Cumberland walks off with victory
CUMBERLAND — Cumberland baseball coach Andy Tuetken is a positive person, so when he talked to his players after Wednesday’s 3-2 walk-off win over Middletown, Tuetken focused on the way the Clippers hit in the final two innings, rather than the first five innings.
“I was trying to stress to the kids the whole game that you have to hit the top half of the ball and have an at-bat,” Tuetken said. “In innings one through five we didn’t have many good atbats that I can think of. In the sixth and the seventh, we started to see the ball a little better. When we’re making a playoff push like we are, we stole this one.”
The Clippers went into the bottom of the sixth inning trailing by two runs and appeared to be in a lot of trouble because Middletown ace Antonio Jorge had only allowed two hits against nine strikeouts. Zach Fogell (walk) and Reuben Hancock (single) drove Jorge’s pitch count above the maximum of 110 to get into the Middletown bullpen.
Cumberland scored two unearned runs in the sixth to tie the game, and then leadoff hitter Addison Kopack (single) and Nick Croteau (bunt single) started the seventh with hits before Fogell hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score the speedy sophomore to win the game at Tucker Field.
“I was supposed to bunt, but the second pitch went behind me and moved Addison to third base,” Fogell said. “It was a 2-0 count and I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball and find a way to score a run. We didn’t have a very good approach at the plate today, but we came out with the win, so you have to be happy about that.”
Cumberland (10-6 Division I) is now in control of the No. 4 seed in the double-elimination state tournament. The Clippers are currently tied in the loss column with Moses Brown and Bishop Hendricken, but the Clippers own wins over both private schools.
Of course, Cumberland still has two games left in a four-game week. The Clippers will send Austin Cabral to the mound Thursday against Cranston West before a pitcher to be named later throws against East Greenwich on Saturday.
“This is our second walk-off win of the year and these guys battle to the end – that’s a testament to them,” Tuetken said. “These guys love competing. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose, but we always compete until the end.”
Middletown (5-13 Division II) came into the game having scored more than two runs just four times this season and it appeared that streak would continue with Fogell toeing the rubber for the Clippers. The junior lefty wasn’t sharp in his second start since returning from an ankle bruise, but he still struck out eight batters and allowed just three hits and two runs in six innings of work.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” Fogell said. “I was trying to get ahead in the count, but I fell behind a lot of batters. Couldn’t really say why, but it wasn’t my best day today. I need to pound the zone more.”
The Islanders grabbed the lead in the second inning when No. 7 hitter Payton Lee singled to right, moved to second on a balk and eventually scored on a single to right by Preston Walker.
Cumberland had a chance to respond in its half of the second when Reuben Hancock, Nick Crowe and Joe Molis loaded the bases with two outs for Matt Murphy. Jorge struck out the senior on three pitches.
The Clippers had another chance to tie the game in the fourth when C.J. Davock singled and stole second with one out, but Jorge struck out Crowe and Molis.
“The kids have to understand that every atbat is the biggest at-bat of the game,” Tuetken said. “Today, our approach was not there. To be able to squeak by at the end, I’m glad that we won, but this is not the type of game we want to play in the final two games of the season and into the playoffs. (Jorge) wasn’t throwing anything we couldn’t hit, but our approach wasn’t our typical approach.”
Middletown doubled its lead in the sixth when Colby Mason doubled in Noah Rochefort, but the Clippers responded with a pair of unearned runs to tie the game. Drew Szafranski scored Fogell with a sacrifice fly and Molis delivered a two-out single to plate the game-tying run.
Nick Croteau, who picked up the win, pitched a scoreless seventh before Kopack’s leadoff single set the state for Fogell to win the game.