Townie Baseball Shuts Out Hendricken 1-0 to Jump into 1st Place

East Providence High defeated Hendricken 1-0 in a Division I baseball game at Pierce Stadium on Friday. The win put the 8-2 Townies into a three-way tie for first place. The Townies battery of Senior pitcher Ben Sears and Sophomore catcher Cole Poissant led the way for the impressive win over the Hawks. With the game scoreless going into the bottom of the 6th inning, Sears lined a single to right field. Seth Daly's sacrifice bunt sent Sears to 2nd base and that brought up the young Townie catcher. "I'm very impressed with Cole. He played for us as a freshman and has continued to contribute a lot as a sophomore. His defense is great and he can hit a ball," said EP coach Bobby Rodericks. Sophomore Micah Abrams pinch-ran at second for Sears and scored the game's only run on a Poissant line drive single to center field.

Sears struck out 10 Hendricken batters and only allowed two hits. Sears has been one of the state's most effective pitchers. He was in command the entire game and threw 18 first-pitch strikes. Sears would go the distance and only walked one batter. "Ben's control is excellent. He kept his pitch count down and it was hard for Hendricken to catch up to his fastball," added Rodericks. Sears and Poissant also contributed two hits each to lead the Townie 6 hit game. Zach Fanara and Josh Silveira had the other EP hits.

Randy Reyes and Kyle Marrapese both pitched well for the Hawks in a well-played game that had excited East Providence fans happy to see the first win over Hendricken in a few years. "We've come close before but, yes, it's been a while. They're a good team with a lot of depth but I like my guys also," said the Townie coach.

The Hawks led off the top of the 7th with a single to center field. The next Hendricken batter struck out. The Hawks attempted to steal 2nd to get the tying run in scoring position, but the runner was gunned down on a perfect throw by Poissant. A pop out fly to Josh Silveira at 2nd ended the game as the jubilant Townies celebrated.

"This was a well played game all around," said Rodericks. "It's a tough division with good competition. Henricken, Cranston East, South Kingstown and others are all in this thing. The Townies will work hard also."

East Providence travels to Cranston East on Monday, May 7th for another big game against East at 4:00 P.M. Cranston East is also tied with the Townies and Hawks for first place atop Division I.

EPHS Softball:
In a game played after the boys baseball win, the EPHS girls softball team defeated a tough Woonsocket team 6-4 in a home contest at the high school. East Providence was led by Sadie Patterson's three hits including a home run. The Townies moved to 7-2 in Division I play and held on to second place just behind 7-0 Moses Brown.

The Townies scored one run in the first inning, two runs in the second, two in the fourth and another in the fifth to account for their 6 runs. "We had a well-balanced offense, getting on base when we neede it most and some timely hitting kept us in a good position," said East Providence coach Rob Traverse. "Softball scores can change fast and I like the way our players work hard and come ready to play every game," added Traverse.

Taylor Babcock and Tanya Cooper shared the pitching duties for East Providence recording 4 and 3 strikeouts respectively. There were no walks by Townie pitchers. As usual Alyssa Guarino was solid behind the plate for EP. Lauren Pelquin did hit a home run for Woonsocket in the 7th inning but East Providence held on for the impressive win.

Bay View Softball:
Also playing on Friday was Bay View in a game in which the Bengals dominated Toll Gate 15-5. Rebecca Vaillancourt had four RBI's and three hits, including a home run, for Bay View to lead the Bengal offensive attack. Although Toll Gate reached the plate three times in the 4th inning, they were no match for the Bay View offensive onslaught.

Bay View scored 1 in the first inning, 7 in the second, 3 in the third and 4 in the fifth inning for their 15 run total. Toll Gate scored 2 in the third and 3 in the fourth. Maddie Castigliego earned the win on the mound for the Bengals. Bay View had 13 hits in the game. The Bengals are now 4-3 in Division I play.

Standings - Division I Baseball
East Providence 8 - 2
Bishop Hendricken 8 - 2
Cranston East 8 - 2
South Kingstown 9 - 3
Cumberland 7 - 3
Moses Brown 6 - 3
Cranston West 5 - 3
La Salle Academy 6 - 4
Central High 5 - 4
Lincoln High 6 - 5
East Greenwich 4 - 5
North Kingstown 4 - 7
Pilgrim High 3 - 6
North Providence 3 - 6
Coventry High 3 - 6
Johnston High 3 - 6
Portsmouth High 3 - 7
Middletown High 1 - 9
Toll Gate High 1 - 10

Standings - Division I Softball
Moses Brown School 7 - 0
East Providence 7 - 2
Pilgrim High 5 - 2
La Salle Academy 5 - 2
Cranston West 5 - 2
Coventry High 7 - 3
Chariho High 5 - 3
Cumberland High 5 - 3
North Kingstown 4 - 4
Bay View Academy 4 - 3
Woonsocket High 3 - 4
North Providence 3 - 5
Toll Gate 1 - 4
Smithfield High 1 - 5
Lincoln High 1 - 5
Cranston East 1 - 8
Tolman High 0 - 7