Post 10 pitching struggles in road loss to Post Two
WESTWARWICK — Post Two faced a tough test Thursday afternoon, as they played Riverside Post 10 in the opening game of a best-ofthree series beginning at McCarthy Field. Fortunately, their offense was up to the task.
By the time it was all over, a five-run deficit in the second inning was nothing more than a distant memory, as Post Two’s bats tallied 17 runs over the span of a nine-inning contest, prevailing 17-12. The teams will play Game 2 of the series at Pawtucket’s Max Read tonight at 7:30.
Jake Mellor and Charlie Tashjian both recorded three RBIs in the win, while Nick D’Ambra and Brendan Organ each had a two. Chris Gaipo, Josh Andrade and Dan McManus knocked home runs of their own, as Post 2 managed to do plenty of damage at the plate, even without one of their most prominent hitters in Jarrad Grossguth, who will be out for the next several days.
Even more impressive than their offensive eruption was the fact that Post Two was held scoreless as a team through the first three innings against starting pitcher Brenden Aldridge before plating seven in the fourth, three in the sixth, five in the seventh and two in the eighth in a game that took three hours to complete.
Riverside was forced to use a total of four pitchers in the loss, while Post 2 put three
different players on the mound over the course of the game as the two will get right back at it on Friday night back on Post 10’s home turf.
“Nine innings is an eternity,” head coach John Parente said, referring to the additional two frames played compared to the typical seven during the regular season.
His explanation for his club’s rally after falling behind early was straightforward.
“At 5-0, nobody hung their heads and that’s what it was,” he said.
On the other side, Collette coach Jim Russo credited his team for their most successful outing from an offensive standpoint this year.
“That’s the best we’ve hit all year. That’s the positive and we’ve just got to put it behind us and get ready for Game 2,” he said.
Fleming, Riley Cronin and Ray Aponte were the most productive players at the plate on the night for a Post 10 team that fought to the final out.
Post Two’s offense was just that much better.
“Obviously, they’re a very strong team. We’ll just have to come back and regroup,” Russo said.
Russo thought Post Two looked good even early on when Post 10 held them off of the scoreboard.
“Give them credit. Even in the first couple of innings, they hit the ball hard.”
Mike Viveros started on the mound for Post Two and would wind up lasting into the seventh inning before load- ing the bases with nobody out. Joe Murray and Nick D’Ambra combined to record the final nine outs.
After setting down the opposition with relative ease in the first, Viveros would run into trouble in the second, as Riverside managed to bat around the order against him, putting five runs on the board by the time it was all over. Aponte led the frame off with a single before Fleming and Cronin connected on back-to-back RBI doubles, making it 2-0. A fortunate hop off the bat of Elliot Vadnais brought in a run following an error, while a sacrifice fly by Dylan Bosclair and an RBI infield single by Chris Duarte made it a 5-0 game by the time the rally was over.
Viveros would not buckle on the mound after the rough sequence in the second, as he retired the side in order in each of the next two frames, helping to get his offense back to work as soon as possible, something Parente was pleased by.
“I thought Michael did a heck of a job after that one inning,” he said.
The home half of the fourth was when the game changed. After loading the bases, Mellor drove home a pair, as did D’Ambra following an RBI infield single by Andrade. A sacrifice fly by McManus was rounded out by an RBI single from Organ as Post 2 reversed the tables and took a 7-5 lead.
Tashjian helped expand the lead to 10-5 on a two-run single in the sixth, while Organ’s two-run single in the seventh made up for a pair of runs surrendered in the top of the inning. From there it was a back and forth contest, with the edge going to Post 2 in the end.