The CCRI Knights baseball team hosted the Bulldogs of Dean College for a doubleheader on Saturday at Fell Field. The Knights defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 in nine innings and 3-1 in game two.  With the two victories, the Knights improved to 24-9 overall and 7-3 in Region XXI play.

Game 1

Once again, Knights’ ace Conor Gleason (North Stonington, Conn.) turned in an outstanding performance, as he held Dean to four hits and one run while striking out nine Bulldog batters. Closer Jay Ferri (North Kingstown) came on in the top of the ninth inning to strike out two batters in a scoreless inning to pick up the win.

Offensively, Ryan Wordell (Little Compton) spearheaded the late-game rally as he led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a double, narrowly missing a home run. Jonathan Vasquez (Bridgeport, Conn.) followed Wordell with a sharp single to right, moving pinch runner Pat O’Keefe (East Greenwich) over to third base. Captain Nick Coro (North Providence) delivered the key hit with a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield, scoring O’Keefe for the walk-off win.  

Game 2

Jake Tillman (Johnston) pitched his second consecutive outstanding game, as he gave up only one run over six and a third innings with three strikeouts to earn the win. Once again, closer Jay Ferri came on in seventh to shut the door with the bases loaded by striking out one and getting a grounder back to the mound to end the game to pick-up the save for the Knights. 

Dylan Gracia (Middletown) led the offense by leading off the bottom of the first inning with a single and a stolen base, then moved over to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan O’Dell (Lincoln). Coro led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single, was sacrificed over to second base on a bunt by O’Keefe, and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Gracia. The Knights finished their offense in the bottom of the sixth inning on a leadoff single by Joe Yankee (Lincoln), a sacrifice bunt by Wordell, and an RBI double by Vasquez.

The sweep of Dean extends the CCRI winning streak to 14 games. It also sets up a best-of-three Regional Championship with regional UConn-Avery Point the weekend of May 3, with the location to be determined. 

Knights’ track & field shines at Silfen Invite

The CCRI track & field team traveled to Connecticut College in New London, Conn. to compete in the Silfen Invitational. The Knights finished fourth as a team with 86 points, with Rhode Island College winning the meet with 183. 

The Knights men’s team had a very good showing. They were led by Steven Vazquez (Central Falls), who won the high jump and placed fourth in the triple jump. He also was a member of the 4x400 team along with Jordan Barboza-Simpkins (Warwick), Daniel Duquette (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Carlos Diaz (Smithfield) that placed fourth. Barboza-Simpkins came back to place second in the high jump and third in the triple jump. He also took sixth in the 400 hurdles. Duquette placed third in the 800. David Palkovic (Middletown) ran a career-best time in the 10,000 run of 35:49.11. Sprinter Ryan Rotondo (Cranston) ran for second place in the 100. Manny Gomes (East Providence) placed fourth in the long jump. Thrower Colin Cabral placed eighth in the hammer throw. However, once again, Bobby Allen (Cranston) stole the show, as he crushed his own 5,000 record by over 26 seconds with a time of 14:34.08 he returned later in the meet to reset his 1,500 record with a time of 3:54.45.

Lady Knights sweep Northeastern

the CCRI Lady Knights softball team hosted the Huskies of Northeastern University club team for a Doubleheader on Saturday. The Lady Knights defeated the Huskies 9-1 and 3-0.  With the two victories, the Lady Knights improved to 12-12 on the season. In addition, CCRI Softball celebrated its Sophomore Day for its six sophomores playing in the final home games as Lady Knights. The sophomores are: captain Izzy MarcAurele (Cranston), captain Mel Iadeluca (Warwick), Katie Paddock (Providence), Kate Fowler (Warwick), Kyrie Craig (Warwick), and Dara Patton (Cranston).  

Game 1

On the mound for the Lady Knights, Paddock put together another excellent performance throwing five strong innings and allowing just one unearned run on three hits. Paddock allowed an unearned run in the second inning, but the Lady Knights already had a comfortable 5-1 lead at the point. The Lady Knights added three more runs in the third and closed the game out in the fifth when Fowler drew a bases-loaded walk to end the game

The Lady Knights were led offensively by Alex Place (East Greenwich) who went 2-for-2 with a single, a double, two walks, two stolen bases, three RBI and two runs scored.  Iadeluca had three hits and captain Liz Coburn (Chepachet) added two hits.  

Game 2

Patton got the start for the Lady Knights and pitched well in a very close game to help the Lady Knights pull-off the doubleheader sweep. Patton threw a complete game shutout, scattering five hits over seven innings walking none and striking out one Northeastern batter. In addition, at the plate, Patton also went 2-for-3 with two singles and an RBI, clearly her best day both on the mound and at the plate while playing at CCRI.        

Iadeluca was 2-for-2, while Fowler, MarcAurele and Paddock each added a single and a run scored.

The next games for the Lady Knights will be in the Region XXI Championship this weekend April 27 and 28 when they will travel to Brockton, Mass. to play the No. 1 seed Warriors of Massasoit Community College. The championship will be a best-of-three format with the first two games being played Saturday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m., and the if game to be played Sunday at 2 p.m.          

CCRI golf remains

undefeated

The CCRI Knights golf team traveled to Chicopee, Mass. to play UMass-Stockbridge. The Knights defeated UMS by the narrow margin of 364-366 in their closest match of the year.     

Under poor scoring conditions at Chicopee Country Club, the CCRI team was able to pull out their closest match of the season. Led by captain Anthony Lovechio (Wakefield) with the low score of 85 and captain Pat O’Connor (North Kingstown) with an 87, the Knights as a team were able to overcome a day that they shot 34 strokes over their team average. Rounding out the CCRI foursome was Nick DeSalvo (Burrillville) shooting a 95 and Gina Bartolotta (Wakefield), who shot a 97. 

Knights’ tennis goes 2-1 over weekend

The CCRI tennis team had three matches beginning on Friday and going through Sunday and they went 2-1. On Friday, the Knights hosted the Broncos of SUNY-Delhi and won 8-1. On Saturday, the Knights faced the Lazers of Onondaga Community College and fell 5-4. Finally, on Sunday, they faced the Timberwolves of SUNY Adirondack and won 6-3. 

With the 2-1 record over the weekend, their overall record improved to 6-6 for the season.