Avengers Advance to State Semifinals

Going into Sunday's game at home all of the Avengers knew that it could be their last game together but they weren't ready for that just yet as they performed under pressure once again to slip by the Cranston East Thunderbolts, winning 6-5.

The star of the game was David Hopkins, who said after the game, "We've been taking it one game at a time because we had to win four straight games to make it to the semifinals." That is exactly what the Avengers have done as they are now on a four-game winning streak while knocking out , and this week.

Sunday's game began with John Kalajian recording a couple of strikeouts for an easy first inning. The bottom of the first inning the Avengers started hitting right off the bat with a double by Scott Cullinane and then he advanced to third base off a wild pitch. David Hopkins then drove Cullinane in for the first run of the game. John Kalajian then helped himself out by hitting a double. Dan Caron got on base off a walk and Jeremy Streich ripped a 2 RBI single to score both Kalajian and Caron to make the score 3-0 after one inning. 

John Kalajian then got back on the mound in the second inning and dominated the Cranston East hitters by striking out the side. After two innings it was still 3-0 and in the top of the third inning Cranston East began showing signs of life. Kalajian loaded up the bases with a few walks and then Cranston East scored their first two runs off of consecutive wild pitches. Cody Lindell then hit an RBI double to tie the score up followed by another hit to make the score 4-3. Despite trailing one run after three innings of pitching, Kalajian still had seven strikeouts. The Avengers were scoreless in the bottom of the third.

In the top of the 4th, Joseph Donegan hit an RBI single to take Kalajian out of the game and to make the score 5-3. David Hopkins then came in on the mound to get out of the fourth inning jam. Jeremy Streich led off in the bottom of the fourth with a double off the fence. The next inning Jonny Lamendola and David Hopkins both hit infield singles. Dan Caron then ripped an RBI double to score Lamendola followed by a sacrifice fly hit by John Kalajian to tie the score up at 5 after five innings of play. David Hopkins continued his scoreless performance on the mound in the top of the 6th and then hit an RBI single on the offensive end to score pinch runner Alex Cleary for the eventual winning run. 

David Hopkins closed out the game on the mound in the top of the seventh to end the game at 6-5 in the Avenger's favor. With Sunday's clutch victory the Avenger baseball team now advances to the Division-One semifinals for the first time in its program's history; EG will play North Kingstown Wednesday at McCarthy Field.