Feole fires no-hitter in Lincoln win
SMITHFIELD — No matter the age group, Lincoln Little League expects to compete for District 4 and state championships at all three age-group levels.
But, Lincoln was nowhere to be found at last summer’s District 4 10-year-old title game where Cumberland National overcame Burrillville to claim the title.
Lincoln coach Rob Sharkey said last summer’s early exit from the district tournament inspired the current crop of 11-year-olds to work hard to make sure they didn’t fall short again.
“This team wanted it more this year than I’ve ever seen a team want it,” Sharkey said. “They worked hard and we put them into a system where they wanted to get better and they got better every day – and here we are. All the credit goes to the kids because they worked so hard and put in all the time. Their parents got them to practice every day and that’s what it takes. It takes hard work, dedication, pride and that’s what Lincoln baseball is all about it.”
It also takes an elite starting pitcher. Talented righthander Jon Luca Feole threw a four-inning no-hitter with nine strikeouts in Saturday afternoon’s 11-year-old District 4 title game against Burrillville at Whipple Field. No. 8 hitter Luke Ducharme delivered three RBIs and three Lincoln batters scored four runs in a 10-0 four-inning victory over Burrillville to claim the District 4 title.
“I’m proud of this team because when we played in the Sharon tournament we couldn’t win a game without a team forfeiting,” Feole said. “Now, we mercied one of the best teams in our division.”
Positives were hard to find for Burrillville, which needed a victory Saturday just to force a second title game today. Starting pitcher Cam Laramee allowed six runs in three innings of work, while the only Burrillville players to
reach base were Adam Diallo (walk) in the third inning and shortstop Logan Gelinas (error) in the fourth inning.
“The type of bat you’re swinging doesn’t matter if you’re not making contact,” Burrillville coach Charlie DiChairo said of his team’s offensive struggles throughout the tournament. “We just didn’t make enough contact. We’ve been in two straight district finals and going forward we probably have to be tougher about practice and getting better.
“You look at Lincoln, they practiced [Friday] and we gave our kids the night off. If we want to win next year, we’re going to have to work harder in practice and improve our skills.”
Lincoln scored all the runs it would need to secure the title in the top of the first, as Isaac Cabral reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on a wild pitch. Feole, who was hit with a pitch, doubled the lead on a single by second baseman Robert Wingate.
It was clear from the opening inning Burrillville was in for a tough afternoon at the plate against Feole, who used an overpowering fastball to strike out Cam Potter, Gelinas and Jack DiChairo on just 10 pitches.
“He was phenomenal,” Sharkey said of his ace. “He’s done a phenomenal job. All we want him to do is throw strikes and challenge hitters and make them earn everything they get. He did a great job of that today. He was very efficient and he just pounded the strike zone.”
The bottom of Lincoln’s order made Laramee pay for a bout of wildness in the second inning. After a walk to Nick Rianna and a hit by pitch of Wingate, Ducharme singled in catcher John Nicoll and then reserve Joseph Lezon singled in Rianna and Ducharme to extend the lead to five. Leadoff hitter Jack Armstrong followed with a single.
Lincoln received an RBI and a run scored from Steve Rogers as part of a four-run fourth inning to increase the lead to 10-0. Feole, Nicoll and Rianna also scored in the inning.
Feole saw his perfect game come to an end when he walked Diallo to start the third, but he still faced the minimum amount of batters through three innings after Nicoll threw out Diallo at second.
Gelinas was the first Burrillville player to put the ball in play when he reached on an error in the fourth, but Feole struck out DiChairo and then forced Dan DelMonaco to ground out to short to finish the contest.
“We’ve just tried to play the right way and that’s what we’ve done. I couldn’t be happier as a coach.” Sharkey said. “I thought anything was possible [going into the tournament], but we had a long road to get there. Anything is possible in Little League baseball. You just have to throw strikes, hit it where it’s pitched and do the right thing. These kids did that and here we are.”