Raiders put it all together vs. Central Falls
CENTRAL FALLS – Struggles in several important areas kept the Shea High baseball team from establishing the consistency it was looking for this spring.
Friday afternoon at Macomber Stadium, those struggles were nowhere to be found.
The defense was solid – only one error – and there were enough timely hits to back starting pitcher Cam Seaver. Blend all the components together and what you have is an 8-5 win for the Raiders over Central Falls in Division III action.
It was a bounce-back performance for a Shea group that was five outs away from closing out Davies Tech on Wednesday before the Patriots came roaring back for an 11-7 win.
Backing up that performance with a strong effort against the Warriors was made possible by Seaver, who turned in workman-like 6.1 innings before reaching the 110-pitch count limit. A sophomore, Seaver struck out eight and walked seven, through two were intentional passes.
Replacing Seaver was Jayden Acosta, who added to his strong day at the plate with a two-out save. Acosta retired both batters he faced.
“Very proud of the kids. They played well,” said Shea head coach Dino Campopiano. “From the first day of the season until now, they’ve gotten better. We couldn’t catch a ground ball at the beginning of the year. We couldn’t catch a pop fly. They’ve improved. I’m very proud of what this young group has done.”
A senior, Acosta finished with two hits and three RBI. His classmate, Dylan Sheehan, belted a two-run double that came on two strikes and put the Raiders up 7-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Warriors got two runs off Seaver in the first inning as Wist Santos connected on a two-run triple. After that, the Raiders owned the upper hand for the rest of the way.
With Shea trailing 2-1, Acosta gave his team the lead with one swing of the bat. He jumped on the first pitch for a two-run single with two down in the third inning. Central Falls loaded the bases in the bottom of the third inning but Seaver escaped after getting a groundball back to the mound.
Shea opened things up a bit in the fifth with Anelton Semedo drawing a one-out walk before stealing second and coming out to score on a Central Falls throwing error. Leadoff batter Natanael Gonzalez jumped on the first pitch for an RBI single that made it 5-2 before Sheehan came through with a timely double that capped a four-run uprising.
The Warriors stranded two more baserunners in the fifth inning and went down in order in the sixth. Dominic Robbio helped chop a run off the home team’s deficit with an RBI double with no outs in the seventh. Robbio would eventually score on a wild pitch.
“Seaver kept us off-balance but we didn’t get a lot of production in key spots,” said Central Falls head coach Tito Santos.
C.F. (2-7, Division III) finished with three hits while Shea (3-6, Division III) had six hits. Now winners of three of their last four, the Raiders host Block Island on Monday. C.F. hosts Block Island on Wednesday.
Follow Brendan McGair on Twitter @BWMcGair03
SAINTS SURVIVE MARINERS
NARRAGANSETT – The St. Raphael baseball team jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings before surviving some tight moments and emerging with a 5-3 win over Narragansett in Division II action on Friday night. Now winners of five of their last six, the Saints improve to 6-3 in league play.
Senior Sam White turned in his second straight solid outing for SRA, tossing a complete-game six-hitter with four strikeouts and three walks. White’s toughest inning was the sixth inning as the Mariners erased a 5-1 deficit and had the potential tying runs on base with two down. The frame ended with White notching a strikeout.
Offensively, the Saints jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first as Ben Force brought home Taylor Gaspar on a sacrifice fly and White aided his own cause with an RBI single. The lead grew to 5-0 in the second as Force doubled in a pair and Nolan Potter came through with an RBI double.
Force finished the day with three RBI while Gaspar scored two runs and had one hit. Cooper Arnold had a hit and scored one run for the Saints, who begin a home-and-home series against Woonsocket next Wednesday at Vets Park.