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By BRENDAN MCGAIR Sports writer PAWTUCKET — Doug Hopper wanted so badly to be the last one standing when the final out was recorded that the St. Raphael Academy senior resorted to some Houdini tactics.
With Smithfield High pinch runner Ian Brissette taking his lead off the first base bag, Hopper faked a throw, then made a beeline toward the Sentinels sophomore. Representing the tying run, Brissette believed Hopper was guilty of committing a balk. When he finally picked up that Hopper had possession of the ball all along, Brissette quickly dove back with a head-first slide.
All game long Hopper was accustomed to handing the ball off the Drew Given, who twirls from the left side. Hopper yearned for the chance to pick up his first full inning on a rain-soaked afternoon for playoff baseball, but alas, the strategy SRA coach Tom “Saar” Sorrentine was married to dictated Given enter the tight-knit affair.
No cool rain could extinguish the pressure-cooker Given found himself in. Brissette got himself into scoring position with a stolen base, but Gibbon was able to paint the inside corner, battling back from a 2-0 count to catch Jeff Farmer looking.
Given put the exclamation point on what was a 3-2 win for SRA in the opening game of the Division I/Region II postseason. St. Raphael remains in the winners’ bracket with a date against top seed Bishop Hendricken later on today (4 p.m. first pitch).
Since the playoff format is double-elimination, the curtain wasn’t lowered on Smithfield’s season. The Sentinels live to fight another seven innings, though they will have to do so emerging out of the losers’ bracket. Manager Steve Quattrini’s contingent returns to the field Thursday against either North Providence or Toll Gate.
This marks Smithfield’s first playoff taste since falling to Tolman High in the D-II semifinals four springs ago. “It’s unfortunate that we came up short, but there is a tomorrow,” said Quattrini. “We have a lot of young guys that haven’t played at this type of level before.”
When the dust settled on Sorrentine’s mixing and matching of his pitchers, Hopper ended up recording 12 outs (four innings) with six strikeouts. Both runs Smithfield scored came against Hopper, though were unearned. Given nailed down nine outs (three innings) and was on the mound for the two double plays SRA notched.
Hopper pitched both times when SRA (No. 4 seed) and Smithfield (fifth seed) met in the regular season, the most recent matchup coming last Wednesday in a 9-3 win for the Sentinels. Besides Given being a southpaw, Sorrentine’s main reason for running a fire drill on the hill was to give the visitors a fresh look.
“[Smithfield] had seen Hopper a lot,” said Sorrentine. “Given was able to give us some key outs.”
Sorrentine wasted no time in unveiling his strategy. After Smithfield’s Joe Landi began the game with a single, in came Given for Hopper. By design, Sorrentine wanted Given to throw a couple of times over to first before rocking back and dealing.
In a scene that mirrored their play for much of the season, the Saints gift-wrapped two runs for the Sentinels. One was the result of an error, the other an errant pickoff attempt at third base.
“We started off in the first inning like we did in the season,” said Sorrentine. “but we shook that and played pretty good baseball the rest of the way.”
For a team that has struggled in the scoring department, the 2-zip deficit SRA found itself in as the contest progressed and the rain intensified must have appeared even greater. Fortunately the Saints slowly chipped away against Sentinels starter Anthony Tacelli, whose downward action on his pitches allowed him to frustrate St. Raphael early on.
SRA scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to make it a brand-new ballgame. Nick Gaj singled home Given for the first run, then Hopper scored a double steal.
Gaj, who had three of the Saints’ five hits, began the sixth in fine fashion. His double to left-center was followed by a bunt single by Hopper, who had the other two hits for St. Raphael.
With runners on second and third and one down, Ray Johnston lifted a deep fly to left field on a 0-2 pitch. That allowed Gaj to trot home with the go-ahead run.
“Gaj got the big hit to begin the inning and Johnston came through,” said Sorrentine. “
Other than a few curveballs he left over the heart of the strike zone, Tacelli was tough. He struck out four and walked two. Catcher Eric Laroche gunned two would-be base stealers.
All that was required of Given was 26 pitches. That potentially opens the door for him to come back today against a Hendricken outfit that did not meet St. Raphael this spring.
***
Smithfield 200 000 0 – 2-3-2
St. Raphael 001 101 x – 3-5-2
Anthony Tacelli and Eric Laroche. Doug Hopper, Andrew Given (1), Hopper (2), Given (2), Hopper (3), Given (3), Hopper (3), Given (4), Hopper (5), Given (5), Hopper (5), Given (6), Hopper (7), Given (7) and Dominic DiSano. 2B: Nick Gaj. |
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