Coventry hung on for five innings, but finally bowed to North Providence-Smithfield, 10-0, in a three-hour long Rhode Island Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Star State Tournament opener at North Providence on Saturday night.
Ahead, 2-0, North Providence scored eight runs combined in the sixth and seventh innings, despite Coventry reliever Anthony Andriote retiring the first two batters in each inning on ground balls.
In the sixth, North Providence surged ahead, 7-0, on a combination of four hits, a walk, a few passed balls and wild pitches. Shawn Seaberg and Kevin Graham each had RBI singles, but Kevin Ciprian and Brendon Mennella had the biggest blows, each stroking long RBI triples to spark the inning.
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In the fifth inning, Coventry had kept North Providence off the scoreboard thanks to a few sterling clutch catches in foul territory. Kyle Willett caught a long and high fly ball in the lights and pitcher Jordan Irish then made a basket catch on a foul pop near the North Providence dugout.
Until the sixth, it continued to be mostly a pitcher’s duel as North Providence pitcher Brendon Mennella and Irish, aling with his batterymate, catcher Dominic Aguiar, helped shut down most of the batters they faced.
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Mennella handcuffed Coventry most of the night and was credited with the win. He was relieved by Chris Corin in the sixth and then by Richard Morel who retired the side, 1-2-3, in the seventh.
Irish did his best to keep pace with Mennella, allowing just two runs in the five innings he pitched.
Coventry squandered several opportunities to score, starting with their first at bat when they had runners on second and third and no outs. Cameron Benjamin had Coventry’s only extra base hit- a double- after he was hit in the face and had to leave the game.
In the sixth, Andriote walked, Aguiar was hit by a pitch and Tyler Boudreau singled. But with bases loaded and no outs, Corin struck out the next batter and forced a 6-4-3 double play to snuff out the final serious Coventry threat.
“We were just not very aggressive in the field or at the plate,” said Coventry manager John Aguiar of the late-game slide of his club.
