Baseball: Thunderbolts Earn Season Split With Townies

East Providence's boys baseball team (4-6) traveled to Cranston Stadium to face off against Cranston East (3-7). The Townies had taken the first game earlier in the season 1-0. East Providence jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but fell victim to another late rally by the Thunderbolts, who notched the 3-2 victory.

The Thunderbolts got a strong outing from starter Kyle Tracy. He pitched a complete game, gave up only one earned run, and scattered seven hits.

"He did a great job and battled well," Cranston East coach Mike Walsh said.

Townies senior Joe Carnevale began the scoring in the top of the third with an RBI single. Alex Hurley followed with a routine fly ball to right field. However, the ball was dropped, allowing a run to score. East Providence now led 2-0.

The comeback began in the bottom of the fourth, as the Thunderbolts showed patience at the plate. After a single to lead off the inning, they recorded two outs.

However, the next three batters all walked, with junior Joseph Donegan's walk bringing in a run, cutting their deficit in half.

In the bottom half of the 5th inning, Cranston East took advantage of poor fielding. East Providence's Scott Mello's wild throw to first base allowed Steve Bucci to reach second base. Bucci would score on a wild pitch, tying the game at two.

Cranston East took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when junior Paul Spetelunas picked up a fielder's choice RBI on a grounder to second base, with Bob D'Arezzo scoring from third on the play, giving the Thunderbolts a 3-2 lead.

Tracy finished strong, recording consecutive strikeouts, his third and fourth on the afternoon, to end the game in the 7th. 

Mick Lefort, East Providence's head coach, spoke about his pitcher's performance and the team's outlook moving forwards. "Early on he did a great job getting ahead in the count," he said, "We are still optimistic and we have some talent."

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