March 29, 2024

Sports Update

Posted

Martin Middle School Girls Track Wins State Championship:
The Martin Middle School Girls track team won their first state title in school history scoring 48 points. MMS Boys finished in 13th place scoring 13 points. The Martin Boys and Girls took part in the RI State Championship on May 19th. The girls squad also are the Eastern Division champs, scoring 147 points. The MMS boys finished 2nd in the division scoring 134 points.

"I am proud of both boys and girls," said Martin coach Mike Almeida. "All athletes did well and some standout performers were Makiah Denson, who won the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and 4th in Long Jump. Esmeralda Ortega placing 2nd in the hurdles and 5th in the 200. The 4x100m relay also broke a state record with a time of 53.1 FAT time, consisting of Denson, Ortega, Jazmya Harris, and Jamilet DeJesus. Harris placed 6th in the 100. C hantel Reis placed 6th in the 800m and Aniya Ruffin placing 6th in the Shot Put," said Almeida.

"On the boys side Corey Monteiro placed 3rd in the 400m. The 4x100m relay placed 6th in one of the toughest fields I've ever seen. They ran a 49.9 which was faster than last year's Martin relay team which won 1st place." The team consisted of Corey Monteiro, Cameron Monteiro, Dainte Silva, and Kendrick Faria. The 4x400m relay finished 4th and breaking a school record with a time of 4:06.18. The team consisted of Kendrick Faria, Colin Capelo, Effran Garcia, and Adam Marchant. "Coming in this season I knew we had an excellent chance to win a girls State title with all of the young talent we have. I also feel that we have a chance to repeat next year because Makiah is only a 7th grader with potential to score 40 points in a meet. Some of our 8th graders will join and young and talented high school team with a bright future. I'm overly excited to have the privilege of being the coach for both teams and watch all the hard work these girls put into practice pay off," said an elated coach Andrade.

EPHS Softball:
The Townies softball squad is 9-7 in 6th place in division play. East Providence had wins last month over Cumberland, North Providence, Lincoln and Woonsocket while losing to North Kingstown, Moses Brown and LaSalle. Moses Brown is in first place with a 15-0 record.

"There are 18 teams in D1 and 6 wins are needed to qualify for the D1 State Championship. Therefore, we are safely in and looking to improve our seeding," said veteran Head Coach, Rob Traverse. "As it looks right now, we would be anywhere from a 6-8 seed so we would be hosting a first round playoff game.

The Townies have proved to be a tough opponent no matter who they play and are confident heading into playoff action. "I feel that we will be a difficult match-up in the playoffs as we have played the top teams well. We were losing to undefeated Moses Brown 2-1 entering the 7th inning recently and dropped a 3-1 game to defending state champion (15-1 this year), North Kingstown. We recently beat Cumberland (10-5 record) 7 to 6. Cumberland and Coventry, who we beat 5-2 (and currently in 3rd place in the standings) are both in the top 3-5 teams in the state this year who could win the whole thing," said Coach Traverse.

East Providence also had some individual accomplishments as well. Kate Atwell, Jordan Farnsworth and Alyssa Guarino were chosen to represent EP in the Alice Sullivan All-Star Game. The following players were recognized by the D1 coaches as well:

Alyssa Guarino - 1st team all-division, 2nd team coaches all-state
Jordan Farnsworth- 2nd team all-division, 3rd team coaches all-state, all-academic team
Emma Dasilva- 3rd team all-division
Sadie Patterson- Honorable Mention
Look for playoff updates at the ReporterToday.com

EPHS Baseball:
Townies Beat NK on Silveira Walk-Off Hit in 9th. Josh Silveira slammed a single to left field scoring Riley Cronin with the game winning hit over North Kingstown in the bottom of the 9th inning on senior day at Pierce Stadium. The game was a scoreless pitcher's duel through 7 full innings. Both teams played good defense and both teams enjoyed good pitching. Ben Sears was sailing along pitching well for East Providence through regulation 7 innings. A couple of NK threats were snuffed out by great Townie defense. In the top of the 5th inning, NK lined an infield hit deep past shortstop. It was just NK's 2nd hit. With 2 outs, NK's Naya was caught stealing 2nd when Townie freshman catcher Cole Poissant pegged a rocket inning ending throw.

In the top of the 7th inning NK threatened briefly when a line drive shoe-string diving catch was made by Townie 2nd baseman Riley Cronin. Cronin was fully extended when he made the nice grab. EP pitcher Ben Sears battled back after a hit batsman and struck out Cox of NK leaving a runner on 2nd base.

North Kingstown broke the ice with a run in the 8th inning after Waranis singled and stole 2nd. O'Donnell pops out in foul territory to a fine catch by Townie backstop Poissant in front of the home dugout as Waranis remained at 2nd. Halloran doubled on a line drive to right field scoring Waranis. Sears then struck out Mansolillo for the third out.

