HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL Portsmouth eliminates Moses Brown
PORTSMOUTH — John Mass grabbed for the inside of his right elbow and walked off the mound. Cam Ruggieri, prepared or not, was summoned from the bullpen behind the home dugout.
This wasn’t just an average regularseason matchup. Portsmouth was fighting for its Division I playoff future, and its star had just departed in a jam in the top of the sixth inning.
Ruggieri answered the call with great composure. He wriggled out of a tight spot and worked a perfect top of the seventh to eliminate Moses Brown, pushing the Patriots forward into the doubleelimination portion of Pod 2.
The Quakers didn’t come closer than two runs in the late innings. Portsmouth added a pair for insurance in the bottom of the sixth and clinched a 7-3 victory at Crudup Field, eliminating Moses Brown and booking a Tuesday evening date opposite South Kingstown.
“John’s had our back all season,” Ruggieri said. “I wanted to finish the inning for him.”
Mass struck out the first two men he faced in the top of the sixth before running into trouble. The Quakers put the next three men on base in a 5-2 game, and the Boston College commit came out of the game after going to a 2-and-0 count against Will Haggerty. Ruggieri cashed in on a save opportunity after an infield single to deep third by retiring the final four men he faced.
“We have so much trust in Cam,” Portsmouth outfielder Matt Nolan said. “Cam’s a dog. We trust in his off-speeds — we had trust in our defense, too.”
Nick Spaner’s run-scoring triple to deep center and Oliver Rey’s sacrifice fly to right sealed this one for Portsmouth, which will visit the second-seeded Rebels for a scheduled 5:15 p.m. first pitch at Old Mountain Field. The Patriots snapped a 2-2 tie with three runs in the top of the fifth and ultimately never trailed against a team they faced twice over the final week of the regular season. Portsmouth lost a 3-2 thriller to Haggerty on the road before squeezing out a 2-1 win at home.
“There were nerves,” Ruggieri said. “Now we know we have two games. We’re going against a tough team, but I feel like we’ll be prepared. We’ll be ready.”
Rey’s run-scoring double to deep left and Nolan’s fielder’s choice gave the Patriots (10-9) a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and Mass went to work from there. He racked up eight of his 12 strikeouts through the opening three frames thanks to a live fastball, and Moses Brown (8-11) was forced to wait until the second time through its order to reach him.
The Quakers started chipping away in the top of the fourth. Dylan Winslow smoked an RBI triple to deep center and Mass made an athletic play off the mound to snuff out a squeeze bunt that could have plated the tying run. That came across the following inning, as Henry Ballou crashed an RBI double off the fence in deep left to make it 2-2.
“The biggest thing we focus on as a team is momentum,” Nolan said. “I feel like whatever team has momentum stays in control.”
Portsmouth’s immediate rally in the bottom of the fifth maintained its command of the game. Nolan slapped an RBI single the opposite way to left and Charlie Cord drove in a run on a fielder’s choice. Luke Brule’s looping single into shallow left scored Nolan and the Patriots ultimately had enough in the bank to survive.
“It kept us competitive the entire game,” Ruggieri said of the stakes at hand. “It was nice to see we didn’t fold under the pressure and got the job done.” South Kingstown (15-3) handed Portsmouth an 11-1 defeat in the lone regular-season meeting, but that was back on April 16. The Patriots are hoping to make a deep run into a bracket that also includes the returning league finalists. Cumberland and La Salle will also meet on Tuesday, a next chapter after the Clippers captured a classic best-of-3 championship series a year ago.
“Now that we’re past here, we’re so locked in,” Nolan said. “We’re so excited to see how far we’ll go.”