Archive - Sports Article
May 8th, 2013
CENTRAL FALLS – After dropping two straight, Shea High skipper Dino Campopiano has been trying to hammer home the honest truth: If his kids wanted to see any semblance of post-season action, they had to start winning – and fast.
Thanks to senior righthander Bryan Quinlan, the Raiders took their first step toward that ultimate goal Wednesday afternoon.
PAWTUCKET – Gary DiSarcina learned a valuable lesson during his first month managing the Pawtucket Red Sox – the importance of individualism.
Naturally, players who are on Boston’s 40-man roster tend to warrant more attention, yet it’s important to remember the rest of the clubhouse inhabitants, too. To DiSarcina, it’s paramount to establish a set of guidelines with each player rather than have everyone fall under the same umbrella.
May 7th
CUMBERLAND — Cumberland’s inability to get the big hit on Tuesday afternoon cost the Clippers an opportunity to pick up a big win.
The Clippers stranded 10 runners on base – five of them in scoring position – and saw La Salle use a three-run uprising in the top of the third inning and some strong pitching from Caleb Gardner to produce a 4-1 victory at Tucker Field.
The Rams, who are 10-1 in Division I-North play (and in second place behind unbeaten Bishop Hendricken) and have now won eight in a row, didn’t need a big hit to take their 3-0 lead off Cumberland starter Rob Reedy.
CUMBERLAND — A year ago at these Northern Division Championships, then-Central Falls High junior Tiffany Jenkins finished third overall in the high jump – courtesy of a leap of five feet, one inch – but truly wanted to improve that placement this time around.
Now a senior captain, she accomplished the same 5-1 on Tuesday afternoon, but found herself in a different situation. With the height, she earned the title, so is looking forward to bigger and better things with the premier meets just around the corner.
May 6th
PAWTUCKET --- If Mount St. Charles learned anything about Tolman over the past six days, it’s that the Tigers have plenty of pitching to go around.
Less than a week after Carlos Sanabria blanked Mount on four hits, the Tigers topped the Mounties with another four-hitter on Monday afternoon – this time coming from starter Richie Marshall and reliever Joey Fernandes – and parlayed that with a 14-hit assault to beat their Division II-North opponent, 8-3, at Slater Park.
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. --- The Pawtucket Red Sox bounced back nicely from their no-hit loss at home on Sunday by kicking off their eight-day road trip on Monday night with a 5-1 victory over the Gwinnett Braves.
The PawSox, who collected 10 hits to hand their hosts their ninth straight loss, used two of them to break out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Ryan Lavarnway collected a two-out single and Mark Hamilton followed with an opposite-field home run to left field.
May 5th
PAWTUCKET – Rubby De La Rosa has turned the corner with his pitching lately. As a result, the team’s harness on the young prospect is getting loosened.
After being subjected to a stringent pitch count during the first month of the season, the hard-throwing phenom is expected to throw in the neighborhood of 70-75 when he takes the mound for Pawtucket Monday night in Gwinnett. De La Rosa has been limited to around 50 pitches in his previous five starts, none of which have seen him toss more than three innings.
PAWTUCKET – Leave it to a Rhode Island native to earn a slice of immortality at McCoy Stadium.
By zipping a 92 miles-per-hour fastball that produced a swing-and-miss by Pawtucket outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker, Durham reliever and Johnston native Jeff Beliveau etched his name into the team’s annals. Brought on to nail down the final out, Beliveau preserved the Bulls’ combined no-hitter and secure a 2-1 victory over the PawSox on Sunday.
May 3rd
CUMBERLAND – Prior to Cumberland High’s Division I showdown with Tolman on Friday afternoon, head coach Marty Crowley issued a message to his players.
“I just told them that Tolman’s a great team, and – like every game – they need to be ready to play, and play hard,” he stated. “I also said that they’re brand new to the league (division), and we haven’t seen them, but we needed to take them like any other (force). The good news is we heeded that warning.”
PAWTUCKET — Allen Webster brought out his best to nab his first Triple-A victory on a cold Friday night.
The 23-year-old prospect delivered six innings of two-hit ball, striking out nine batters and walking none, to help the Pawtucket Red Sox produce a 4-1 victory over the Durham Bulls at McCoy Stadium.
