Baseball: Falcons Now Wait after 13-6 Drubbing of Moses Brown

Cranston West dominated visiting Moses Brown, 13-6, in a prolonged winner’s bracket contest taking nearly three hours to complete on Thursday.

Featuring a two-run homer by Steve Lapatin in the second inning and a line-drive, three-run, three-seconds-and-out blast over the center field fence by Mike Hayden in the fourth, the Falcons batters provided a safe cushion for Ryan Faria after scoring eight times in the first two innings.

It was the eighth win in a row for the red-hot Falcons (16-5), who are idle today as they await the outcome of the North Providence at Moses Brown contest in Providence.

Hayden ended up with four RBI, including a sacrifice fly. Matt Pagano also stroked two doubles and a single and scored three times. The Quakers pitching staff did not allow Jeff Diehl any extra-base hits, but the standout Falcons catcher still managed a few singles and drove in a run while remaining steady behind the plate.

The Falcons were poised to end the game early on the 10-run mercy rule after five innings. But the spirited and potent Moses Brown lineup made a surge in the fifth and sixth inning to result in the game being completed in the regular seven-inning length.

In an odd first-inning play, following a Hayden walk, Matt McCool began running to first base on a called strike that made it just 3-2 in the count. Quakers catcher Tim Graul hesitated as he angled to make an unnecessary throw, then threw the ball away past the first base line and over 100 feet away. Hayden scampered all the way from first to score to put them ahead, 3-2, with McCool hustling into third. McCool returned to the batter's box to complete his at-bat and was retired.

The Quakers (16-6), who were second in Division I North, did not surrender without a fight and relied on their best hitters to keep the contest going. With Moses Brown teetering, 12-2, Rob Rinn cracked a solo homer in the top of the fifth and held the Falcons scoreless to stave off an early stoppage. In the sixth, Jake Jordan also crushed a three-run blast just to the right of the 340-foot sign in center field to deliver the final Quaker runs.

Both teams committed just one error each. Among several excellent plays in the field, McCool, the Falcons centerfielder, made a sparkling running catch to chase down and catch a long fly ball late in the game.

“They hit the ball really hard, we didn’t hit the ball as well as we really needed and to a couple of walks allowing them to score really hurt us,” said Moses Brown head coach Kevin Matson. “So that got us behind big quick and it was tough to climb back. But we managed to hang in there and didn’t let the roof cave in on us. We have to win three games in a row and whoever wins tomorrow (Friday) will have to beat them (Cranston West) twice in a row on Saturday and Sunday to advance.”

In the meantime, the Falcons need just a win to advance to the Regional Final Four, or semifinals, which begins at McCoy Stadium next Wed., June 1 before the championships on June 6-8. Both the finals and semifinals are best 2-of-3 series.

“We tightened up the defense and took advantage of their miscues,” said Falcons head coach Rob Malo. “We put the ball in play and Lapatin hit a homer and that gave us some momentum. Ryan Faria had 26 or 27 pitches in the first inning and that got us worried but them he settled down. It was good to get Lapatin in for some work in relief. So we should be in good shape for Saturday.”

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