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PROVIDENCE — La Salle offered a Tuesday afternoon reminder of how magnified the little things tend to become at this time of the baseball season.
East Providence was guilty of a couple of costly mistakes in this Division I rivalry meeting at Toti Baseball Diamond, and they proved decisive under brilliant blue skies.
Jayce Bessette reached and scored on two errors, Adryan Urena crossed the plate on a wild pitch and a pickoff play helped short-circuit an early Townies chance to take the lead. Instead, it was the Rams posting a 2-0 shutout on Tuesday, May 12, the first of at least two contests between the old Thanksgiving football foes, with the next one set for Monday afternoon just off Pawtucket Avenue.
“Every run was going to matter,” La Salle catcher Brady Collins said. “On defense, every little detail mattered. That’s where we got the edge on them.”
La Salle prevailed despite just two hits against East Providence right-hander JJ Renaud, who was tagged with an undeserved defeat. Cameron Caprio and Eli Merejildo combined on a four-hit shutout for the Rams, stranding nine and striking out four. Merejildo induced a 4-6-3 double play to finish it in the top of the seventh, escaping after the Townies brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate.
“The intensity was high,” Caprio said. “You could feel it — just a lot of pressure. It was good.”
Renaud allowed just an Axel da Silva double over the first 14 men he faced before Bessette reached on a throwing error with one out in the fifth. He stole second and scored when Cam Slack’s infield grounder was thrown low to first and squirted loose just off the foul line, sending Bessette all the way around to make it 1-0.
La Salle doubled the advantage when Adryan Urena ripped a liner through the left side to lead off the sixth, a single that rolled all the way to the fence thanks to an error in the outfield. Urena took an extra base, went to third on a fielder’s choice and broke for home when a 2-2 pitch from Renaud to da Silva went wide and bounded to the backstop. Renaud finished his sixth strikeout on the full count, but the damage was done.
“We’re going to get runs any way we can,” Collins said.
East Providence (13-3) produced what felt like the more dangerous chances, and it started in the top of the first. Max Correiro rifled a ground-rule double to deep right and Jamison Sydney drew a walk before Caprio notched a strikeout to escape. There was more trouble when the Townies put their first two men on in the third, but Collins fired down to second base for a 2-6 pickoff that took some steam out of the rally.
“We rely on each other,” Caprio said. “That’s what we do. Honestly, it wasn’t the best stuff today. But it doesn’t have to be — defense was great.”
Caprio issued a walk to Correiro before recording a liner to center and pop to second, a pair of outs that allowed him to wriggle free. He did it again in the top of the sixth after a leadoff walk by Sydney and a perfect bunt single to the right side by Jayden Healey, retiring the next three men in order. A strikeout, a fly to center and a fielder’s choice to shortstop had the Rams (13-4) three outs from victory.
“We knew he didn’t have his best stuff today,” Collins said. “But at the points where it mattered, he did — that's why we won the game. He knew what to do.”
La Salle entered just 3-4 in its last seven games after a perfect 9-0 start. The Rams are in the midst of a more difficult part of the schedule by design, running into two games with Bishop Hendricken and regional meetings with Bishop Feehan (Mass.) and Fairfield Prep (Conn.) in time to sharpen up for the playoffs. La Salle and East Providence remain in contention to avoid the anarchy of the winner-take-all preliminary round and slot directly into the double-elimination pod format.
“We’re taking it like it is the playoffs,” Caprio said. “When we get to the playoffs, we won’t have to change anything.”
East Providence 000 000 0 — 0 4 3
La Salle 000 011 x — 2 2 1
JJ Renaud and Jamison Sydney. Cameron Caprio, Eli Merejildo (7) and Brady Collins.
[email protected]
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: La Salle vs. East Providence in Division I baseball battle
Continue reading...
East Providence was guilty of a couple of costly mistakes in this Division I rivalry meeting at Toti Baseball Diamond, and they proved decisive under brilliant blue skies.
Jayce Bessette reached and scored on two errors, Adryan Urena crossed the plate on a wild pitch and a pickoff play helped short-circuit an early Townies chance to take the lead. Instead, it was the Rams posting a 2-0 shutout on Tuesday, May 12, the first of at least two contests between the old Thanksgiving football foes, with the next one set for Monday afternoon just off Pawtucket Avenue.
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“Every run was going to matter,” La Salle catcher Brady Collins said. “On defense, every little detail mattered. That’s where we got the edge on them.”
La Salle prevailed despite just two hits against East Providence right-hander JJ Renaud, who was tagged with an undeserved defeat. Cameron Caprio and Eli Merejildo combined on a four-hit shutout for the Rams, stranding nine and striking out four. Merejildo induced a 4-6-3 double play to finish it in the top of the seventh, escaping after the Townies brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate.
“The intensity was high,” Caprio said. “You could feel it — just a lot of pressure. It was good.”
Renaud allowed just an Axel da Silva double over the first 14 men he faced before Bessette reached on a throwing error with one out in the fifth. He stole second and scored when Cam Slack’s infield grounder was thrown low to first and squirted loose just off the foul line, sending Bessette all the way around to make it 1-0.
La Salle doubled the advantage when Adryan Urena ripped a liner through the left side to lead off the sixth, a single that rolled all the way to the fence thanks to an error in the outfield. Urena took an extra base, went to third on a fielder’s choice and broke for home when a 2-2 pitch from Renaud to da Silva went wide and bounded to the backstop. Renaud finished his sixth strikeout on the full count, but the damage was done.
“We’re going to get runs any way we can,” Collins said.
You must be registered for see images attach
East Providence (13-3) produced what felt like the more dangerous chances, and it started in the top of the first. Max Correiro rifled a ground-rule double to deep right and Jamison Sydney drew a walk before Caprio notched a strikeout to escape. There was more trouble when the Townies put their first two men on in the third, but Collins fired down to second base for a 2-6 pickoff that took some steam out of the rally.
“We rely on each other,” Caprio said. “That’s what we do. Honestly, it wasn’t the best stuff today. But it doesn’t have to be — defense was great.”
Caprio issued a walk to Correiro before recording a liner to center and pop to second, a pair of outs that allowed him to wriggle free. He did it again in the top of the sixth after a leadoff walk by Sydney and a perfect bunt single to the right side by Jayden Healey, retiring the next three men in order. A strikeout, a fly to center and a fielder’s choice to shortstop had the Rams (13-4) three outs from victory.
“We knew he didn’t have his best stuff today,” Collins said. “But at the points where it mattered, he did — that's why we won the game. He knew what to do.”
La Salle entered just 3-4 in its last seven games after a perfect 9-0 start. The Rams are in the midst of a more difficult part of the schedule by design, running into two games with Bishop Hendricken and regional meetings with Bishop Feehan (Mass.) and Fairfield Prep (Conn.) in time to sharpen up for the playoffs. La Salle and East Providence remain in contention to avoid the anarchy of the winner-take-all preliminary round and slot directly into the double-elimination pod format.
“We’re taking it like it is the playoffs,” Caprio said. “When we get to the playoffs, we won’t have to change anything.”
East Providence 000 000 0 — 0 4 3
La Salle 000 011 x — 2 2 1
JJ Renaud and Jamison Sydney. Cameron Caprio, Eli Merejildo (7) and Brady Collins.
[email protected]
On X: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: La Salle vs. East Providence in Division I baseball battle
Continue reading...
