Burrillville has no trouble with CNLL
CUMBERLAND — The Burrillville Major Division All-Star team's response after losing its tournament opener to District 4 favorite Cumberland American last week has been swift and merciless.
After earning a mercy-rule victory over Glocester in its first elimination game, Burrillville marched to Garvin Field Saturday afternoon and produced another offensive explosion. Karyden Artruc and talented lefty Carlo Acquisto each had three RBIs, while Charlie Bergin and catcher Brayden Deschamps each belted home runs in a 17-4 five-inning victory over Cumberland National.
“I know we have a good squad and can play, but that first game was a tough (8-3) loss,” Burrillville coach David DeSante said. “They have a hell of squad at Cumberland American and it was a tough draw. The kids knew we'd hang around, but they were dissapointed and now we have to fight to win. The hope is that we can keep rolling with the mentality of lose and you go home.
“If we can continue to do that, I think we'll be ok.”
Burrillville is one of five squads left fighting for the District 4 title. While CALL is already in the final next Saturday, Burrillville heads to Deerfield Park today at 5:30 p.m. to play a talented Smithfield squad in an elimination game. The winner of that contest will play Lincoln, which trounced North Smithfield, 11-0, Saturday, in an elimination game Tuesday night.
DeSante has his top two pitchers available after Josh Simpson threw 21 pitches in 1.2 innings of scoreless ball to start the contest.
Acquisto also threw fewer than 21 pitches. DeSante indicated Simpson will start today.
“Make no mistake about it, the Smithfield squad is good – so is Lincoln,” DeSante said. “Those guys can flat out play. I have everyone available to pitch except for (Cam DeSante), so I think we'll be ok. We can hang with both of those teams.”
Cumberland National starter Nolan Santos struggled to deal with Burrillville's patient approach st the plate. Deschamps belted a home run in the third inning, but Cumberland National only trailed 6-4 going into the top of the fourth after a run by catcher Andrew Farley.
Burrillville scored twice in the fourth and then nine times in the fifth to end the contest an inning early. Along with Bergin's home run, Artuc belted a three-run double in the nine-run explosion.
Deschamps and Ben DiChiaro each scored three runs, while DeSante and Bergin each had a pair of RBIs.
If we can hit the way we did at the bottom of the lineup, we're in good shape,” DeSante said. “We can be this good offensively, but we haven't been. If we get that from the bottom of the lineup, we can be.”