Titans battle back, but fall late

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 4/7/15

It wasn’t the ideal start to a season, but the way that the outcome came about may have foreshadowed better things to come for the Titans.

Toll Gate, which was facing a deficit for a majority …

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Titans battle back, but fall late

Posted

It wasn’t the ideal start to a season, but the way that the outcome came about may have foreshadowed better things to come for the Titans.

Toll Gate, which was facing a deficit for a majority of the game, was able to tie the score, 4-4, on a bases clearing double by James Meizoso, before East Providence tacked on two runs in the bottom of the sixth to claim the season opener for both teams, 6-4.

Even though the standings will have the Titans tabbed as 0-1, head coach Nick Durand was happy with his team’s effort, especially because it was the first time that they were playing live on a field this spring.

“A couple of our seniors had some big hits for us down the stretch,” Durand said. “We just had a couple of errors in the field and a couple of missed signs, but all-in-all, it was the first time we were seeing live pitching, so I didn’t think it was too bad. But it still wasn’t the outcome we wanted.”

Meizoso starred for the Titans in the loss, going 2-for-3 at the plate and driving in all four runs, while also taking the no-decision on the mound, throwing 4.1 innings and striking out four. Meizoso surrendered four runs, but only one of them was earned.

Senior Kyle Marquis earned the win for the Townies on the bump, hurling five innings, while striking out eight and allowing one hit and one run.

Marquis was a tough pitcher to face for the Titans, as that was their first taste of live pitching this spring.

“He threw the ball pretty well,” Durand said of EP’s burly right-hander. “I don’t know if we’ll see many guys as good as him. He kept our guys off balance and we have a young lineup – only a couple of seniors in our lineup.”

It didn’t take long for the Townies to get on the board.

Meizoso didn’t surrender a hit in the opening frame, but EP was able to manufacture a run on two walks and an error, as Jared Estrella came around to score on a groundout by Adam Duarte.

Heading into the fourth inning, neither team had mustered a hit, but EP still held a 1-0 lead.

But in the fourth inning, the Titans were able to get to Marquis.

With two outs in the top half of the inning, Elvis Pimental was hit by a pitch and stole second. Meizoso then punched a base knock through the left side, scoring Pimental from second to tie the game, 1-1.

EP had an answer in the bottom half of the inning, though.

It was able to get to Meizoso for four consecutive singles, but he got some help from his teammates behind him.

On a single to centerfield, Pimental hosed an EP base runner at the plate, who was trying to score from second.

Duarte scored to give EP a 2-1 lead on a single by Tyler Benedetti, but Pimental’s throw put Toll Gate in a good spot to get out of the inning with surrendering just one run.

But an error was made on a ground ball with two outs that allowed Tyler Midelfort and Derek Silva to score, upping the Townies’ lead to 4-1.

“Errors hurt us today, but it’s only the first game,” Durand said. “Hopefully we’ll battle back.”

Looking to chip away at a three-run deficit, things were looking gloom for the Titans, with Marquis retiring the side in the fifth inning.

But, on a pitch count, EP pulled Marquis after five innings and sent Duarte out to the bump in relief.

With Duarte having some trouble commanding the zone, Toll Gate was able to get some runners on base.

Joe Gasbarro singled with one out, before Austin Giard got on base due to an error by the shortstop. Pimental then walked to load the bases with Meizoso coming up.

That set up the game-tying hit by Meizoso, who belted a towering shot that narrowly missed clearing the fence in left-centerfield. Meizoso was thrown out at third, but not before all three base runners crossed the plate, evening the score at 4-4.

Unfortunately, the Titans’ comeback was spoiled by EP in the bottom of the sixth, as it was able to score two runs on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman.

An Estrella groundout scored Benedetti to secure the game-winning run and Marc LaValley added some insurance when he singled home another.

The Titans will be back in action on Wednesday at 4 p.m., when they host East Greenwich at Mickey Stevens.

Wednesday will begin a stretch in which Toll Gate has three games in a week, as it’ll look to get in the win column for the first time this season.

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