Lincoln hands Cumberland 1st loss
Parisi pitches four dominant innings to force winner-take-all title game
WOONSOCKET — The Cumberland Little League Jimmy Fund Tournament baseball team appeared primed to break open Thursday night’s final against Lincoln Little League in the bottom of the second inning.
The undefeated squad already had a one-run lead when Zach Ridgeway drew a walk to load the bases with two outs for leadoff hitter Ryan Harris.
Lincoln managed to extricate itself from the difficult situation, and thanks to a brilliant relief performance from Michael Parisi and four runs in the fourth inning, Lincoln forced a winner-take-all title game tonight with a 5-3 victory at Woonsocket Little League’s Lajoie Field.
“I was telling the kids they need to have a shortterm memory in baseball because it’s one of the toughest games you can play,” Lincoln coach Jason Oldham said in reference to last week’s 2-0 loss to Cumberland in the winners’ bracket final. “They were able to do that. They forgot about last week and the first inning and they were able to refocus and get themselves into the game.”
While Will Aiken (a hit and a run) and Austin Henault (an RBI and a run scored) were the offensive heroes, it was Parisi who led the way in the victory. Until Dylan Poloski’s mammoth RBI double in the sixth inning, the Lincoln lefty didn’t allow a Cumberland runner past first base.
Parisi allowed one run on four hits in four innings of work to earn the victory. He also struck out three and didn’t walk a batter.
“He was the one who pitched well against them the first time, so we had him in our back pocket knowing that we had an opportunity to go to him,” Oldham said of the lefty. “When we felt like the momentum was changing and we needed some outs, we put Michael in to pitch. He did exactly what we wanted him to do.”
The team will return to Lajoie Field tonight at 7 to determine a champion. Lincoln, which lost in the final last season, is looking for its first title since 2015. Cumberland’s barren run stretches before the start of the decade.
For Cumberland, Poloski was the top offensive contributor with two hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Tyler Reynolds (three hits) and Brady Stenovitch (an RBI and a run scored) also played well.
Lincoln did something in the first inning they didn’t do the last time they played Cumberland – score a run. Starting pitcher Josh Caro walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Cumberland answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Harris scored on a Stenovitch ground out to Luca Coppolino and then Poloski scored on a wild pitch.
Both starters avoided any damage in the second inning, but Lincoln retook the lead for good in the fourth inning. Caden Oldham, Aiken (single), Declan Cronan-O’Grady (walk) and Henault (RBI walk) all scored in the inning.
At one point, Parisi set down 10 of the 11 batters he faced before giving up a sixth-inning single to Reynolds. Poloski gave his team a chance to extend the contest with his RBI double to plate Stenovitch, but Parisi induced an infield pop up to force Friday’s contest.
“The approach tomorrow is all hands on deck. It’s going to take a complete team effort just like today,” Oldham said. “We’re going to be down a couple of pitchers because they threw today – hopefully everyone goes to bed early and is ready.”