Sports Update

EPHS Spring Sports A Winner
The EPHS Townies finished the school year with a flurry of teams involved in state playoff action and brought home a few championships along the way.  The girls Lacrosse team finished an undefeated season and were Division 3 champions.  Haley McCusker was Coach of the Year.  The Boys Tennis team won the Division 3 Championship also.  The Boys volleyball team made an impressive run through the state playoffs and coach Dan Cabral was named Coach of the Year.  The Lady Townies Track Team also had a great season and will return many players.

The Division III Champion Townie girls lacrosse team is well represented in the post season awards.

All-Division Awards:

• 1st team midfielder Ryleigh Grant
• 1st team midfielder Izzy Tavares
• 1st team defender Makayla Rebelo
• 2nd team defender Tessa Laroche
• 2nd team midfielder Kenna Wigginton
• Honorable mention Olivia Williams
• All Rookie team Ava Williams
• Player of the year - Ryleigh Grant - East Providence High School
• Coach of the year - Haley McCusker - East Providence High School
• Team Sportsmanship Award - East Providence

The EPHS boys volleyball team had several award winners to close out their very successful season.  RI Division 2 coach of the year was the Townies Daniel Cabral.

• First team all division- Brett Schwab and Grant Wosencroft
• Second team all division- Kyle Dunn
• Third team all division - Xavier Hazard
• Third team All-State- Grant Wosencroft

“I am proud that all players are multi-sport athletes and academic leaders of the school,” said head coach Dan Cabral.

“EPHS Softball didn’t have the ending we wanted, but it such a rewarding, and fun season of laughs, one run games, extra inning craziness, and memories that will last a lifetime. I am always so proud to be the coach of these girls, from 6th grade through now.  I can’t wait to see the big things our seniors accomplish in the future, and the strength our underclassmen bring back next season.  Huge thank you to my assistant coaches, Scott Breault, Paul Mendence Jr., Linda Ledford Gorton- you all bring so much to our program and our team is better for it,” said Head Coach Katie Kenahan.

The Lady Townies Track team competed at the Mt. Pleasant Invitational. The 4x100m relay team placed 4th and will compete at the state meet. The team consists of Nazarae Phillip, Kandace Daniel, Samantha Clarke and Giselle Raphael. The 4x400m relay team consisting of Clarke, Raphael, Katherene Diaz Araujo, and Gladys Barrera finished 4th.  Kandace Daniel and Nazarae finished 4th and 5th in the 200m. The 4x800m relay team consisting of Katherene Diaz Araujo, Michelle Diaz Araujo, Naveah Lanois and Gladys Barrera will be competing at States also. At States Daniel and Philip will compete in the 100m and 200m plus relays, Diaz Araujo in the 800m and all 3 relays. Our team is young with a bright future, and while we might not score many points at States, they will be a force the next few years,” said coach Michael Almeida.

City Little League Action
The city little leagues are in the middle of District Two playoffs with one team still alive at Reporter press time.  Entering second round little league play on Sunday June 26th was not kind to both East Providence teams in RI District Two Major Division all-stars. Riverside/EP Central playing in the winners bracket, lost to Portsmouth 5-2 at Portsmouth. Rumford was eliminated from majors all-star play with their second loss, a 6-1 defeat to Newport. Rumford lost a close 3-2 game to Pawtucket in its first-round play on Saturday.

East Providence, which is a combined Riverside/EP Central team, was in the winner’s bracket after an opening round victory over Barrington on Saturday. However East Providence fell to Portsmouth pushing them into the loser’s bracket in the next round of play. East Providence scored in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead early. With two outs, Jonathan “JJ” Renaud singled and then scored on Chris Charbonneau’s double to left-center field. The score remained 1-0 until the third inning.

Tristan Lawton led off the top of the third with a single but a strike out and double play by Portsmouth ended the inning. Portsmouth went on top in the bottom half of the third after getting three hits and a fly ball to center field, making the score 3-1 at that point.

With one out in the top of the fourth, JJ Renaud hit a homerun over the left field fence to bring the score to 3-2. Chris Charbonneau and Wyatt Andrews each added a single but a hard line drive by Alex Enright was snared by Portsmouth’s second baseman Kane Brule and two strikeouts closed out the EP rally attempt.

Portsmouth picked up two more runs in the fourth inning on a walk and a couple of hits. After leading off the bottom of the fifth with a single Portsmouth hit two high drives to right field which were caught by Bryce Levesque and a strikeout ended the frame. Alex Enright and Jose Figueroa pitched well for EP.

East Providence led off the sixth with a strikeout and JJ Renaud missed a bid for his third homerun in two days with a drive caught just in front of the left field fence. With two outs Chris Charbonneau was hit by a pitch and Jose Figueroa singled. The two-out late inning rally was stopped with a groundout. East Providence, the defending Division Two Champions, remains alive in all-star play with its next game on Wednesday, July 6th, 5:45 pm at Hogan Field in Newport.

