Lincoln wins
In battle of state champs, Lincoln earns crucial win
Showdown between 11-yearold state champs and Major Division champs goes to Lincoln Little Leaguers.
LINCOLN — The showdown between the reigning 11-year-old state champions and the Major Division state champions lived up to the hype.
The duel between two of the top Little League pitchers in New England exceeded expectations.
Cumberland American righty Jack LaRose proved to be the top individual talent in Monday night’s District 4 winners’ bracket semifinal showdown with Lincoln, as the righty pitched a complete game, hit a solo home run and added a double and two runs scored.
Lincoln, however, proved to be a little deeper. Righty Ryan Thompson earned the win by throwing five innings, while Jayden Champagne, Donavon Lopez and Ryan Allen all scored runs early in the contest to lead Lincoln to a 3-2 victory over the defending state champions at Randy Hien Field.
“That’s exactly how I thought it would go – I didn’t think there’d be that many runs, to tell you the truth,” Lincoln coach Dale O’Dell said. “I thought it would be 1-nothing or 2-1, but those are the kind of games that you have to win along the way. I knew that kid LaRose is just nails out there, so we just tried to get some good swings and put the ball in play as often as possible.”
LaRose, who was the ace of last season’s CALL squad, gave up six hits in the first three innings, but he settled down and set down the final 11 Lincoln batters he faced. He struck out eight batters and didn’t walk any.
Thompson, who was also played on the Major Division squad last summer, was nearly as impressive. The righty surrendered just two runs on six hits in five innings to go along with 10 strikeouts. His only walk was an intentional walk to LaRose in the third inning.
“My kid Thompson really battled,” O’Dell said. “He didn’t have his curveball tonight, so he had to throw his fastball. He spotted them well. He went upstairs when he had to and he went away when he had to. I can’t say enough about him. He’s one of the top players in the state.”
Monday’s loss marks the first time Cumberland American was bounced into the losers’ bracket in the District 4 tournament since 2015. CALL will play Smithfield in an elimination game Friday night at a field to be determined.
“We look forward to getting back to see them again,” CALL coach Anthony Martin said. “Hopefully that’s what we do.”
Even though Lincoln, which will play either Woonsocket or Burrillville in the winners’ bracket final Friday night, led from the opening inning, Cumberland American nearly tied the game in the sixth inning. LaRose smashed the second pitch he saw from Thompson over the fence for the game’s only home run to cut the deficit in half.
Diego Benitez followed with his second hit of the night to put the game-tying run on base. Thompson reached his pitch limit following the hit and Lopez, the ace of last summer’s state title team, came in and struck out the next three batters. Benitez was just 60 feet from tying the game when Joaquin Cardoso struck out to end it.
“We knew that we were in for a low-scoring game,” Martin said. “We knew that it would be a close game, but we just didn’t hit enough today. Jack did an amazing job and he’s a phenomenal pitcher, but we just didn’t hit enough to win.”
Lincoln did most of its damage against LaRose in the first inning, as Lopez hit a one-out single and Allen reached on an infield single with two outs. Zach Evans followed with an RBI sin- gle to score Lopez and Allen scored on a wild pitch.
CALL grabbed a run back in the first inning when LaRose doubled and scored on a Benitez single.
Lincoln restored its tworun advantage in the third on a Thompson double to score Champagne. Thompson was Lincoln’s final base runner because LaRose set down the final 11 batters he faced.
“We caught him a little bit early, but he got tough as the game went on,” said O’Dell, who credited Ken LaBrie and Marty Gaughan for preparing the team to face LaRose. “We got our kids ready for every- thing because we know he throws fastballs at all times, curveballs at all times and a knuckleball. He’s tough to sit on a fastball. We tried to do that as the game went on, but he’s tough.”
CALL had the game-tying run one first in the third, but Thompson struck out Benitez to end the threat. Thompson cruised through the fourth and fifth innings before LaRose socked a solo shot to set the stage for a nerve-wracking final inning for O’Dell and his coaching staff.
“I guess we did enough today. We get some key hits,” O’Dell said. “We’ve been here before and these are the kind of games you have to win to be a championship team.” Lincoln 201 000 – 3 6 0 Cumberland American 100 001 – 2 6 1 Ryan Thompson, Donavon Lopez (6) and Noah Campanelli; Jack LaRose and ; 2B – L, Thompson; CA, LaRose; HR – CA, LaRose.