Aside from a shaky third inning that saw Webster hit the first batter he faced and the Bulls collect both their hits and score their run, Webster was simply on top of his game.
PAWTUCKET — Gary DiSarcina wasted little time in explaining why the PawSox are refraining from employing a six-man starting rotation.
“Chris Hernandez will be in the bullpen,” the Pawtucket skipper stated prior to Thursday’s game, which was started by Alfredo Aceves.
May 2nd
PAWTUCKET – Alfredo Aceves made a strong statement with his pitching on Thursday.
Taking the mound for the first time in nine days, Aceves spun six shutout innings as Pawtucket belted Durham, 10-1. Though he issued four walks, Aceves allowed just two hits while striking out six. He ended up throwing 101 pitches, 57 of which went for strikes.
“I didn’t know how many pitches I threw,” said Aceves. “Nobody knows how pitches you’re going to throw (in a given outing). It’s unreal.”
April 30th
PAWTUCKET – Nobody wants to play extra innings on a day at McCoy Stadium that began with the stands filled with elementary and middle school students hailing from this city and concluded with a small group of diehard supporters.
Tuesday was also getaway day for the Columbus Clippers, a club that certainly wanted to hop on a plane and fly back home to Ohio after partaking in an eight-game, two-city road trip. The PawSox players wanted to finish the game, too, and enjoy a rare night off that would be followed by an even rarer day away from the ballpark.
April 29th
CUMBERLAND — The way Cumberland is playing at this very moment is what skipper Paul Murphy envisioned prior to the season’s first pitch.
Take away the moon shot of a home run that Lincoln’s Nick Zammarelli led Monday’s game off with and Cumberland strung together a performance worthy of its play of late. The Clippers’ 11-1 “mercy rule” victory at the Lions’ expense was the third straight Division I-North victory for Murphy & Co. and the fourth overall.
April 28th
PAWTUCKET — It’s hard not to read into Pedro Martinez’s presence at McCoy Stadium on the same weekend that pitcher Alfredo Aceves reported for Triple-A duty.
Despite the angina that Aceves has caused through a series of outbursts and bizarre mound antics, there’s at least a part of the Red Sox brain trust that believes Aceves is salvageable. Their challenge is how to unwrap this enigma in order to prevent future episodes.
This is where Martinez, the former Red Sox superstar, now a special assistant to general manager Ben Cherington, could prove to be the coaching staff’s ace in the hole.
PAWTUCKET — With regards to his right hamstring strain, Joel Hanrahan feels that he has turned the corner and believes that a return trip to the big leagues and Boston is imminent.
There’s just one piece of unresolved business: Will Hanrahan slide right back into the closer’s role that was his prior to landing on the disabled list, or will he become Andrew Bailey’s chief setup option?
April 26th
PAWTUCKET — According to skipper Andy Hallam, Lincoln High had spent too much time during the pre-season dwelling on which Division I-North stalwarts it would be playing and when instead of focusing on the task at hand: Winning.
“They got caught up in that,” Hallam stated. “Earlier this week, we talked about taking it one game at a time, and not getting too excited about any particular team.”
A little of this, a little of that …
A different type of circus has come to the intersection of George Washington Highway and Old River Road, the characteristics of this particular traveling company unlike the sights and sounds appearing beneath your garden-variety big top.
Sorry to disappoint the youngsters, but you won’t find any elephants, flying acrobats or lion tamers here.
April 25th
LINCOLN — Lincoln High head coach Mike Ethier and his troops had hoped to derail the express that is Smithfield in a Division III “Battle of Unbeatens” at Tiberii Field on Thursday afternoon.
Despite the fact that the Sentinels had entered the contest as the two-time defending D-III champion and had posted 36 consecutive league wins dating back to 2011, Ethier believed his Lions had the wherewithal to pull off what – at least this season – would be only a mild upset.
April 24th
CUMBERLAND — There’s no place like home. And for Cumberland, which played eight of its first nine games of the season (two of them non-league contests in Massachusetts and one an Injury Fund non-leaguer) on the road, Wednesday afternoon’s Division I showdown against La Salle in the friendly confines of Tucker Field was certainly a welcomed breath of fresh air.
