BVP comes up short in bid to win title

Pride finish in three-way tie for first in first season back on diamond

CUMBERLAND – Senior quad-captain Ed Rigano admitted the team bus ride back to Blackstone Valley Prep late Saturday afternoon was melancholy at best.

He and his Pride teammates had just sustained an 11-3 loss to Highlander Charter of Warren in the Coastal Prep League’s regular-season finale at Mount Pleasant High’s diamond, and – with it – lost the right to call themselves the league champions.

“Highlander beat Block Island and tied them, and we lost to Block Island twice, so they won the title (via) the tiebreaker system; both us and Highlander finished at 5-3,” he sighed after helping his teammates lug equipment back into the school for the last time this year. “I’m disappointed, but I’m not disappointed.

“At the beginning of the season, we knew we could contend for the title, but this is also our first year back after not having a program last year,” that due to a lack of eligible players, he added. “Without that experience from last season, we had a lot of room to grow.

“The first couple of practices, you could tell that we needed a lot of work; we had a lot of kids who were rusty because they hadn’t played. Our seniors hadn’t played since 10th grade, and some of our underclassmen hadn’t played in a while, either.

“As our season went on, we improved,” he added. “In our first game against Highlander, we won it, 9-7, and that gave us a lot of confidence. That’s when we knew we could contend. With how close we came to winning the championship, I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied, but I’m happy with the improvements we made,”

According to skipper Ed Laskowski, BVP had to play three of its eight regular-scheduled games last week. The busy stretch started fine with a 3-2 triumph over Barrington Christian Academy on Tuesday; that raised the Pride’s mark to 5-1 with two tilts remaining. It nevertheless dropped a 13-6 decision to the Block before the loss to the Hawks on Saturday.

Rigano, a quad-captain with fellow seniors Ray Varone, J.R. Stager and Elier Figueroa, did his part in the finale, going 2-for-3 with all three RBI, while Varone finished 1-for-3. The issue for the Pride down the stretch: A lack of quality pitching arms.

Rigano indicated Figueroa was unavailable to start against Highlander on Saturday, and that may have made the difference.

The Pride closed the campaign with 57 total runs scored, while its opponents managed 56.

“We basically saw the best pitchers (the foes had) in our three games last week,” Laskowski stated Sunday. “The guys had been working really hard in the cage all year so they could battle against those talented arms, but we fell short.

“We had a very unique situation with the program,” he continued. “We had a partial season the year before last (due to an inability to field a complete team), and last year we didn’t field one. We had a lot of interest last fall in baseball, so we brought the program back, Because of that, we weren’t going to be as consistent as we would’ve liked.

“I thought we could competitive this year despite those issues we had the previous two years, and we were. You know, it’s a very small league, but there’s some really good baseball being played, and we were at the top of it – or very close to it. At the day, we have something to hang our hat on.

“I also think we have something to build upon. We’ll be graduating some real top-notch players in Ray and Ed and J.R. and Elier, but we also have kids who are underclassmen who have seen what it takes to compete at this level. We also have some middle school kids who are coming up through the system, and they’ll fill out our roster. I hope they’ll be playing ball over the summer.

“Those kids know that we’re going to continue to field a program for them which is tremendously important.”

In particular, Laskowski wanted to “give a shout out to” a pair of talented freshmen – Jadin Cornelio, a pitcher/ shortstop, and Julian Aceituno, a second/third baseman.

“Obviously, as freshmen, it’s extremely difficult to play at the same level as seniors and juniors; they’re supposed to be a step behind, but they weren’t,” he noted. “They were exceptional in practice and in our lineup. Those kids are going to be the cornerstone for our team as we continue to grow at Blackstone Valley Prep.”

Rigano explained that, though his playing career may be over at BVP, he hopes to continue to wear the Pride uniform.

“I every intention of coming back next year and helping Mr. Laskowski as an assistant,” he grinned. “I’m going to Dean College (in Franklin), and I’d love to play baseball there, but – if not – I’ll be living at home in Cumberland. It’ll be really easy to get to practice.”

Laskowski admitted Rigano is already sort of a player coach, so replied, “I’m counting on it.”