Baseball: Falcons Conquer NP, 8-3, in Playoff Opener

It wasn’t a pretty start to the Division One playoffs for either visiting North Providence, the #13 seed or #4 Cranston West. But Falcons starting pitcher Mike Hayden lasted the entire contest (114 pitches, five hits, six K’s, four walks) and first baseman Steve Lapatin came through with two hits and three RBI and made a spectacular catch to help the squad capture the first postseason contest, 8-3.

It was the seventh win in a row for the Falcons (14-5), advancing them to a winners bracket game which they host today at 4 p.m. against #5 Moses Brown, 10-4 winner over #12 Portsmouth.

Cranston West needed just two innings to score enough runs against the Cougars (8-11), who finished in fifth place in Division I North and had just squeezed into the playoffs with a 5-3 final regular-season win over league leader Lincoln.

The first inning gave a tellltale glimpse of things to come for the Cougars. Starting pitcher Gian Abbruzzese threw 33 pitches, struck out the side and yielded just a hit, but also walked two batters, hit standout Falcons catcher Jeff Diehl and had a run score on an infield error. Matt McCool singled in the second run before the Cougars’ junior righty buckled down to strike out the last two Falcons batters with the bases loaded.

North Providence was poised to at least tie the game in the second inning by stroking four of its six total hits, including a 340-foot shot over the fence in left center by Tyler Proulx. But even successive singles by Anthony Garceau, Josh Aspeel and Dillon McCluskie went for naught when Garceau was picked off second on a rocket throw by Diehl, though it came before McCluskie’s hit. Hayden then retired Cougar batters on a lineout and a strikeout.

In the bottom of the second, the Falcons scored three more times on just two more hits and aided by another error.

Koyejo Idiowu walked, moved to second on a groundout and went to third on a Matt Pagano infield single. Diehl followed up with an RBI bloop single to left for a 4-1 lead. Following a wild pitch, another unearned run came across on an errant catcher throw on a steal attempt.

Then the Falcons defense faltered as the Cougars scored twice in the third inning without a hit. Nick Coro walked, Mike Corin reached on an error and Proulx also walked. On a base-loaded grounder tailor-made for a double play, a force play was made at second, but the ball was thrown away on the relay to first, scoring Coro and Corin. Hayden once again escaped a jam by retiring a batter on a grounder to second.

Cranston West had a chance to score in the fifth after finally knocking out Abbruzzese (4 1/3 innings, 5 hits, six K’s, five walks) who walked two batters. Aspeel in relief got Steve Stravato out on a fly ball caught by Proulx in right field, who then fired a dart to third baseman Rob Corin, applying an easy tag for a double play.

In the top of the sixth, Lapatin made a spectacular running play on a foul popup, careening off the short fence a step after making the catch.

Diehl was hit by a pitch again in the seventh and Lapatin drove him in with a single for the final run.

“I’m disappointed,” said Cougars head coach Dean Garganese. “We struggled all game and we didn’t execute well in any aspects of the game. I stressed to them the key to this game was the first two innings, especially against a team like Cranston West with its firepower and mystique. And I also told them of getting ahead in a count and not letting them getting free bases.”

North Providence now travels to Portsmouth at 4 p.m. today for a loser’s bracket game.

“We buckled down more, but both teams kicked the ball around a little and we took advantage of their miscues a little bit more than they did ours,” said Falcons head coach Rob Malo. “I‘ll take that, but we still got to tighten up a little bit on defense. Mike also started to find his curve ball a little bit more for strikes and was able to finish the game. Lepatin came through twice with two two-out hits and then made that catch.”

Download the movie