Kopack is Legion ball MVP
Cumberland slugger led Upper Deck to title
WEST WARWICK – Upper Deck Post 14 picked absolutely the worst time to suffer a massive letdown.
Needing only one win to clinch the R.I. American Legion Senior Division championship on Thursday night, skipper Matt Allard’s bunch committed four errors and dropped an ugly 9-5 loss to Gershkoff/Auburn Post 20 of Cranston.
In fact, three of those miscues led to five opponent runs in the bottom of the second frame.
Allard’s response: “They got up early on us; obvious- ly, it was 6-0 after two (innings), and I thought (starter) Sean Doris pitched OK, but we threw it around, and that didn’t help. We were sloppy. It is hot out here, but I’m not using that as an excuse. We dug ourselves a huge hole.”
What he offered afterward, however, proved noteworthy.
“Their kid (pitcher Kennsy Marte) had a no-hitter going into the sixth, but I’m proud of the way our kids battled, came back and made it a game,” he grinned. “We scored five in the sixth and made them squirm. Now we have one game for it all. We’ll see what happens.”
Because this was a double-elimination tournament, and UD had yet to lose, Gershkoff had to post two straight wins over its northern rival. That proved, simply, to be rather difficult.
Trailing 3-1 entering the top of the third, Post 14 exploded for nine runs – including nine straight hitters reaching the plate before a single out had been recorded – and lambasted Post 20, 11-6, before perhaps 250 fans at McCarthy Field.
“This feels great; I mean, great,” Allard stated after a wild celebration. “Three out of four years, we’ve won the state title. This is my first as head coach, but it’s the eighth for UD/Cumberland Post 14 since 1985. I don’t think there are many teams statewide who can say that, and I’m pretty proud of that fact.”
The contingent is made up predominantly of Cumberland and Lincoln high players, and Allard indicated both schools sustained heartbreaking defeats in the interscholastic playoffs this spring. The Clippers dropped a 7-6 decision to South Kingstown, and the Lions a 2-1 verdict to Hendricken.
“Both of those happened on this same field, so to those guys kids on the field celebrating a state championship as one, it honestly gave me chills,” he noted. “I’m so happy for all of them; they’ve gone from utter disappointment to pure joy, and that’s why you play Legion baseball. You’re playing for a town, or – in our case – two. That’s what I think is so great. It’s not just for a school, and t both communities can take pride in this.”
With the triumph, UD (2110-1) will have a short trek to the Northeast Regional tourney at the College of the Holy Cross. It will open the event d against the Maine champion at noon Wednesday. Should it win, it would play the last game the next night.
It came of no surprise that t Addison Kopack came away with the Most Valuable Playd er Award. He finished 2-for4 with two homers, a walk, three RBIs and two runs scored, while fellow Clipper
Drew Szafranski went 1-for-5 with a dinger, three RBIs and a run.
Other key contributions came from Kyle DeLuca (3for-4, RBI, run); Steve Andrews (2-for-4, run); Nick Larson, Tyler McNulty and Shane Calabro (1-for-4, RBI, run); and Connor Sheehan (1for-3, HBP, run).
La Salle senior/righty Ben Hale had issues early on, but earned the win. He lasted three-plus innings and scattered four hits, four runs (two earned) and three walks while whiffing one. After Austin Cabral went a sketchy two (though was picked up by his defense), Kopack finished off the final pair.
He too was a bit wild, but allowed only two hits, an earned run and two passes while strikeout a trio.
To be fair, all of the UD hurlers played key roles in the six-game tourney.
“This is my first-ever state championship, and this shows lots of hard work pays off,” stated righty starter Corey Mayer, who gained the win in UD’s come-from-behind 9-5 victory over Gershkoff in the winners’ bracket final. “We have a bunch of guys who give this sport their everything all the time, and it all came together.
“The mood after the first game was good,” he continued. “Yeah, we lost, but we took the momentum from that five-run sixth and transitioned it to the second. We wanted to keep getting guys on base, move ‘em into scoring position and bring them in.”
UD took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the first, but Post 20 jumped ahead. Anthony Ramos (3-for-3, three steals, RBI and two runs) led with a hit and robbed second before Jake Frost walked. Alex Martinez plated the former with a single to left, but Frost raced in when Larson allowed the ball to skip past him.
Gershkoff made it 3-1 in the second when Bret Traficante reached on an infield miscue, Robbie Antoine doubled him to third and Ramos’ sacrifice fly to right plated him.
Undaunted, Post 14 produced an impressive rally. Andrews drilled starter Connor Krusz’s first pitch into right for a hit, and Kopack hammered his third over the 359-
foot sign in right to knot it at 3. Doris, who was the losing pitcher in the previous contest, followed with an opposite-field double to left, Larson reached on a misplayed bunt by Krusz and McNulty ripped an RBI hit to right.
Larson scored on DeLuca’s single to left, and McNulty on Calabro’s hit to center before Szafranski smoked a threerun blast off the left-field four pole (it stands 311 feet away, but the ball would’ve traveled at least 330).
The surge continued when Sheehan beat out an infield hit, but Andrews – the 10th batter – grounded to first for the initial out. A third reliever, Dante DeFalco, walked two to refill the bags, and Larson smoked a sacrifice line drive to center to plate Sheehan with the ninth run – and/or a 10-3 cushion.
Kopack walloped another dinger to straightaway center with one out in the fifth to, in essence, seal it.
Post 20 did provide a fight, loading the bases in the fourth, fifth and sixth, yet came away with only a run in each.
“This feels so great,” stated righty reliever Brandon Kelly. “I’ve come up short (of winning) a state title a bunch of times; we (Lincoln Little League All-Stars) lost the District 4 title to Burrillville back in 2012, and that’s the closest we ever came. Then this year, (as a Lion), we lost to Hendricken, and that hurt, too.
“Still, I’d say being a part of this team made up for all those losses, and that’s because of the group of guys who are on it,” he added. “Everyone stays so positive all the time. We all hang out together outside of practices and games, so we have that chemistry. We know how each other thinks.
“Regardless of talent or batting average or ERA, we’re all friends, and I think that’s the most important thing.”
Game 1
Upper Deck Post 14 000 005 0 – 5 – 7 – 4 Gershkoff/Auburn 150 030 x – 9 – 6 – 1 Sean Doris, Brandon Kelly (5) and Tyler McNulty. Kennsy Marte, Dante DeFalco (7) and Alex Martinez. 2B – Dante Parisi. HR – Steve Andrews.
Game 2
Upper Deck 109 010 0 – 11 – 13 – 3 Gershkoff/Auburn 210 111 0 – 6 – 6 – 4 Ben Hale, Austin Cabral (4), Addie Kopack (6) and Tyler McNulty. Connor Krusz, Zack Minacucci (3), Dante DeFalco (3), Justin Neary (3) and Tom Barbieri. 2B – Sean Doris, Robbie Antoine 2. HR – Kopack 2, Drew Szafranski.