PAWTUCKET – Shea High experienced its share of internal problems last year and, coupled with a young squad, managed just four league victories in Division II-East.
A year later, things are looking a bit different for the Raiders. After Monday afternoon’s doubleheader sweep of Our Lady of Fatima at Max Read Field, Shea remained perched atop the league standings, courtesy of a 8-5 mark.
“Last year we were at a point where we had some disciplinary problems with some JV kids and varsity. I think we threw off seven guys,” said Shea head coach Dino Campopiano. “We had to let our JV coach go. Me and (my assistant coach) coached JV and varsity. Other than Max (Perry), Niyih (Nunez) and Arianny (Segura) everybody played JV and varsity and we played every day of the week so they got a lot of ball in, and I think it’s paid off.”
Shea won the first game of the twinbill with a 7-0 blanking over the winless Tigers. Sophomore Eric Geisman hurled a solid, three-hitter with six strikeouts in the five-inning tilt. The Raiders collected seven hits, including a two-run double by Geisman, part of a three-run fourth inning that essentially put the game away.
“Eric pitched a great game,” said Campopiano, whose squad led 4-0 before the fourth. “I think he had one walk, so right there (he was) pitching strikes. And we had one error. If you have one walk and have one error you are going to be in the game.”
In the second game, Shea breezed to another easy triumph, shutting out the Tigers, 8-0. Segura and Nunez combined for a no-hitter in the five-inning contest. Segura (2-for-3, two RBI) and Bladimire Perez (2-for-3, two stolen bases) were the offensive stars.
Fatima currently occupies the cellar in the division with a record of 0-15. But the Tigers’ woeful record didn’t matter to Campopiano before his team took the field.
“I don’t care who you play and when you play. We are not a great baseball team,” he said. “We are playing good right now, but you got to go out and play every game. If you are suppose to go out and win a game, go out and win it. I don’t care who you play. You go in with the same attitude. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the kids.
With the dual victories, Shea has now won six of its last seven games. That’s a far cry from how it began for the Raiders, who lost their first three league games, outscored by a combined 30-12 margin. "We got off to a slow start,” Campopiano said. “But (lately) the pitching has been good. We have been hitting the ball, making the basic plays. If you do those three things, you’ll be in every game.”
Perry, a junior, has been instrumental in the Raiders’ success lately with both his arm and his bat. On the mound, he has won his last three starts, which have included a pair of double-digits strikeout efforts. Tenth-grader Junior Gonzalez and Segura, a senior, have also contributed greatly to the offense during the current stretch.
But it’s more than a three-player show, according to their coach.
“A lot of guys are stepping up,” Campopiano said. “We are just playing as a team. They are doing a lot of things that I knew they could do.”
While the Raiders do own the top spot in the division, it’s not by much. Four other teams have at least five or more wins. With just five games remaining on its league schedule, Shea will face three of those schools within the next 10 days – Mount Hope (Friday), Tolman (Saturday) and Wheeler (May 21).
“We still got a lot of games to play. The league is really jumbled up. Anybody can still win it,” Campopiano said. “It’s nice we are in first, but we can go from first to last very quickly. The bottom line - the next five games anybody can beat anybody. It’s going to go back to the basics. It’s the team that has decent pitching, makes the basic plays and hits the ball. Anybody can beat anybody. There isn’t one team that is better than anybody or anybody that is worse. It’s the team that goes out and does what it has to do. It should be a lot of fun.”