Baseball: Thunderbolts Unable to Avenge Loss to EG

It was a winner-take-all showdown on Sunday afternoon. The winner of the baseball game would advance to the Final Four in the Division I Playoffs. Unfortunately for the Cranston East Thunderbolts, victory was not in the cards.

Cranston East let a lead slip away, and the Avengers took advantage of poor fielding. East Greenwich won the game 6-5 and will take on Cranston West in a best of three series at McCarthy Field in West Warwick.

East Greenwich put up a three spot in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Jeremy Streich brought in the final two runs on a single to right field.

The Bolts came charging back in the top of the third. After loading the bases with no outs, they scored two runs on wild pitches by Avengers starter John Kalajian. Sophomore Cody Lindell tied the game at 3, with an RBI double to right center. They weren't done yet, as sophomore Ivan Reyes brought in the fourth run with a single to right field.

In the top half of the fourth inning, the Bolts chases Kalajian out of the game. He pitched 3-and-a-third innings, giving up five runs, and recorded eight strikeouts. Cranston East senior John Razzino singled to right, bringing in the fifth run.

Sophomore David Hopkins entered the game for the Avengers and immediately made his presence felt with back to back strikeouts to end the inning.

"Hopkins is probably the most competitive kid I’ve ever coached," East Greenwich coach Robert Downey said.

The Avengers capitalized on the Bolts poor fielding in the bottom of the fifth. Two errors were committed in the inning by Cranston East, and they paid for it.

Thunderbolts coach, Mike Walsh, said, "We got here because of our pitching and defense and we didn’t play defense at all today."

Avengers captain Daniel Caron doubled to left center, cutting their deficit to 5-4. Kalajian brought in the tying run on a sacrifice fly.

In the sixth inning, poor decision making on the basepaths would cost the Bolts an opportunity to take the lead. Steve Bucci reached on an infield single and the next batter bunted. Not only did East Greenwich record an out at first, but they also gunned down and over-aggressive Bucci at third base.

That decision proved to be costly when the Avengers took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Hopkins helped his own cause by bringing in the game's final run on and RBI single. East Greenwich took a 6-5 lead and needed only three outs to advance to the Final Four.

After Hopkins recorded two quick outs in the 7th inning, the Thunderbolts were inches away from tying the game. Junior Josmar Ventura blasted a drive to deep left field and it came inches away from clearing the fence.

However, Ventura settled for a double but was stranded at second when Hopkins struck out the final batter of the game. Hopkins finished with five strikeouts in 3 and 2/3 innings.

Walsh was pleased with the late season run and playoff push his team made. "I am proud of the guys," he said.

Downey praised the Thunderbolts squad. "They are a heck of a baseball team and they are playing great," he said.

"We battle at every bat and we never quit," the coach added.