Junior Varsity Baseball: Woonsocket Rolls to Semifinal Win

Woonsocket scored six runs in the first inning and tacked on eight more in the second en route to a 15-4 semifinal victory May 24 at Barry Field.

Freshman Victor Hunt pitched a five-inning complete game and added three hits for the Villa Novans, including an RBI-single in the second inning and a run-scoring triple in the fourth. Hunt’s first-inning double catalyzed the league-leading WHS offense Tuesday, and his fourth-inning three-bagger capped the 15-hit outburst.

“I tell my guys, ‘If we get down, don’t worry about it. We’re going to hit. Our bats will come through,’” said Woonsocket head coach Josh Zielinski.

The Villa Novans overcame a 1-0 deficit with six first-inning hits Tuesday, and they piled up six more in the second to establish a 14-1 lead.

Jake Laprade chipped in with three hits and two RBIs, and Scott Tucker, Jonathan Flynn, Ramon Ceballos and Matthew Lefebvre added two hits apiece for the Novans.

“We score a lot of runs,” Zielinski said. “I think it’s 195 runs so far this season, so we’re creeping towards 200. That was the goal earlier on, so we’re getting there.”

Central Falls responded to the WHS surge with two runs in the third and another in the fifth, but the game ended after 4 ½ innings in accordance with Interscholastic League Rule 4-2-2, directing umpires to stop play “when the visiting team is behind 10 or more runs after 4 ½ innings, or after the fifth inning, if either team is behind and both teams have had an equal number of times at bat.”

With the win, WHS improves to 14-4 overall. The Novans will return to the diamond Saturday, hoping to pick up a 15^th win and a Division-II North postseason crown.

“The goal was to get to 15 wins, and we’re one away,” Zielinski said.

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