Slow start dooms Mount
WOONSOCKET — The Blackstone Valley’s Division II baseball coaches agree that if you want to feel safely in the D-II playoffs then you’d better finish the regular season with nine victories.
Mount St. Charles entered the final of the season with eight wins, but with three more opportunities to reach the nine-win benchmark.
Two-time defending Division II champion Ponaganset scored the game’s first six runs and pitcher Matt Viveiros allowed just one run in the first six innings of the Chieftains’ 6-4 victory Tuesday afternoon at Mount.
“I think nine wins is what it’s going to take and we have two more games remaining to do it,” Mount coach Paul Jacques said. “Hopefully we can get to nine on Thursday against West Warwick, so we don’t have to worry about Saturday, but I think nine wins are what’s needed. Today, they’re experience really showed, but I thought [starting pitcher] Tim Kenney threw the ball really well.”
Mount St. Charles (8-8 Division II) finishes the week with three games in three days. The Mounties will send junior ace Alex Gonfrade to the mound Thursday when struggling West Warwick makes the trip to Logee Street. The two teams will reconvene at McCarthy Field Friday night to play their annual ALS Awareness games.
Saturday, Ryan Kenney will take on the mound when the Mounties finish the regular season at Sprague Park against playoff-bound Narragansett.
The Mounties made a come back in the seventh inning Tuesday and it started with a walk by reliever Brandon Laramee to No. 9 hitter Josh Slaney. Trey Bourque delivered an RBI and he came around to score on a throwing error after a Jake Meisner single to right field. Meisner scored on a ground out to short by Dan Johnson. Ty Parrillo earned the save when Tim Kenney grounded out.
“We just need to learn not to make mistakes,” Jacques said. “Viveiros kept us off balance at the beginning of the game. When we finally woke up, it was a little too late. Ponaganset is a very, very good defensive team. We hit two balls to the third baseman that we’ve seen go for hits this year and they made the playoffs. Their shortstop, [Chris] DePetrillo, ranged in the hole a number of times.”
Ponaganset (14-3 Division II) grabbed a lead it would never relinquish when Lucas Pierce singled on scored on a single by DePetrillo. Tim Kenney, who struck out All-Stater Billy Butler twice, ran into trouble in the fifth inning when he gave up five runs. Pierce (single), Devon Atkinson (single), Parrillo (fielder’s choice), Butler (single) and Cal Parrillo (single) all scored runs to increase the lead to 6-0.
The Mounties, who received scoreless innings of relief from Ryan Kenney and Josh Tselikis, grabbed a run back in the sixth when Meisner singled and came around to score after a Johnson double. Ponaganset 001 050 0 – 6 12 2
Mount St. Charles 000 001 3 – 4 7 1
Matt Viveiros, Brandon Laramee (7), Ty Parrillo (7) and Lucas Pierce; Tim Kenney, Ryan Kenney (6), John Tselikis (7) and Trey Bourque.