Baseball: Hot Streak Ends as Thunderbolts Fall to Avengers

Coming into Saturday afternoon's game at Cranston Stadium, the Thunderbolts had won eight out of nine games. Despite an early lead, their streak would end, as they fell to East Greenwich 12-5.

Through two innings of play, both offenses were stymied by effective pitching. Cranston East lit up the scoreboard in the bottom half of the third inning.

After Steve Bucci and John Razzino reached base with singles, Junior Cody Lindell singled to right field, and Avengers senior Sean Mahoney, allowed the ball to get through his legs, committing an error.  Both baserunners would score and Lindell advanced to second base.

Bolts junior Bob D'Arezzo drove the ball to deep center for an RBI double, and Cranston East led 3-0.

The Avengers responded with two runs in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Jeremy Streich's triple to right field and a single by senior Ryan Pieroni each brought in a run.

Cranston East was determined to keep their lead and answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. The bottom of the order delivered as Matt Tracy and Dan Muncy picked up RBIs, extending the Bolts lead to 5-2. But Muncy would be the last player to cross home plate during the game.

"We had some pretty good at-bats," Thunderbolts coach Mike Walsh said.

East Greenwich took complete control of the game with a six run inning in top of the 5th. Junior Kevin Mason's single to center brought in two runs, giving the Avengers their first lead of the day at 7-5. Pieroni provided himself with more breathing room, when he drove in another run. He pitched a complete game, surrendering 5 runs and picked up the victory.

"Ryan did a great job for us," Avengers coach Robert Downey said.

The Bolts brought in reliever Brandan Budlong following the Pieroni's single. Starter Kyle Tracy gave up eight runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Avengers captain Dan Caron put the game out of reach in the top of the 7th, with a deep blast to left field. It landed in the street, bringing in three more runs, which extended the lead to 12-5.

"They are a very good team and we got some timely hits," Downey added.

Thunderbolts coach spoke about the importance of pitching and defense. "It has been our strong suit all year and we have to do what got us here," Walsh added.

East Greenwich will host the Thunderbolts on Sunday afternoon at 2 P.M. in a must-win situation for both teams. The winner will advance to the final four and play at McCoy Stadium next week and the losing team's season will end on Sunday afternoon.