Riverside/EP Beats Back Barrington in Opening Round
Led by an impressive 15 strikeout, one-hit pitching performance by Jonathan "JJ" Renaud, East Providence/Riverside defeated Barrington 3-1 late in June at Barrington.  Renaud also knocked in all three of EP's runs with an RBI infield single in the 3rd inning to break a scoreless game.  Renaud then crushed a homerun to deep center field with Alex Enright on base to give EP a 3-0 lead.  In addition to striking out 15 of 18 batters he faced, the EP pitcher did not issue any walks.

Although it was hard not to acknowledge Renaud's dominant pitching and hitting efforts, team coaches lauded the team for keeping the game close with balanced play.  Manager Vin Enright and coaches Tom Wall and Mike Sabourin stressed the positive team atmosphere in practice and leading up to their first All-Star win.  "What a job by JJ, on the mound and at bat," said Enright.  "Barrington didn't hit much but when they did our defense made the plays," he added.

Renaud came close to a complete game victory but due to little league "pitch count" rules, Renaud couldn't finish the bottom of the 6th inning.  Enright called on Jacob Sousa to finish the last inning on the mound.  Sousa did just that holding back a rally-minded Barrington team with a strikeout and ground out to third to end the game with a 3-1 win.

In other little league all-star action, Rumford Majors lost their first game in a close, well-played  3-2 game with Pawtucket in a game played at Pineview LL.  Rumford later played against Newport at Hogan Field in Newport but was eliminated from tourney play with a loss. 

East Providence Majors Roster in no order:
Alex Enright, Jose Figueroa, Parker Andrews, Wyatt Andrews, Jacob "Jake" Sousa, Christopher Charbonneau, Tristan Lawton, Tommy Wall, Benny Hernandez, Michael "Mikey" Knowles, Bryce Levesque, KJ Levesque and Jonathan "JJ" Renaud.  Manager Vin Enright.  Coaches Tom Wall, Michael Sabourin.

Riverside LL takes Major Division City Championship
The Riverside Little League Major Division team won the City Championship by defeating Rumford LL 4-0 in a close game played at the Kim Rock complex in Rumford last month.  Riverside won both games in the best of three series.  Riverside won the first game 8-0  and the title clinching game two, 4-0.

Riverside defeated their northern city rivals in both games, although game two was a close game and exhibited crisp play by both teams.  "The scores aren't indicative of the games as Rumford played well and has a good team," said Riverside coach Vincent Enright after the title game.

Game two was decided early as Riverside jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Jacob Sousa led off the game with a single followed by a single from Alex Enright.  Next up was Jonathan Renaud who knocked in Sousa and Enright with a sharp hit to left field.  In the top of the third, Enright and Renaud scored and that was all the scoring for either team.

The highlight of the game was the 10 strikeout, complete game pitching performance of Alex Enright.  Enright recorded one or more strikeouts in each inning including striking out the side twice.  Enright did hit one batter but had no walks.  

Both teams played good defense, but Rumford hitters were held at bay by Enright.   Obviously pleased by the pitching performance of the younger Enright, his Dad and coach, Vincent Enright attributed the win to team play.  "Alex was on tonight and always around the strike zone.  A great job and this team has played together well all season.  Pitching, defense and hitting as a team effort brought us to the title," said the Riverside coach.

The game was played under the new lights at Rock Field and enjoyed by a large crowd.  The win for Riverside was good for its third consecutive Major Division Championship.

Riverside Majors Roster:
Jacob Sousa, Alex Enright, Jonathan "JJ" Renaud, Chris Charbonneau, Jose Figueroa, KJ Levesque, Bryce Levesque, Tristan Lawton & Tommy Wall.  Manager Vincent Enright, Coaches Tom Wall, Mike Sabourin.

Rumford Majors Roster:
Will Budnick, Evan Provencher, Jamison Sydney, Sean Black, Roman Lonardo, Ryan Pita, Lucas Houston, Connor Crowley, Patrick Crowley & Gavin Crowley.  Manager John Provencher, Coaches  Ken Camp, Matt Pita &  Steve Narcawich.

Special thanks to Lorri Provencher for many game photos.  Little League all star final results will be posted on the ReporterToday site.

Townie Baseball Camp August 8^th to August 12^th at Pierce Stadium
The Popular "Townie Baseball Camp" is back and scheduled for Monday August 8th to Friday August 12th.  Camp hours are 9am to 12:30pm.  Location is Pierce Memorial Stadium.  Early registration before August 1st is needed for personalized camp tee-shirts.  Camp registration brochures are being circulated in the community.  Proceeds benefit EPHS baseball and Middle School Sports.  You can email Camp Director, EPHS Head Coach Bobby Rodericks for further information at: bobbyrodericks@aol.com; or bobrodericks@gmail.com.  Allie Hall, John Provencher, Kristopher Hallene, Eddie Wencis, Jonathan Baptista, will also have flyers to pass out if anyone needs them. East Providence Central little League, Rumford Little League, & Riverside Little League.  A great week of baseball skills building, competition, awards & fun!  Don't miss out!