’Canes hang on to beat Northmen, move to 6-0

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 4/28/15

Every win looks the same in the standings.

But the way that the Warwick Vets baseball team closed out its win over North Smithfield on Friday definitely wasn’t ideal.

After jumping out to a …

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’Canes hang on to beat Northmen, move to 6-0

Posted

Every win looks the same in the standings.

But the way that the Warwick Vets baseball team closed out its win over North Smithfield on Friday definitely wasn’t ideal.

After jumping out to a 6-1 lead over the first three innings, the ’Canes surrendered one run in the sixth and three in the seventh to hang on for a 6-5 win.

A win is a win, but Vets head coach Nolan Landy was less than pleased, feeling that his team became too comfortable with a seemingly safe lead.

“I think they got complacent with the lead,” Landy said. “It was just one of those games where you could feel it coming. I thought that was a team that we could’ve jumped on and put away. I just talked to them about the fact that they have to be mentally tough and can’t let things like that happen.”

But although the ending was shaky, Vets’ start was anything but.

After Riley Boucher scored on a Ian Pascoe groundout in the top of the first inning to give the Northmen a 1-0 lead, the ’Canes responded with four runs in the bottom of the second.

Vets evened the score when an error plated Austin Lamaire, before David DeFusco scored on a passed ball to give the ’Canes a 2-1 lead.

A bases loaded walk by Chris Reid then scored Jarrod Houle, followed by an RBI groundout off the bat of Adam Dorsey that allowed Jake Pikul to cross home safely, upping Vets’ lead to 4-1.

The ’Canes added two more runs in the third inning, as Pikul grounded out to score DeFusco, before Tyler Dipetrillo came home on a passed ball to make it 6-1.

With the 6-1 lead, Vets looked to be in good shape, particularly with David Simmons on the mound, who settled in nicely after the first inning to blank the Northmen over the next three innings.

Jesse Holland came on in relief of Simmons in the fifth inning, tossing two innings, allowing one unearned run and striking out three en route to picking up the win.

Landy then brought in senior right-hander Shane Kittila to work the seventh inning. The team’s ace needed to get some work in, but the inning didn’t exactly go as planned.

North Smithfield plated three on three walks, a hit and two errors.

Kittila struggled to command the zone, walking the first two Northmen hitters, before a single from Matt Barrette loaded the bases.

A groundout by Nolan Quinn made it 6-3, with Vets gladly trading a run for an out at that point.

But then an error aided North Smithfield’s rally, allowing Trevor Pascoe to score, and Barrette scored on a passed ball shortly after to make it 6-5.

Kittila was able to bear down and come up big with the tying run on third, though, inducing a groundout to Lamaire at first base to end the threat.

It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the day, the end result was the only thing that mattered.

“I don’t think our mental sharpness was where it should’ve been at the end, but it’s a win,” Landy said. “I’ll take it.”

The win pushed Vets’ record to an unblemished 6-0, setting up a battle of undefeated teams on Monday, when the ’Canes traveled to 8-0 Mount St. Charles. The Mounties and ’Canes were the only undefeated teams remaining in Division II, but results were unavailable at press time.

It was clear, however, that Vets would have to play much better if it wanted to give itself a chance to come out with a crucial road win at Mount.

“With a record like that, teams will be coming to get you,” Landy said of his team’s 6-0 start. “Mount St. Charles is 8-0, so we’ll have to sharpen up. Every game and every week from here on out will be big for us.”

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