Legion Baseball: Cranston's Dominant Pitching Nets Another Championship

Gershkoff Auto Body/Auburn Post 20, Cranston's legion baseball team, captured their third consecutive championship on Monday night.

During the summer, the junior and senior legion teams won the state championship and the junior legion team finished in second place in the New England Regionals. A dominant pitching staff has been the staple of all three championship teams.

They defeated West Warwick Post Two on Monday night at Old Mountain Field in Wakefield 2-1. In three playoff games, Gershkoff allowed only one run.

"It is all about pitching and defense and we made solid plays defensively," Cranston's manager, Mike Pagano, said.

In the top of the first, West Warwick's Matt Laferriere came through with a clutch two out RBI base hit. The double to left field gave his team a 1-0 lead.

Gershkoff struck back in the bottom of the third inning. Taylor Pacific's RBI bloop single tied the score and two batters later slugger Joe Nicolace stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Nicolace delivered with what would prove to be the game-winning RBI, on a sacrifice fly to right center. After three innings of play, Cranston led 2-1.

Throughout the night, both teams stranded runners on base consistently. The offenses struggled and could not come up with clutch hits to drive in runs.

Cranston had runners on second and third with one out in the fourth inning and In the bottom of the fifth, Tyler Collins led off with a single to right and reached third base on an error. Despite the golden opportunities to pad to their lead, Gershkoff failed to drive in more runs.

Ryan Long pitched seven solid innings for Cranston. He only allowed one run and finished off his outing with style, striking out the last batter he faced.

"He gave me seven innings and pitched fantastic," Pagano added.

Cranston East senior Bob D'Arezzo pitched the final two innings of the game, allowing two hits and no runs to close the game out. West Warwick put forth a valiant effort but could not produce runs when they needed to.

"I am proud of my kids and pleased with the hard work they showed all season," Pagano said.