Still alive
Lefty tosses complete-game five-hitter
After losing their second playoff game, the Cumberland High baseball team has reeled off three straight losers’ bracket wins.
WEST WARWICK — Cumberland lefthander Brendan Wright didn’t care that No. 3 Cranston East had a good scouting report on him after the sophomore held the Thunderbolts to just one run last Friday, Wright wasn’t going to change his approach in Thursday afternoon’s Division I Region II losers’ bracket final.
“The game plan is always the same,” Wright said. “I just go out there, pound the zone, let my pitches work for me and let my movement work for me. I just tried to get ground-ball outs and end the inning as soon as possible.”
Wright faced some early adversity, as the Thunderbolts loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning and put the first two runners on in the third, but each time the sophomore made a timely pitch and his superb defense made the requisite plays.
The sophomore allowed just five hits and struck out four Thunderbolts in his fourth complete-game effort in his last five outings. Junior Reuben Hancock scored Zach Fogell with a second-inning single and Addison Kopack hit a fourth-inning home run to lead the No. 6 Clippers to a 2-0 victory at McCarthy Field.
“Brendan had a lot of success against them last time, but we knew they’re a good hitting team that swings the bat well,” Cumberland coach Andy Tuet- ken said. “Brendan knew that all he has to do is throw strikes and put the ball in play. Our defense was exceptional again today and we turned a number of double plays in key spots. He worked himself out of a tough jams early on. Once he settled down, he really started to pitch well.”
“I’m not surprised at all,” Kopack said of Wright’s second-half resurgence. “What he did last time against Cranston East was the same exact thing. His last five starts, he’s been shoving the whole season.”
Cumberland (15-7) received superb starts from its two lefty aces – Fogell and Wright – in the last two days to advance to today’s regional final against No. 2 South Kingstown. Tuetken will have to find a way to defeat the Rebels twice in 24 hours with a group of pitchers who haven’t started many games this season.
Ryan Kirkpatrick, who started Saturday’s game against North Kingstown, will likely get the start at McCarthy Field. Tuetken, however, also has Michael Nocera, Adam Bertherman and Kopack available to pitch.
“We’re going to figure our pitching out [last night], but it’s probably going to look a lot like it did against North Kingstown,” Tuetken said. “It was almost a by-committee approach that day. Those two guys, Fogell and Wright, did exactly what we needed them to do.”
Cranston East (15-7) overcame Wright’s brilliance last week thanks to Marcos Badia’s impressive outing, but Badia couldn’t deliver the same effort Thursday. Fogell started the second inning with a booming double to left field and Hancock followed with an RBI single past third baseman Zach Cole.
It was the first time in the postseason the Clippers actually scored the game’s first run.
“It was very important that we scored first,” Wright said. “No matter if we’re behind or ahead, my mindset is always the same. I knew my guys were going to score runs for me. We had to avenge that last loss.”
“It was really important we scored early because last time we didn’t get any runs against them until, well, never,” Kopack said. “Hopefully that run allowed him to pitch a little more comfortable and be free.”
The rest of the contest was about Wright and the Cumberland defense. Left fielder Evan Marcet threw out Justin Neary trying to stretch a single into a double to start the second and the inning ended when Shane Calabro and Nick Croteau started the first of their three double plays.
The Thunderbolts had Anthony Florenz on second and leadoff hitter Anthony Ramos at first with no outs in the third, but a failed bunt attempt was followed by two fly outs and a strikeout. The Thunderbolts didn’t get another runner past second base over the final four innings.
Croteau started a double play to end the fifth inning when he caught a Quinn Lanigan liner and doubled Florenz off at second. Calabro started a 6-4-3 double play to end the sixth.
“They sure look good out there, especially today,” Tuetken said of his middle infielders. “Those double plays weren’t easy, they weren’t tailor-made double plays. They had to work for those. Addison also made the plays at first. Phenomenal job by our defense.”
Kopack doubled the lead in the fourth inning when he crushed an 0-1 Badia offering over the left-field fence for his first home run of the season.
“He gave me a fastball on the first pitch and I put a pretty decent swing on it and got a good piece of it, so I was expecting off speed on the next pitch,” Kopack said. “That’s what I got. It felt amazing when I hit it.”
Cumberland 010 100 0–261 Cranston East 000 000 0–051 Brendan Wright and Reuben Hancock; Marcos Badia, Gio Canales (5) and Alex Martinez. 2B – C, Zach Fogell; HR – C, Addison Kopack.