By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND --- The errors hurt Cumberland High on Tuesday afternoon, but not as bad as the runners East Providence left on base in its Region I opening game of the Division I double-elimination playoffs at Tucker Field.

After watching the visiting Townies score four unearned runs, but also strand a dozen runners on the bases, the Clippers managed to squeak out a 5-4 extra-inning victory on a ground single to left by Brad Bowe that plated Jeff Buress with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The grand prize for the Clippers, who at 9-10, are the 16th seed in the 24-team field, is a second-round game against top-seeded Portsmouth High (17-1) this afternoon on the Patriots' campus. The Patriots are expected to march arguably the state's premier pitcher, Vanderbilt University-bound Ryan Westmoreland, to the mound for the 4 p.m. contest.    
"You have to go down and give it a shot," remarked Cumberland coach Paul Murphy, whose crew limped into the playoffs with losses in six of their last eight games. "If you're going to try to win the whole thing, you have to beat (Portsmouth) at some point. You might as well try now."
The 17th-seeded Townies (7-
12), meanwhile. drop into the losers' bracket and will try to stay alive in the tourney tomorrow afternoon for a 3:45 p.m. game on the road against either La Salle Academy, Cranston East High, or Barrington High. 
It was a tough defeat for the Townies, who stranded seven runners in scoring position, and aside from a key two-run double by Mike Fisher in the second inning, were unable to deliver a clutch two-out hit in the final six innings of the game.
"We had our chances, but unfortunately, we didn't get that big hit," added EP coach Alex Kanelos. "I give a lot of credit to Cumberland. They played a good game, and even though they gave us a few early unearned runs, they stayed in the game. It came down to who got the clutch hit, and Cumberland got it at the end."
The Clippers, who posted a 7-5 win over the Townies in their regular-season meeting on April 16 back at Tucker, tallied the game-winning run off freshman reliever Joe Carnevale, who came into the game after senior southpaw Bryan Soderberg held the Clippers to five hits and two earned runs in six innings of work.
Matt Milano led off by belting the first pitch he saw off the 355-foot sign on the fence in left-center field for a double -- a shot that was a foot away from leaving the yard. With first base open, Buress was intentionally walked, but Milano was cut down at third when the next batter, Derek Paul, bunted the ball right to Carnevale, who wheeled around and got the out at third.
But the Clippers loaded the bases when Carnevale hit Bruce Altieri in the ribs with a pitch, and that set the stage for Bowe, who ripped a single through a drawn-in infield to deliver Burress with the game-winner.
"For the most part, we executed when we had to," said Murphy. "We got a couple of timely two-out hits, and that's what it takes to win playoff games like this one."
The Townies had grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, when with runners on first and second and two gone, Jarrett Silvia lofted a fly ball to left field that was dropped and allowed a run to score. Fisher then delivered his two-run double that hugged the right-field line.
"I just wished that we would have played defense a lot better," added Murphy. "We got really good pitching from (starting pitcher Marc) Nunes and then (reliever Bill) Geddes, but we gave up those unearned runs and it shouldn't have come down to that at the end. But give (East Providence) credit, they battled and they hit the ball hard."
The Clippers came back to knot the game by scoring a run in the second on a bases-loaded walk by Scott Frechette and a pair in the third on a two-out triple to the fence in right-center by Paul and a throwing error on the relay to third that allowed Paul to score with ease.
The Townies reclaimed their lead in the fifth with another unearned run, as Derrick MacLeod doubled to right and scored on an infield throwing error, but the Clippers again tied the score in the home half of the inning on a two-out RBI single up the middle by Buress.
Geddes picked up the win on the hill by working the final 1 2/3 innings and striking out four batters, including the side in the eighth.
The Townies received a standout game from their catcher, MacLeod, who not only led their attack offensively by collecting a pair of doubles and a single in four at-bats, but also threw out a pair of runners trying to steal second base.
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East Providence  030 010 00--4-11-2
Cumberland  012 010 01--5-7-3
Bryan Soderberg, Joe Carnevale (7) and Derrick MacLeod; Marc Nunes, Bill Geddes (7) and Matt Milano. 2B -- Derrick MacLeod 2 (EP), Mike Fisher (EP), Matt Milano (C). 3B -- Derek Paul (C).