Legion Baseball: Faria's Fantastic Performance Propels Gershkoff to Victory

Phenomenal pitching and timely hitting are two critical components to establishing a winning program in baseball. Cranston's junior and senior Legion baseball teams won the state championship during the summer, thanks to their superior pitching. The fall team has not missed a beat.

On Saturday afternoon at Cranston West High School, Ryan Faria and Joe Nicolace combined to throw a 3 hitter in a 4-0 victory over West Warwick Post Two in the opening round of the playoffs. Gershkoff will play on Sunday at noon at West in the winner's bracket final.

Ryan Faria was dominant throughout the game on the mound for Cranston. He pitched eight innings, struck out 12 batters, and only allowed three hits.

"Faria has been the leader of the staff all season and his earned run average is likely under one at this point,"  Gershkoff Manager Mike Pagano said.

"I was really confident with all of my pitches and I was outthinking the batters," Faria added.

Cranston added two more weapons to their lineup on Saturday afternoon. Recent graduates John Razzino of Cranston East and Tyler Collins from Cranston West rejoined the team after playing the fall season for CCRI and Rhode Island College respectively. Both players were critical to their high school's post-season run and both have tons of speed.

In the bottom of the first, Cranston would provide Faria with all of the run support he need. Razzino tripled to begin the game and scored on a past ball. Rich Reo notched an RBI base hit to right field and Ivan Reyes' sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 3-0.

Faria recorded five strikeouts combined in the second and third innings. "My curveball is my go-to pitch and it was effective today," he said.

Gershkoff would tack on a run in the bottom of the sixth, padding the lead to 4-0. Anthony Crudale, who reached on a walk, and Reo executed a double steal to perfection and Reo was safe at home because the catcher attempted to throw out Crudale.

If Cranston wins tomorrow, they advance to the championship round on Monday night, which will be played at Old Mountain Road in Wakefield. They would have to be beaten in consecutive games, in order to not claim the championship in this scenario. A loss in tomorrow afternoon's game would force them to play an elimination game tomorrow night at 5:30 at the Old Mountain Road field.

"It was critical that we got the lead," Pagano added, "Getting three runs was big and I felt very confident with our pitching staff."