LaSalle edges East Providence in Division I baseball playoffs

Third-seeded Rams defeat 14th-seeded Townies, 4-3

By Mike Rego
Posted 5/31/17

PROVIDENCE — The upstart East Providence High School baseball team pushed favored LaSalle Academy to the limit in the opening round of the Division I state championship playoffs, but the host Rams …

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LaSalle edges East Providence in Division I baseball playoffs

Third-seeded Rams defeat 14th-seeded Townies, 4-3

Posted

PROVIDENCE — The upstart East Providence High School baseball team pushed favored LaSalle Academy to the limit in the opening round of the Division I state championship playoffs, but the host Rams survived with a 4-3 victory Wednesday afternoon, May 31.

City native and LaSalle sophomore Joey Rego went 4-1/3 innings on the mound to earn the win. Rego allowed four hits and was charged with two earned runs. He left with the Rams leading 3-2. Cam Borges followed Rego on the hill, helping LaSalle get out of a fifth-inning jam. Justin Gervais finished the game to earn the save.

East Providence senior Andrew Rodriques went all six innings on the mound for the Townies. All four LaSalle runs were earned. Rodriques was touched for nine hits. He struck out three and walked a pair.

Fourteenth-seeded East Providence drops to the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tourney while the third-seeded Rams move on to the winners’ bracket.

Neither starter gave up much of anything in the opening two frames. Riley Cronin doubled for the Townies with one out in the second, but was stranded. Zach Fanara led off the third for E.P. with a single, but went no further.

Rodriques ran into a spot of bother in the bottom of the third. With one out, he allowed a double, a bunt single and walked a batter to load the bases. However, he struck out the next hitter and enticed an easy fly to center for the third out.

Rodriques wasn’t as fortunate in the home half of the fourth. He gave up a lead-off triple to left center field then got an out on a line drive to second. The Rams next failed on a suicide squeeze attempt, the base runner nabbed for the second after he strayed too far away from third.

LaSalle, though, wasn’t done. Sean Gill, who failed to put the squeeze bunt down, singled to keep the inning alive. Pete Rouse followed with a RBI-double then Brendan Cavaco cracked a two-run homer to left. Rodriques finally got out of the inning on a pop-up to first.

The Townies responded immediately in the top of the fifth. Rego got the first E.P. batter to pop out to third, but then lost his control. He sandwiched a walk and a hit batsman around a ground-rule double by Nick Mackevich. He then walked Josh Silveira to force in another run. Borges relieved at that point, allowing a run-scoring single to Nate Silveira before enticing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Another LaSalle player from the city, second baseman Colby Paiva, turned the back end.

LaSalle got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning. Rodriques walked a batter then was the victim of a bad hop, tweener single on LaSalle’s turf field to bring the runner around. Mackevich prevented any more Rams to score when he made a superb catch against the fence on a long fly to left center.

E.P. plated another run in the top of the sixth, but left the bases loaded as well. The inning included a Nick Lemire single and Fanara was hit to force in a run. With two outs, however, Ben Sears grounded out to end the threat.

Gervais got into a bit of trouble in the top of the seventh, putting two Townies on with one out. But LaSalle shortstop Brandon Taylor, headed to Division I Monmouth of the Northeast Conference in the fall, completed an unassisted double play on a grounder up the middle to end the E.P. rally and the game.

Both teams return to action Thursday afternoon, June 1, at 4 p.m. LaSalle hosts sixth-seeded Moses Brown, which beat 11th-seeded Cranston West 3-1 Wednesday. E.P. travels to Cranston West in an elimination game.

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MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.