Things looked bleak for the Townies who hit the ball hard all game but right at players. Josh Silveira was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the 8th. Silveira then stole second base and moved to third on a fielder's choice by Nick Mackevich. Zach Fanara slammed a single to deep third base and Machevich scored the tying run.

With Ben Sears at his pitch count league maximum, coach Bobby Rodericks sent Nate Silveira to the mound for East Providence. Silveira recorded two big strikeouts to end the 9th and the Townies had new life in the bottom half of the 9th. Ben Sears was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Riley Cronin then slammed a single to left and Seth Daley moved runners with a FC. With Riley Cronin on third base, Josh Silveira came up and slammed the game winning hit on a line drive to left emptying the Townie bench in a celebration around Cronin and Silveira.

"Our team never gave up. We had good pitching, good defense and we finally got timely hitting in the 9th," said Townie coach Bobby Rodericks. "I'm glad our team won on senior day. That's a nice touch for the seniors," he added.

Ben Sears started the game for East Providence. He pitched eight innings, surrendering one run, five hits, struck out seven, and walked one. Coming into today's game North Kingstown was 9-7 and the Townies were at 7-9. Nate Silveira pitched well in relief holding off NK. EP had 6 hits while NK had 5 for the game.

East Providence also stunned RI's Best Team, S. Kingstown, 2-0, in a win in late May. The Townies have been battling to make the post-season playoffs this season and made a statement with a 2-0 upset win over 12 win South Kingstown. The Rebels of SK had just one loss and were sitting all alone at the top of Division I. Two Townie pitchers combined for the impressive 2-0 shutout win. Seth Daly started the game for East Providence and pitched six and a third innings, giving up no runs, six hits, and struck out five.

Nate Silveira earned the win for East Providence. He went two-thirds of an inning, getting the last two outs to earn the save for the Townies. Silveira induced a double-play to finish off the game. East Providence didn't take the lead until later in the game. After 4 1/2 scoreless innings, EP put together a two-run scoring drive with a Seth Daly line-drive single to left, a passed ball and sacrifice leading to the Townie 2-0 lead.

The Townies held off SK while playing great defense (no errors) for the upset win. EP's Cole Poissant fielded five plays without an error. South Kingstown managed 6 hits off Townie pitching while the Townies continue to struggle at the plate with only 2 hits for the game.

"We have played great defense all season and have had good pitching but we aren't hitting the way I'd like," said East Providence coach Bobby Rodericks. "It was a good win to defeat the state's top team right now. SK is very good and our guys played well," added the Townie coach.

After the South Kingstown win, the Townies went on to defeat North Providence 10-1 for the team's 7th win.

The Townies gave up three runs in the first inning, but still defeated Moses Brown 7-3 in an earlier game last month. Moses Brown took an early lead in the first inning with three runs. East Providence Townies Varsity took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth inning. In the fourth Schott induced Nick Mackevich to hit into a fielder's choice, but one run scored, Zach Fanara singled off of Schott, driving in one run, and Ben Sears singled off of Schott, driving in one run. East Providence scored three runs in the seventh inning. The big inning was thanks to a single by Andrew Rodrigues and a single by Mackevich.

Andrew Rodrigues earned the win for East Providence. He pitched six innings, gave up three runs, six hits, and struck out five. The Townies had 11 hits in the game. Seth Daly, Nick Lemire, Rodrigues, and Sears each collected multiple hits for East Providence. Sears, Rodrigues, Lemire, and Daly each collected two hits to lead EP. EP is now 8-9 going into the final stretch of the season.

St. Mary's Bay View Softball:
Bay View had wins last month over Cranston East, West Warwick, Smithfield and Woonsocket. The Bengals lost to Chariho, North Kingstown and Tolgate. Bay View jumped out to the early lead in a victory over Cranston East. The Bengals went on to defeat Cranston East 8-5 thanks to their strong start.

Maddie Castigliego earned the win for Bay View over the Bolt. She threw six innings, allowing two runs, seven hits, striking out four, and walking none. Lindsey Rugg recorded the last three outs to earn the save for Bay View.

Bay View had 13 hits in the game. Rebecca Vaillancourt, Kendall Duprey, and Rugg each collected multiple hits for Bay View. Rugg and Vaillancourt each drove in two runs to lead Bay View.

In a lopsided win, Rebecca Vaillancourt gave West Warwick fits, as she bagged four hits in Bay View's 22-1 victory early in May. Vaillancourt doubled twice in the first, once in the third, singled in the fourth, and doubled again in the fourth. Bay View is 7-7 in 8th place.

EPHS Golf:
The Townies golf team is 5-8 in 5th place. The golfers had wins over Mt. Hope, Rogers and Tiverton last month. The squad lost to Barrington, Bay View and Middletown.

