Talented Lions overwhelm inexperienced Tigers
PAWTUCKET – For one local Division I baseball team, it was an opener to savor. For the squad that resided in the opposite dugout, it was a 2021 debut to forget.
Lincoln came out swinging and connecting, scoring five runs before D-I newcomer Tolman took its first cuts. The floodgates kept on flooding in a 22-1 five-inning, mercy-rule victory for the Lions at Slater Park’s McConnon Field on Friday afternoon.
Lincoln pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of Tolman’s six errors and nine walks. It was a 12-1 game heading into the fifth before the Lions sent 15 to plate and scored 10 times.
Daniel Fish and Jake Foster each finished with three hits to pace Lincoln. Foster drove in four runs while cleanup batter Donovan Lopez scored five runs.
Foster was the winning pitcher after allowing one run in four innings with six strikeouts. Head coach Steve Reynolds said the plan was to cap Foster at 70 pitches – he was lifted after throwing 61.
“He was a workhorse out there for us today,” said Reynolds, who was hired as Lincoln’s coach during the summer of 2019 but was forced to sit and hold tight after COVID-19 canceled the 2020 season. “He did an outstanding job and really came through for us in the first game of the year.
“It was nice to play a game that actually meant something,” Reynolds added.
In the leadoff spot, Lincoln received three runs from sophomore Elijah Moffat. He also blasted a solo home run to straightaway center field.
“He’s a talented kid, for sure,” said Reynolds.
Tolman’s lone run came in the bottom of the fourth when Andrew Massey delivered a two-out single that plated Corey Pereira. The Tigers were forced to use five pitchers.
“The game of baseball, it comes down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” said Tolman head coach Theo Murray. “You can get away with 6-8 mistakes in Division III. You can get away with 4-5 mistakes in Division II. At this level, every mistake can come back to haunt you.”
The same two teams will meet Monday at Chet Nichols Field. Before then, Tolman will play Shea in a nonleague game on Saturday morning at McConnon Field.
MOUNT LOSES PITCHERS’ DUEL
WOONSOCKET – East Providence broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of the seventh inning and held on to defeat host Mount St. Charles, 1-0, in Division I action Friday. The winning recipe for the Tigers was a triple and a sacrifice fly.
Ceejay Laquerre was tough on the mound for MSC, tossing a complete-game two-hitter with one walk and eight strikeouts. Mount’s
BRONCOS STOP SAINTS
BURRILLVILLE – Burrillville scored twice in the first inning and never looked back in a 4-1 win over St. Raphael in the Division II season opener for both clubs on Thursday.
Matthew Gibeau and Dean Ayotte came through with run-scoring hits in the first while Burrillville starter Josh Simpson needed just 70 pitches to toss a complete game that included eight strikeouts and one walk.
For SRA, Nolan Potter struck out seven in five innings. He allowed three earned runs on four hits. The Saints finished with four hits Taylor Gaspar singling home a run in the fifth inning.