|
Collette kicks off long stretch with victory |
|
|
Thursday, 17 July 2008 |
By ERIC BENEVIDES
Sports writer
PAWTUCKET --- This was a great way to kick off a hectic week.
Matt Nassi's run-scoring double and straight steal of home highlighted a three-run rally in the home half of the third inning that helped Collette Vacations Post 79 produce a wild 8-6 victory over Annese Construction Post 88 on Monday night at Max Read Field.
The win, which took Collette almost three hours to complete, was the first game in a long stretch of contests (most of them makeup games due to inclement weather earlier in the season) that will see Post 79 conclude its regular season by playing eight times in as many days.
After tonight's 7 p.m. game at Macomber Stadium against Shoreline-North Kingstown, Collette will actually get tomorrow night off.
But then they will play the following three nights against tough opponents (Upper Deck and Hoxsie Cleansers at Macomber and Gershkoff Auto Body in Cranston), host a day-night twinbill against Bank R.I. and Providence Post 56 on Sunday at Max Read Field, and wrap up their regular season next Monday on the road against Hurd Chevrolet.
"It is a tough stretch," admitted Collette coach Jim Mello, "but if you're a kid, you want to come out and play every night. I know when I'm at work during the day and we have a game that night, I look forward to coming to the ballpark."
The victory also snaps a three-game slide for Post 79, which is now 8-5, and the loss drops Annese to 11-5. Should both teams finish the regular season tied in the standings, Collette will cop a higher seed in the playoffs because the locals will own the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Annese owned leads of 2-0 and 4-3 before Collette took the lead for good in the bottom of the third.
With one out, Kyle Borden reached base on an infield error and John Robbins worked a walk to set the stage for Nassi, who belted the first pitch he saw from losing pitcher Dan Lefebvre into the gap in left-center field (and just out of the reach of a dive by center fielder Derek Rogala) for his double that tied the score.
After Jeff Sousa drove in the go-ahead run and sent Nassi to third with a sharp grounder to second, Tom Votta came to the plate, but instead of batting lefthanded, he started his at-bat from the other side of the dish.
On Lefebvre's second pitch to Votta, Nassi broke for the plate and nearly got hit by a wild pitch by Lefebvre as he slid across the plate.
Post 79 made it an 8-4 game in the fifth on a two-run ground single to left by Sousa that knocked in Borden and Nassi, but Annese added a touch of drama to the game in their final swings by scoring a pair of runs on an infield error with two gone and putting the tying run on first.
But Borden, who started the contest in center field, but came in to pitch three batters earlier, finally ended the thriller and picked up a save by striking out the next batter he faced.
Borden saved the win for southpaw reliever Mike O'Neill, who came into the game in the fourth after starting pitcher Zach McClelland threw 75 pitches in the first three innings. O'Neill handcuffed Post 88 to just one hit and struck out two batters in his 3 1/3 innings of work, but came out of the game in the seventh after issuing his third and fourth walks of the night with one out.
Post 79 scored its first three runs of the night in the second on run-scoring singles by Ryan Senra and Drew Given and a throwing error on a stolen base attempt by Senra that allowed Sousa to trot home with ease.
Given and Sousa each went 2-for-3 and Nassi scored three times for the winners, while Annese, which stranded a dozen runners on base (eight of them in scoring position) received two hits, two runs scored, and three stolen bases from No. 3 batter Brett Hereth.
|
|
Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 July 2008 )
|
Horoscope
