Cumberland nearly overcomes seven-run deficit Rebels eliminate Clippers
WEST WARWICK – The art of the comeback has been the Cumberland High baseball team’s forte this season.
For a brief moment at McCarthy Field on Friday, it appeared the Clippers would add another tale of resurgence and keep their state title hopes alive for another day.
The scenario – tying run at third base, two out in the top of the seventh inning – couldn’t have been more ideal. Alas, the clock struck midnight as South Kingstown all-state pitcher Bo Brutti got Cumberland’s C.J. Davock to ground out to second base. The hop was a bit funky, yet second baseman Zachary Zyons stayed calm and stayed with it in a 7-6 nail-biting victory that confirmed the Rebels’ reservation for next week’s bestof-three title series at McCoy Stadium.
“We don’t play with the lead too often, but it doesn’t matter if we’re down two, three, or five runs. We keep fighting,” CHS head coach Andy Tuetken said. “That seventh inning, we couldn’t ask for much more. We couldn’t get that last run, but I couldn’t be prouder.”
Playing their fourth game in as many days, the Clippers entered the seventh inning in search of six runs to tie the game. A team that had stranded two baserunners in the third inning and again in the fifth was finally applied some stiff pressure after opening the final frame with three straight singles.
A Nick Croteau single scored Adam Bertherman to make it 7-2, then another run scored when the Rebels committed an error on a ball hit by Joey Molis. The bases were still loaded when Zach Fogell lined a deep drive to the left-field wall that chased home two runs.
What was believed to a South Kingstown romp was no longer the case. A pitching change was made with Cumberland catcher Reuben Hancock greeting freshman Andrew Mosher with a hot smash to third base that resulted in another run that made it a one-run game.
Mosher faced just one batter. In came Brutti, tasked with stranding the tying run at third base. The senior did his job, utilizing a wipeout slider to strike out Addison Kopack. It was then up to Davock, who did make decent contact. It’s just that South Kingstown’s Zyons didn’t flinch when the ball appeared to have a mind of its own.
“We figured we would see Brutti eventually,” Tuetken said. “We actually had success against him the last time out, but he’s their go-to guy for a reason and he showed why.”
With that, the valiant comeback bid came to an end. So too did a season that for the Clippers saw them reach the Division I Final Four and climb all the way out of the losers’ bracket. Cumberland did out-hit South Kingstown, 9-8, but a pitching staff that had to be running on fumes ended up hitting four batters and spotted the Rebels six runs in the third inning.
The Clippers turned to Ryan Kirkpatrick with the hope he could provide enough length before turning things over to the bullpen. The sophomore opened the contest with two scoreless innings before running into trouble in the third. Tuetken made a switch after the Rebels loaded the bases with no outs.
Stepping into a tight spot was Cumberland’s Michael Nocera. The first batter the junior faced with South Kingstown cleanup hitter Cole Podedworny, who lined a first-pitch single that plated two runs. The Rebels would go on to score four more runs in the third, sending 10 to the plate.
More trouble surfaced an inning later with South Kingstown loading the bases with the assistance of three hit batters. The team’s seventh run came on a wild pitch, but the third pitcher of the game for the Clippers, Kopack, slammed the door with 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Cumberland got on the scoreboard in the fifth behind a Molis bloop single into right field that scored Drew Szafranski, who made a nice running catch in center field in the second inning.
Asked about the mood in the dugout after falling into a 7-0 hole with nine outs to work with, Tuetken said that there no panic.
“They believed and kept saying it to each other,” the coach said. “They have that mentality because that’s the way we’ve played all season. We get behind but we gradually chip away.”
Playing in his final high school game, Szafranski finished with two hits and two runs. Croteau, a junior, also had two hits. Cumberland 000 010 5 – 6-9-0 South Kingstown 006 100 x – 7-8-2 Ryan Kirkpatrick, Michael Nocera (3), Addison Kopack (4) and Reuben Hancock. Hunter Roberts, Phil Ruhle (6), Andrew Mosher (7), Bo Brutti (7) and Blaine Lidsky.