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Thursday, September 2, 2010 |
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CNLL wins Major Division state title |
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Friday, 30 July 2010 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Sports writer
RUMFORD – Patience and confidence.
That’s what Cumberland National needed to display on Thursday night while facing a determined Portsmouth squad in the 11-12-yearold Major Division state championship. The National players were making contact off an assortment of tricky pitchers hurled by ace Evan Moore. The all-stars were also getting some quality innings from their starter Tyler Calabro.
Still, despite all that, Cumberland National couldn’t produce any offense at the Kimberly Ann Rock Athletic Complex in the first four innings and found itself trailing by three runs and stranding eight baserunners.
Patience and confidence is what Cumberland National needed to sew up a date in next weekend’s New England Regionals, and that’s exactly what it used to take home the program’s first championship banner, one that was earned with a thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind victory over Portsmouth before a large fan base at the Rumford field.
Behind by a score of 3-0, Calabro got his teammates back on track with a line-drive, two-run home run over the centerfield fence in the fifth inning. Cumberland then got its game-winner from Justin D’Abrosca, who belted a two-run single down the third-base line.
The victory completes an undefeated run for Cumberland National against R.I. competition this summer. The all-stars swept through the District 4 tourney with six straight dominating victories and then won all three of their games at the state championship.
But the final and most gratifying of them all was certainly the hardest to win.
“We have been down before, but never this late in a game,” said CNLL manager John Brodeur. “(Today) it shows the kids can battle and have the heart to come back.”
In the decisive sixth inning, Cumberland National utilized a little small ball to get things rolling. Nick Provost, the No. 8 hitter in the lineup, began the come back by belting a hard single off reliever Ben O’Hearne that nicked the glove of shortstop Lanse Mitchell and went into the outfield. Ryan O’Neil followed that clutch hit by laying down a perfect bunt a few feet down the third base line. Josh Brodeur loaded the bases with another well-executed bunt single and that set up the heroics for D’Abrosca, who slashed his big single to send two of his teammates home and CNLL to Bristol, Conn., for its spot in the regionals.
“I think we showed (today) that we have a lot of depth,” John Brodeur said. “Nick Provost, he has a lot of speed. We let him hit to see what he could do, and he ripped the ball. Ryan O’Neil we needed to get into scoring position and he laid down a perfect bunt for a base hit. Josh, he has been hitting the ball hard. We were going to have him hit, but we were worried about the double play, and he had a perfect bunt.”
Before delivering the clincher, D’Abrosca walked his first time up and was hitless in his other plate appearances.
“Justin sometimes gets down on himself when he’s had some tough at-bats,” Brodeur said. “But baseball is one of those sports where there’s always a second chance, always a chance to redeem. That’s all it took, a base hit down the line that was hit pretty hard to score two runs.”
Portsmouth, which was send to the losers’ bracket final by CNLL on Sunday after dropping a 7-5 decision, was coming off an emotional win versus Elmwood on Tuesday. In that contest, Portsmouth rallied from a 6-0 deficit to earn their rematch with Cumberland National. Unfortunately for the District 2 titlist it had to utilize a good portion of its pitching staff to dispose of Elmwood.
That proved to be crucial in the final outcome of Thursday’s championship game.
Cumberland National squandered its share of opportunities in the early innings, including leaving the bases loaded in the second. The young all stars also mustered just three hits in 5 1/3 innings off of Moore, who relied primarily on his fastball and changeup.
Thanks to some long at-bats by CNLL, including 30-plus pitches in the second inning, Moore had to leave the game after reaching the standard 85-pitch count in the fifth.
That’s when things started to happen for CNLL, which scored all of its runs off the Portsmouth relievers.
“I was just thinking we had some good at-bats. We were making some contact. The hits just weren’t dropping. But we weren’t going to panic,” Brodeur said. “We knew they went through a lot of pitchers in their last game. (Moore) did a remarkable job. He just ran out of gas. I was surprised that they had anything left in the tank.”
“We knew coming in with our pitching,” said Portsmouth manager Mark Manning. “We knew it would be tough with our pitching (because of the last game)…Evan did great. He was a little nervous at the beginning, but he had five-plus innings. That’s not bad.”
Except for the third inning where Portsmouth scored all of its runs and had three of its four hits for the night, Calabro was efficient on the hill, where he often utilized his zipping fastball. After he reached the standard pitch count with one out in the ninth, O’Neil earned the save by recording outs on the only two batters he faced.
Cumberland National will begin its quest for a New England title next Friday at 8:15 p.m. at Breen Field in Bristol, Conn. CNLL will face the Connecticut state champion.
“We are just going to regroup and take a day off tomorrow,” Brodeur said. “We’ll be back to work by the weekend and just do the things we’ve been doing. It’s been paying off.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 11 August 2010 )
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Go Tolman Baseball Team. Joshua Amado you Rock!! - Ana Kinsley
Good Luck to NORTHEAST Elite RI @the
BRUTE IMPIRE NATIONALS TOMORROW WE HAVE A LOT OF TALENTED WRESTLERS GOING SO WE WILL HAVE A FEW CHAMPS AND A LOTR OF PLACERS!! GO NORTH EAST ELITE!!! - Dawn Lariviere Go tolman high school go leanna fanning my favorite player
on the team well wishes for your uocoming games. - Shauna Marrow
Saturday night I attended the semi-final girls basketball
game vs Townies Girls team as an aunt of one of the EP players. It was an exciting
all-around game for both teams, and I give credit to my niece and the Townie girls
too for a great season. <br />I just have to say though, that I was
particularly impressed with the talent, poise and unflappable playing style of this
Tolman girls team! It can only speak well of a great coaching staff, and their love
and encouragement of these talented girls. After the game, the low-key humilty that
the Tolman girls displayed, showed real sportsmanship and class. I have a feeling
that this season is the "Year of the Tiger" and hope that they go straight on to
victory in the championship. No matter what the outcome though, they've gained a new
loyal fan in me, and I look forward to following the next seasons with real
interest. This is the way that high school sports should be played! You go Tolman
girls! - Regina Orio
THANK YOU TO THE PAWTUCKET TIMES AND THE WOONSOCKET CALL
FORV THEIR GREAT COVERAGE OF HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING IN YOUR PAPERS IT IS VERY MUCH APPERICATED!! A SPECIAL THANKS TO TERRY NEAU FOR HIS EXCELLENT COVERAGE OF CUMBERLAND CLIPPERS WRESTLING AND FOP ALL THE GREAT PICTURES YOU PUT IN THE CALL THEY ARE AWESOME!!!THANKS AGAIN!!! - Dawn Lariviere
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