Friday’s game was a crazy one for the Warwick Continental 12-year-old all-stars, the kind of game you forget about and move on from. Things went bad on the field, sure, but there was more craziness off it – roster shuffling, a coach who couldn’t be in the dugout because the team had fewer players than normal, a lightning delay and a dehydrated first baseman who had to be taken off in an ambulance.

With all those extenuating circumstances, manager Al Mann didn’t think his team would suffer many ill effects as it took the field for a winner-take-all District 3 title game on Monday at Central Coventry.

Maybe he was right, but if the Continental stars forgot about Friday, their opponent certainly didn’t. Riding the momentum from Friday’s win – and three straight wins before that – Central Coventry topped Continental 5-1 on Monday for the league’s first-ever Major Division District 3 title.

“We felt very good coming in,” said Central Coventry manager Bill Finnegan. “Since we lost to Warwick National, we’ve really played well. We got the win Friday and we definitely felt like we had some momentum.”

They kept it rolling by pushing the Continental stars to shaky ground early on – and not letting them off. Central Coventry scored two runs in the first inning and got a three-run homer by Shawn Pacifico in the third. Starting pitcher Brandon Kenyon allowed a second-inning solo home run to Continental’s Max Lupovitz but not much else. He stranded eight baserunners.

“I thought because of all the things that happened in that game, that we would bounce back,” Mann said. “But we couldn’t get much going. That team just keeps coming at you.”

Seven of Central Coventry’s 12 players were on the all-star squad that won the 10-year-old district championship in 2007. They were primed for a big run again this year but hit a speed bump in the winners’ bracket semis, when they lost to Warwick National by a 10-3 score.

Since then, though, it’s been smooth sailing. The team won three close games to get out of the losers’ bracket before handing Continental its first loss on Friday.

Unfortunately for Continental, the Central Coventry stars delivered more of the same on Monday – and they delivered it early.

After Kenyon worked around an error and a walk in the top of the first, Tyler Walsh lined James Meizoso’s first pitch into center field to start the bottom of the frame. A walk to Kevin Sutyla put two men on for Pacifico, who shot a line drive to right. Walsh scored on the hit and when the ball was misplayed, Sutyla also came around, staking Central Coventry to a 2-0 lead.

“To jump on top like that was a big help,” Finnegan said. “Psychologically, it changes things.”

But Continental certainly wasn’t buried. Lupovitz led off the second with a solo home run, and it looked for a while like the blast would be a spark. Tyler Davey reached on a ground ball when Pacifico took his foot off the first-base bag as he caught the throw from third. Ryan Rotondo followed with a base hit, but Walsh gobbled up a ground ball at shortstop from Nate Duffney and stepped on second to end the inning.

Meizoso, Continental’s ace who came back early from a family vacation to pitch Monday, settled down in the second and worked around a bunt single to post a scoreless frame.

But again, Continental couldn’t get its offense in gear. Joey DeGiulio drew a leadoff walk but was erased at second on a ground ball. Meizoso followed with a long single off the center-field fence, but Lupovitz hit into a fielder’s choice for the second out, and Walsh made a nice play on a ground ball to get Zach Azeredo for the third out.

“We didn’t put anything together,” Mann said. “He just threw straight fastballs. He had good control, but we should have been able to hit him. We were swinging at balls over our heads and popping them up. We try to make them aggressive, but you have to be smart and aggressive. We got hits but didn’t put them together.”

Central Coventry didn’t have the same problem. Sutyla led off the third with a base hit and Pesola followed with a line-drive single on a 1-2 pitch. Pacifico then sent a 1-1 pitch over the fence in right-center, giving Central Coventry a 5-1 lead.

“The kids put the runs up on the board, no question,” Finnegan said. “Shawn’s home run was big. He’s come through at some key times for us.”

Central Coventry didn’t get another hit the rest of the way, but by then, the damage was done.

“James did a great job,” Mann said. “He had one bad pitch for a three-run homer.”

Facing a big deficit, Continental’s lineup still couldn’t string anything together. Kenyon worked a 1-2-3 fourth before Sullivan reached on an error to start the fifth. But Kenyon got out of that jam unscathed and retired the first two batters in order to start the sixth. Zach Bacon drew a four-pitch walk to keep Continental alive, but Kenyon induced a ground ball to second that ended the game.

“Once he hit the three-run homer, we had to go for the big inning,” Mann said. “It never came.”

After Central Coventry’s initial celebration, the post-game festivities were put on hold while officials examined a mandatory-play violation. Central Coventry’s Chris Cloutier didn’t bat. Such a violation used to result in a forfeit, but that rule has been changed. Finnegan will be suspended for the next two games, but the result from Monday still stood.

Central Coventry could celebrate its title.

“This is just a solid group all the way through,” Finnegan said. “They’re very unselfish kids and they’re all about the team. I think it shows. All of them have stepped up at different times.”

While Continental’s stars fell short in their quest for the championship, they succeeded in maintaining the league’s tradition. Continental’s Major Division all-stars have been to the district championship in six of the last seven years.

“I thought this team was good enough to win the district with the pitching and defense,” Mann said. “We didn’t hit enough. I feel bad, but they gave us a good ride.”