion losers’ bracket semifinal against Gershkoff Auburn Post 20. Setting the stage for the drama that would ensue, Upper Deck was up two runs. Post 20 had runners on first and second and two down.
The count ran full against Gershkoff third baseman Chris Manfredo. The ball was placed in Marques’ court to make the perfect pitch, and that’s exactly what the
powerful right-hander did. Manfredo was tardy on the fastball and Marques got out of dodge in an eventual 6-3 victory that keeps Upper Deck’s bid for another state title alive for another day.
Marques earned the win on the strength of 7.2 innings of two-run ball, though only one was earned. He struck out 11 and walked two while giving up five hits. He threw 120 pitches before turning things over to the bullpen, which survived some tense moments en route to nailing down the game’s final four outs.
“I tried to get ahead, mix up my pitches, and spot my fastball,” Marques said. “I thought I did a decent job. There’s always room for improvement. I wish I commanded the zone a little better so I could have kept my pitch count a little lower, but we got the win.”
“His fastball at this level should get most kids out,” stated Upper Deck assistant coach Mike Murphy. “It’s not like he threw 120 pitches over five innings. He took us deep into the game and threw great. Best start of the year.”
Marques was a two-way threat on this day, going 3-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. The tally was part of Upper Deck’s two-run uprising in the fourth inning. The first run came when Sean Doris was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded while the second was the result of a Gershkoff error.
A sacrifice fly by Steve Andrews pushed Upper Deck’s lead to 3-0 in the fifth, but Post 20 responded with one run in the sixth and one in the eighth. Marques was lifted after throwing a wild pitch on ball four that enabled the second run for Post 20 to score from third.
Next up was John Scungio, who threw a wild pitch and issued a walk to give Gershkoff a two-out chance with the tying and go-ahead runners aboard. Scungio initially had trouble with the comebacker that Manfredo hit back to the mound. The right-hander recovered to make the play to first and move Upper Deck to within three defensive outs of landing a spot in the losers’ bracket final, set for tonight at 6 o’clock.
“John throws hard,” Murphy said. “He got the groundball so he did his job.”
Upper Deck finally got a big hit in the bottom of the eighth, the kind that proved elusive in Tuesday’s 9-2 loss to Collette Post 10. No. 9 hitter Shane Calabro lifted a deep drive that Gershkoff left fielder Brian Cipolla was unable to grab. To make matters worse for Gershkoff, Cipolla ran into the fence and went down in pain.
Calabro easily circled the bases for what amounted to an inside-the-park three-run home run. The breathing room was most welcome as Upper Deck took a 6-2 lead into the ninth.
“It’s tough when you’re waiving the kid around and see he’s probably knocked out, but that was a huge hit for Shane,” Murphy said.
Addison Kopack finished the game on the mound and also added two hits. Drew Szfranski went 2-for-4 with a double.
“We feel good about our pitching. We still feel we’re pretty deep there,” Murphy said. “We’re just worried about when we’re playing and who we’re playing.”
Gershkoff Auburn Post 20 000 001 011 – 3-5-2 Upper Deck Post 86/14 000 210 03x – 6-10-1 Connor Kiernan, Cam Harris (8) and Mike Cronan. Trevor Marques, John Scungio (8), Addison Kopack (9) and Connor Benbenek.