Sports
Seekonk Baseball Team Loses to Apponequet in First-Round Playoff
The Warriors bowed out of the 2011 postseason on Friday when they fell to the Lakers.
In their first playoff game under coach Joe Demelo, Seekonk fell to division foe Apponequet 7-5, ending their season. The coach said toward the end of the season (when his team was 9-5) that a 10th win would likely garner his team a home game to start the playoffs.
Although the Warriors did win a 10th game to finish 10-6, they were sent on the road, and had to take the long ride out to Lakeville on Friday to start their postseason.
"It was a tough game," said Demelo after his team was eliminated. "We left a lot of guys on base and let them off the hook too many times." His Warriors did leave a lot of men on base, 11 to be exact.
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The worst squanders occurred in the first and fifth innings, when Seekonk left the bases loaded. Apponequet starter Dan DePippo had struggled in the first, and only recorded a pair of loud outs before getting a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the threat.
Branden George was staked to a two-run lead before he threw a pitch. Justin Carvalho walked and came around to score and was followed by captain Andrew Killian, who scored on a passed ball in the top of the first.
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George had a rough first inning, struggling at times to find the plate, and gave up three in the Apponequet half of the frame. Apponequet held that 3-2 advantage for much of the game, but George settled down after that and kept it close.
The score would hold until Seekonk tied the game in the fifth inning when Jake Silva knocked in Sean Heaney. Apponequet tacked on four runs in its half of the fifth inning. Seekonk mounted an ill-fated comeback in the seventh, scoring three runs but ultimately coming up short.
The coach was disappointed after the loss, but not discouraged by the way his young team played. Said Demelo, "Overall I'm happy with the way our season went and proud of our guys. We lost to a good team."
Seekonk loses the leadership of captain Killian and the strong two-way play of Heaney and Dylon Swift, who graduate this month. The nucleus of the team will return next season.
