American tops Lincoln in D4 showdown
Cumberland squad uses home run to earn road win
LINCOLN – It came as no surprise to Cumberland American head coach Steve Keough that his All-Stars produced a thrilling, come-from-behind 8-7 victory over rival Lincoln’s best in a R.I. Little League District 4 winners’ bracket quarterfinal tilt at Randy Hien Field on Friday night.
The CALL contingent had trailed Lincoln – ironically the away team after the traditional pre-game coin toss – by a 7-5 count entering the back half of the fifth inning, but a single, fielder’s choice and a two-run blast by outfielder Ethan McDermott sealed the deal.
“Our resilience is unbelievable,” Keough stated after a short, celebratory chat with his troops in shallow right field. “We never give up, and it was a total team thing. We’ve got 13 guys on the roster, but not one player thinks he’s better than the other, whether a kid plays a couple of innings or the whole game.
“It’s the happiest I’ve been as a coach, and it’s because of the team unity,” he added. “You ask a kid to warm up the pitcher or the right fielder, and he’s right there. Everyone picks each other up; nobody complains about anything, and different guys will step up in each game. These kids work their tails off.”
Lefty reliever Zach Leduc earned the triumph after taking over for southpaw starter Cameron Harthan in the fourth. He yielded only two hits, a run, a wild pitch and three walks while fanning a pair, but also helped himself in the batters’ box, going 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Other offensive cornerstones included McDermott (2-for-2, homer, three RBI, two runs scored); Angelo Deshaies (1-for-2, stolen base, double, three RBI, two runs); Mike Clapprood (2-for-3, two runs); and Ryan Slaney and Chris Rodriguez (both 1-for-3, run).
Southpaw Alex Ferranti accepted the loss, though seemed destined to garner the win. After being called upon to relieve righthander Brendan Hill in the second, he had allowed only a hit and walk while whiffing a half-dozen prior to the fifth.
That, however, is when Keough’s crew began to heat up at the plate. Clapprood began the three-run frame with an infield hit, and he moved to third on consecutive wild deliveries.
Deshaies plated him on a fielder’s choice to slice the deficit to 7-6, then robbed second before McDermott clobbered a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right.
That opposite-field homer put CALL up, 87, though Lincoln wasn’t quite ready to throw in the proverbial towel. In the top of the sixth, Ferranti ripped a screaming single to center to open the frame, then took second on a wild offering. He raced to third on C.J. Bernard’s groundout, and Hill walked before stealing second.
With both in scoring position, however, Leduc struck out Charlie London, then forced Kaden Ethier to ground out to second to end it.
CALL (2-0) now must wait to see who will it will face in another winners’ bracket game at 5:30 p.m., Sunday. The opponent will be either Burrillville or Smithfield, but that contest started later Friday evening at the Richard Peck Sports Complex.
“Zach kept the Lincoln kids off-balance with his breaking pitches, and Lincoln’s a solid-hitting team,” Keough stated. “I thought Cam Harthan pitched well, better than the scoreboard showed … As for McDermott, like I said, we have 13 guys on the team, but 10 of them are capable of hitting it out of the park, and he’s definitely one of them.
“Was I nervous when we were down 7-5? I don’t know,” he continued. “I would have thought I’d be more so, but these boys are more confident than any other I’ve coached. They know they can hit the ball because we’ve brought in ex-All-Stars to pitch to them in practice. They realize they can hit with anybody, and they proved that in the first inning.”
Lincoln had notched a pair in the top half when Danny Fish drew a leadoff walk and took third on Ferranti’s two-bagger off the fence in left. Bernard scored Fish on a fielder’s choice, and – with two down – pinch-hitter Charlie London roped an RBI single to right to make it 2-0.
The Cumberlanders nevertheless responded with a quintet in the back half, with Slaney, Rodriguez and Clapprood all recording singles to load the bags. Deshaies followed with a tworun double to center, McDermott an RBI hit and Leduc another two-run double with only one out.
Hill later escaped, but quickly found himself trailing, 5-2.
Fernandes started the second with a twobagger, though that went for naught. Still, Lincoln responded in the third with four runs, and it began with Ferranti’s ability to reach on an infield bobble. Following a wild pitch, Bernard smacked a two-bagger down the leftfield line, and Hill crushed a two-run homer well over the wall, virtually in the same direction as the preceding double.
With two down, pinch-hitter Cam LaBrie drilled a homer, again to left, to help the “visitors” collect the 6-5 advantage.
Fernandes’ two-out wallop in the top of the fifth gave Lincoln the 7-5 cushion, but that just fueled CALL’s desire to end it in style.
“I told our boys afterward that we had no one to blame but ourselves,” Lincoln skipper Ken LaBrie admitted. “The other team played well and put our backs against the wall. Our Achilles’ heel, I think, is our focus. Alex had that kid (McDermott) in a 1-2 count, and we didn’t want him to put it anywhere near the plate.
“We just made a mistake, and the kid took advantage of it. We just didn’t get it done. We were ready to score with Alex at third in case of a wild pitch or passed ball, but their pitcher made some good pitches. We struggled, but I thought we were in good shape in the sixth. You just have to credit them.”
Hill finished 1-for-3 with a blast, walk, two RBI and a run, while Bernard went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run; Ferranti 2-for-3 with a double and run; and Fernandes 2-for-2 with a double, homer RBI and run; London 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Still, Lincoln (1-1) fell into the losers’ bracket, and will take on Glocester at 5:30 p.m., Sunday at a site still to be determined.
“We knew it would be a battle, and that it would be a hitting kind of game,” Keough noted. “We just were able to get that last big hit.”
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