High School Playoff Wednesday - Softball, Baseball

The end of May and early June usually means playoff action for those high school teams eligible to compete. EP Townie baseball and softball teams have excelled in Division I play this spring and begin playoff action today, May 29th. Also playing in Division II softball is Bay View Academy. Earlier, EPHS golf and tennis teams finished very successful seasons.

EPHS SOFTBALL:
The 10-7 East Providence High School softball team will take on 7-11 Cumberland in a Division I Preliminary Round playoff game at East Providence's Traverse Park behind the high school. The game will start at 3:45 PM.

The Townies improved to 11-7 with a 4-0 win over Prout on May 22nd. In the Townie win, Emma DaSilva had a homerun and three RBI's and Tanya Cooper and Paige Messier each chipped in with two hits. Tanya Cooper pitched the distance for EP with 12 strikeouts.

Townie veteran softball coach Rob Traverse has announced that he will retire from coaching at the end of this season. "Congratulations to Coach Rob Traverse. The softball field was dedicated in his name after coach announced his retirement from coaching after 20 years, 19 playoff appearances and 230 wins. 'Traverse Park' was christened with a 3-1 Townie win on Senior night. Special thanks to Chris Voll, Matt Fagan and John Voll from East Side Construction for installing the sign which was made and donated by Dave Mitchell at Signs and Sites," said EPHS Director of Athletics.

EPHS BASEBALL:
The 11-7 Townie baseball team will also play a Division I Preliminary Round playoff game today, Wednesday, at 3:45 at Pierce Field. The Townies will take on 8-10 Toll Gate High.

The Townies recently took two wins over Cranston East as playoffs approach. East Providence had a five run lead over pesky Cranston East but had to hold on for an 8-6 win on May 23rd at Cranston. The Bolt rallied with four runs in the third inning and outhit EP 10 - 8. The Townies scored four runs in the top of the first inning and another two in the second and fourth innings. Robbie Costa pitched six innings for EP striking out four along the way. Costa also batted three for four and Seth Daly added two hits. Cole Poissant scored three of the Townies runs. Ron Lima pitched the last inning for EP striking out two.

The Townies scored an impressive 7-0 win over Cranston East on Senior Day, May 21st at Pierce Stadium. Seth Daly shut out Cranston East with a complete game victory. Daly had command of his pitches all day as he struck out 10 and only allowed two hits while not walking a batter. The Townies offense did the rest as they started early by taking a 1-0 lead after the first inning. East Providence only amassed 7 hits but they came in timely fashion and EP took advantage of a couple of Cranston East errors. The Townies scored 2 runs each in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings. Silveira and Daly each had two hits for the Townies. EP had 6 stolen bases with Josh Silveira leading the way with 3 thefts. Rob Costa stole 2 and Cole Poissant stole a base. There were no Townie errors.

Five EPHS Baseball players selected for All-Division Selections:
First team: Seth Daly (also CY Young nominee for the state), Nate Anselmo, Zack Fanara

Second team: Cole Poissant, Rob Costa

Gold Glove Award: Josh Silveira (First Team Selection)

BAY VIEW SOFTBALL:
11-5 Bay View will travel to 11-5 West Warwick for a Division II Preliminary Round game also on Wednesday, May 29th. Bay View defeated Portsmouth and Tiverton in May while losing to St. Ray's, South Kingstown and Scituate. In the 5-2 win over Tiverton, Becca Vaillancourt had 3 hits including a homerun. Emily Heath pitched the last three innings and struck out seven. Elayan Jaques also pitched for the Bengals. BayView defeated Block Island 5-1 on May 24th and also defeated Portsmouth 10-5 on May 23rd.