Warwick North advances to World Series title game

Matt Metcalf
Posted 8/20/15

Warwick North moved a step closer on Tuesday night in its quest to become just the second team from Rhode Island to be deemed world champion.

In the World Series semifinals, Warwick North held …

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Warwick North advances to World Series title game

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Warwick North moved a step closer on Tuesday night in its quest to become just the second team from Rhode Island to be deemed world champion.

In the World Series semifinals, Warwick North held off a sixth-inning Central Iowa surge to earn a 5-4 victory and a trip to the title game against Rowan Little League from Salisbury, N.C.

The championship was scheduled for 9 p.m. EST on Wednesday night. Results were unavailable at press time.

Warwick North was narrowly able to elude Central Iowa’s comeback bid, as pitcher Emily Carter struck out the final two hitters to leave the tying run at second base.

Earlier in that inning, a misplayed bunt allowed for Skylar Rigby to come home from second to cut Central Iowa’s deficit to 5-3.

The deficit was trimmed to 1 just one batter later, as Isabella Johnson placed a bunt perfectly on the right side of the infield, allowing Maggie Larson to score.

But with runners on first and second and one out, Carter was able to bear down and produce just her second and third strikeouts of the game to squash Central Iowa’s comeback hopes.

Under the bright lights, Carter was able to put the beginning of the inning out of mind – something that’s tough to do as an athlete.

Her coach helped her do that.

“We could tell by the last inning that she wanted to put it away,” Warwick North manager Kevin DeTroia said of Carter. “With the two bunts to her left side, we could see the frustration kind of building, that’s when I called a timeout. I just went out there, told her to calm down and relax and that she has this no problem.”

Warwick North struck first in the top of the third, with its most productive hitter as of late, Dyonna Rodas, coming through.

Rodas roped a double that plated pinch runner Olivia Murray to make it 1-0.

The RBI from Rodas was her 10th of the tournament, while Murray scored her eighth run of the tournament on the hit.

That run didn’t hold up for long, though.

In the bottom half of the inning, Warwick North surrendered the lead with a pair of two unearned runs.

With two outs in the frame, a grounder was mishandled, allowing Central Iowa to extend its inning.

One hitter later, Mikayla Houge knotted the game at 1 with an RBI single. Rigby followed that with a triple that scored Houge to grab a 2-1 advantage for Central Iowa.

But Warwick North wasn’t ready to just go out quietly, taking back control of the game with a four-spot off of Isabell Hobbs in the top of the fourth.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Alyssa Richard delivered the biggest hit of the inning, and potentially the game.

She took a pitch on the outer half from Hobbs to right field, lacing it over the outstretched arm of the second baseman to score Sophia DeTroia and Murray.

A passed ball then allowed Maddy D’Amato to score, before an error off the bat of Rodas brought Richard home.

In the matter of minutes, Warwick North turned a one-run hole into a three-run lead, 5-2.

“That was huge,” Kevin DeTroia said of the four-run inning. “We always tell the girls to get out in front and have them chase you. We felt confident with the part of our order coming up, and it worked in our favor, we were able to score those four runs. The girls just battled and never gave up.”

Hobbs would settle in to keep the Warwick North offense at bay in the fifth and sixth innings, striking out five over the last two frames.

But it made no difference, with Carter coming up big to secure the win in the final half inning. She earned the victory, allowing just one earned run and yielding seven hits in a complete-game effort.

The win put Warwick North in a position to do something that only the 1979 North Providence West team has done within the state – win a world championship.

The position that Warwick North was in going into Wednesday night was surreal, and it wasn’t going to have any regrets afterwards. It was planning on leaving everything it had out on the field.

“We’re leaving everything we can, it’s a dog fight,” Kevin DeTroia said. “It’s not an easy cakewalk. It’s hard to get a run in with these teams that are out there, and they know that. We’re confident that these girls will be right there in the end, hopefully with a championship.”

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