Thursday April 3rd was a busy afternoon on the campus of East Providence High School. The weather had cleared and three athletic contests were going on simultaneously. The front of the school had baseball and softball games while in the back stadium the boys lacrosse team played. The events kept Athletic Director Alex Butler moving between each venue.
BASEBALL
Townies in Walk-Off 8th Inning Win
It took eight innings but the Townies came away with a hard fought 7-6 win over Portsmouth High. Max Carreiro, 4 for 5 for the game, singled to right field scoring Gavin Palombo with the winning run. Leading off the bottom of the eight in a 6-6 tie, Jaiden Healy lined a single to left followed by a walk to Palombo. EP known for being aggressive on the bases had Healy promptly steal 2nd base. Healy and Palombo both advanced on a wild pitch and Tim Robitaille was intentionally walked to load the bases. On another wild pitch, Healy scored with Palombo and Robitaille advancing to second and third. Sophomore Aidan Martins, a dangerous hitter, worked the pitch count in his favor and then was also intentionally walked. This brought up Carreiro who lined a single to right-center to plate Palombo for the exciting win.
The Townie win looked elusive as EP had a few chances to score earlier but fell short. East Providence took an early first inning lead on a Robitaille single followed by a walk to Martins. Carreiro singled sharply to center and Oliver Andrews lined a hit to right field which scored Martins for the 2-0 lead.
Portsmouth came right back with 2 runs each in the third and fourth innings to jump ahead 4-3. The visitors scored again in the fifth to lead EP 5-3. But the Townies scrapped back to score a run in the fifth and sixth. In the bottom of the fifth, catcher Brian Rutkowski reached on a hard hit ball to third for an error and was advanced to second on a Kyle Desrosiers single to center. Rutkowski scored when Collin Roche grounded out to first to trail 5-4.
In the top of the sixth, Tim Robitaille came in to pitch for EP. He struck out the side bringing EP to the bottom of the sixth. With two outs Aidan Martins lined a single to center. He then stole second and continued to third and on to home for the score, on an overthrow that went to center field. Oliver Andrews singled to left as Carreiro moved to second base. Carreiro stole third and beat the throw but he over-slid the base and was out on the put back tag to end the Townie rally.
Portsmouth again was shut down in order by Robitaille in the top of the seventh. The Townie seventh inning had promise as Rutkowski worked a lead off walk but Desrosiers bunt attempt was popped up to the pitcher who then doubled off Rutkowski who was breaking for second. The Portsmouth double play seemed to burst a Townie potential rally.
Portsmouth had another life and went ahead 6-5 in the top of the eighth inning. Greenwood led off with a single to right on a sharp line drive. Doucet’s sacrifice bunt to third moved Greenwood to second. After an intentional walk, Brule singled to center scoring the go-ahead run. With a runner in scoring position, a ground out to second base ended the Portsmouth rally.
“Our wins all seem to be nail-biters,” said Townie coach Bobby Rodericks after the game. “Our philosophy is pitch at a time, inning at a time and game at a time.” EP excited the crowd with a quick rally in the bottom of the eighth. Healy led off with a fly ball single to left. Healy then stole second and Palombo walked. Healy and Palombo moved up on a wild pitch and Robitaille was intentionally walked to load the bases. Again, on a passed ball, Healy scored to tie the game and Palombo moved to third base. Carreiro once again came through for EP as he singled on a long fly ball to right bringing in Palombo for the 7-6 walk-off win.
Robatille earned the win for East Providence in relief. He allowed two hits and one run over three innings, striking out five and walking two. Kyle Desrosiers started the game for East Providence and pitched well. He scattered seven hits and five runs over five innings, striking out six and walking three. East Providence spread out 12 hits in the game. Oliver Andrews drove the middle of the lineup, leading the Townies with two runs batted in. The second baseman went 2-for-4 on the day. Max Carreiro went 4-for-5 at the plate to lead East Providence in hits. Jayden Healy stole three bases. East Providence stole seven bases in the game. The Townies didn't commit any errors.
Townies take on Narragansett tonight, Friday at 5 pm at EPHS.
McCoy Seats Ceremony Before Game
The game had a festive atmosphere beforehand as local officials held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony to accept the donation of McCoy Stadium baseball seats. Local, state officials as well as parents, friends and players from both teams gathered for the brief ceremony. After singing Take me out to the Ballgame, Townie senior players and their coach cut the ribbon. The city will be installing more of the seats as workers have time.
EPHS Softball
Townie softball lost to Smithfield in a game that was closer than the score looked. East Providence goes to 1-1 on the season after defeating Bay View earlier 11-2. Trinity Provencher hit a two run homerun to get the Townie offense started. Caroline Welch, Sylvie Patterson, and Ella Grimley combined for six of the team's 10 hits in the victory over neighboring Bay View. Cassie Dulude struck out 9 to earn the win for the Townies.
On Thursday, however, the Townies couldn’t catch Smithfield. EP trailed just 1-0 for four innings in a tight start to the game. Eventually, Smithfield broke through with 6 runs in the seventh inning after adding 3 in the fifth. The final score was 10-1 for the loss. East Providence will play Chariho on Tuesday April 8th at EPHS 4:30 pm.
EPHS Boys Volleyball
The team now at 1-1 lost a close game to Classical, 3 sets to 2. The Townies went ahead by winning the first game 25-15 and won the fourth game 25-20 but Classical took three games to take the match, 25-22, 25-12 and 15-9.
EPHS Boys Lacrosse
The Townies lost a 12-6 game against Ponagansett on Thursday at home. East Providence is coming off a 10-6 victory over North Providence earlier in the week. They play next on April 8th at Scituate and on April 15th at home against Classical.
The girls Lacrosse team is 1-0 after defeating Smithfield High earlier in a 6-5 win. Seniors Kloey Iacavone, 3 goals and Dylan Flynn 2 goals, led the EP attack. Ella Benson also scored.
(game accounts with contributions from GameChanger Media, Inc.)
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