Bay View Golf:
The Bengals had wins last month over Portsmouth, Rogers and East Providence while losing to Barrington and Middletown twice to each. The Bengals are 10-4 and in 3rd place in the division.

Area Lacrosse Teams Struggle:
The EPHS girls team struggles with a lone win coming against Classical High. The Boys team also has just one win also coming against Classical. Bay View has just one win with a victory against LaSalle girls.

EPHS Boys Outdoor Track:
The Townies are 5-5 in 5th place with recent wins over St. Patrick, Mt. Hope, Middletown and Tolman. The girls team has just one win coming against Classical.

Riverside Girls Softball:
The Vikings are 7-4 in 4th place with recent wins over Bay View twice, Kickemuit and Gaudet.

Riverside Middle Baseball:
The Vikings are 5-6 in 4th place heading toward playoff play. They had recent wins over Ferri, North Smithfield and Martin.

Martin Middle Baseball:
The Wildcats are 3-7 and are in 5th place. The team had a win last month over Smithfield.

Martin Girls Softball:
The Wildcats are at 1-8 on the season with their lone win against cross-town rival Riverside, 9-3.

Legendary Townie/Ram football coach and educator, Jim Deffley, 90, has died:
Jim Deffley led the EP Townies before moving on to LaSalle Academy and later Cumberland High. He was recently honored with Townie legend Bill Stringfellow while commemorating the 75th year of Pierce Stadium in East Providence.

The 2014 EP-LaSalle football game was the 86th contest between the two rivals. The state's longest standing rivalry on Thanksgiving officially began in 1929. Although the two schools started turkey day play in 1927 (EP won 6-0), there was no game in 1928 and the league “started” in 1929 with a LaSalle 19-6 win.

But the story of the day in 2014 was the half time ceremony celebrating Pierce Stadium's 75th anniversary. A half time extravaganza honoring players from both schools from the 1940's through the 2000's. Townie athletic director at the time, Bob Duarte and Pierce Field Manager Joe Medeiros organized the gala presentation. A Player from each decade was brought out to the field, culminating with the introduction of the Townies Bill Stringfellow and LaSalle's Jim Deffley.

Strinfellow, a Townie legend and Deffley coached East Providence and then LaSalle. The two former nemeses embraced and exchanged memories as the crowd loved it. Townie great Junior Butler brought along a couple of letters that he received in 1967 from his former coach, Jim Deffley. At that time Deffley coached the Townies. They were letters of support sent to Butler when he was serving combat time in Vietnam. "I've saved these all these years," said an appreciative Butler at that 2014 game. "Wow, I can't believe that you still have those letters after all this time," Jim Deffley told Butler. "Amazing."
"This was very rewarding," said former Townie great and QB Jim Rose. "One of the best Thanksgiving games I've attended," he added. Rose like many others have attended more turkey day games than they care to add up. Regardless of the scoreboard, most Townies went home with a warm feeling and a good appetite for turkey and next year's game.
Deffley graduated from La Salle Academy in 1944 where he played basketball and football for 3 years. He was a football Captain and was selected All-State. He was a WWII veteran serving with the 45th Division under General George Patton during The Battle of the Bulge.
He was a 1949 graduate of Holy Cross where he also excelled in football. He was an "all letters winner" while at Holy Cross.

Deffley was a teacher and head football coach at East Providence High from 1953 -1971. His Townie football teams compiled a 121-32-8 record, as well as 3 undefeated seasons and 5 state championships.

After coaching and teaching at East Providence High School Coach Deffley then went to LaSalle where he coached the Rams through 1975 . His assistant coach at EP, Bill "Beansey" Stringfellow, was named the new Townie head coach. Stringfellow's Townies won a couple of back to back state championships and a great rivalry became greater.
Deffley finished out his high school coaching career at Cumberland High School from 1976 to 1982 where his teams had a 47-12-1 record.

He was inducted into the LaSalle Hall of Fame, and he was called a "Devoted teacher, role model and very successful football coach at East Providence High School," at his LSA induction ceremony. He was also inducted into the Rhode Island Coaches Hall of Fame.
At one point Deffley was also the "stern" summertime beach manager at Sand Hill Cove beach in Narragansett, RI. Besides his wife, he is survived by four children, James Deffley, Jr and his wife Carol, Michael Deffley and his wife Christine, William Deffley and his wife Ann, and Mary Beth Winter; thirteen grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren. He was the grandfather of the late Mark Deffley and brother of the late John Deffley, Jr.

(Game summaries as of press time. Check ReporterToday on line for updates. Some stats provided by the EP coaches via Narrative Science and GameChanger Media. Photo credits: Paul Tumidajski, Mike Andrade.)

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