Aldridge, SRA down Huskies
PAWTUCKET – St. Raphael Pitching coach Jim Mello noticed before the Saints hosted Mt. Hope in a Division II showdown on Tuesday afternoon that expected senior starter Brenden Aldridge seemed more calm and accurate than in previous warm-ups.
“In the pen beforehand, he looked really good,” Mello noted. “He had good command and the accurcy was there. I had a feeling he was going to pitch well. He’s a pitch-to-contact kind of guy, so we needed to play good defense behind him. We hadn’t always done that with him on the mound.”
Mello’s notion proved more than accurate. The tall, lanky righty whirled a five-hitter without a walk (though did strike a batter) and whiffed a trio as the Saints manufactured a nail-biting 2-1 triumph at Vets Park.
“That’s easily the best game he’s pitched all year,” veteran skipper Tom Sorrentine stated after his team captured its fourth win in five tilts and improved to 6-7 in league action. “He kept those guys off-balance; no one really teed off on him. He was right around the plate all day and they had trouble with him. They never really figured him out.
“Toward the beginning of the season, we changed his style of pitching,” he continued. “He’s throwing more sidearm now, as opposed to the three-quarter angle, and he’s getting more movement on the ball. Brenden’s getting better and better every game. It was an adjustment off him, but he accepted it, and now he’s in a groove.”
Offered Aldridge: “I had confidence in myself from the get-go. I knew I could throw strikes, force them into ground balls and have the defense play behind me. My off-speed pitches worked really well, especially the changeup.
“I was a little concerned in the first inning, but after that, when we jumped out to that quick lead (in the back half), I felt relaxed the whole game. We started the season really slow, losing the first three, but we’ve stuck together, and now we’re in the playoff hunt. It feels good, but we have more work to do.”
Aldridge (2-3) also credited his defense, which didn’t make an error for the first time this season. The hurler himself had three assists on comebackers, while senior batterymate Jackson Rush threw out two would-be base robbers with phenomenal, pin-point accuracy.
Classmate/shortstop/co-captain Pat Fleming mustered two putouts and two assists, and fellow cocaptain Elliott Vadnais three more putouts in center.
“Defensively, it had to be the best game this season because we haven’t play mistake-free yet,” Sorrentine said. “We looked really good out there.”
Offensively, Aldridge and Fleming both finished 2-for-3, but senior Justin Simmons went 1-for-3, and knocked in what proved to be the clinching RBI in the sixth. Sophomore James Coleman closed at 1for-3 with a run; and Rosa and frosh Rob Costa 1for-2.
Still, the SRA defense proved sure from the start, as Huskies’ junior Charlie Amarante (2-for-3) led off the top of the first with a hit to short right field, though sophomore Cam Santerre laced a grounder to second baseman Ivan Rosa, who tagged Amarante sliding into second. Fleming’s doubleplay toss sailed past the first baseman Simmons, but he caught Santerre trying to gain second.
In the back half, the Saints rallied for a run off of eventual losing pitcher Connor Padovich.
Coleman beat out an infield hit, then took second when Vadnais reached on an infield miscue. Fleming then attempted a sacrifice bunt, though Padovich threw low to first, allowing Coleman to race home from second. When Vadnais tried to score on the same bunt hit, junior first baseman Nick Simeone threw to catcher Caden Cabral for the delayed tag. (Vadnais had missed the plate with his slide).
Aldridge followed with a single to center, and Rosa’s groundout pushed up both Fleming and himself, yet Costa struck out to end the flurry.
It appeared Sorrentine’s bunch would tack on another in the fourth when Aldridge led the frame with a catcher’s interference call, and freshman pinch-runner John Delahanty hustled to second on Rosa’s sacrifice bunt. Costa fashioned an infield hit between shortstop and third to place runners at the corners, but sophomore Jake LeFort punched into fielder’s choice to first, and Simeone gunned down Delahanty at the plate.
LeFort later scampered to second on defensive indifference to place runners in scoring position, but Padovich squelched that when Simmons bounded out to short.
In the interim, Aldridge retired 13 straight batters before junior Stewart Key poked a two-out, infield hit, though nothing came of it.
With one down in the sixth, however, the Huskies (7-4 league) caught fire. Junior No. 9 hitter Josh Gale ripped a hit to right, then took second on Amarante’s laced single up the middle. That tandem immediately attempted a double steal, but Rush fired a BB to third baseman Costa to cut down the lead runner.
Cabral then grounded to short, and Fleming threw to second, but the base umpire called Santerre safe; Amarante scooted home with the game-tying run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Rosa smoked a oneout, ground hit to center, and senior Peter Spetelunas pinch-ran for him. That’s when head coach Mike Mazzarella decided to replace Padovich with senior righthander Jake Servant, who walked Costa. After LeFort popped out to second baseman London Camelo (who made a great snag over the middle), Simmons delivered his bloop single to shallow center to plate Spetelunas with the winning run. Aldridge earned two quick outs in the seventh, though struck junior C.J. Casalino with a delivery. Mazzarella opted to put frosh Kodi Saotome at first to pinch-run, and he tried to steal second, but Rush’s outstanding gun delivered the final out.