Johnston no-hit by Cranston Western

Posted

It takes pressure to form diamonds, and the pressure was certainly on as Johnston and Cranston Western got set to face off in the winners’ bracket finals for Rhode Island Little League All-Stars District 1.

Shining under pressure, Cranston Western pitcher Dylan Demers pitched a no-hitter, striking out nine batters and picking up the win over Johnston by a score of 10-0. Played at Kennedy Field in Johnston, the game sent Johnston to the losers’ bracket, where it must get through one more opponent for another chance to beat Cranston Western in the District 1 championship.

Starting slow, the first inning was scoreless as Demers struck out the side. However, it wasn’t long before Cranston Western got its offense going as Nick Mason hit a deep drive over the centerfield wall to knock in Tom Scorpio, the pinch runner for Jason Patalano, giving Cranston Western a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

In the third inning, Cranston Western struck again with another two-run homer, this time from Dave Marchetti to knock in Dylan Demers after Demers hit a double down the right field line. With the next at bat, Jared Olson blasted a line drive to the wall for a double. Olson would later be knocked in on a base hit single to second by Jason Patalano. Retiring the side with two strikeouts, Demers held Cranston Western’s lead at 5-0.

Johnston was able to hold off Cranston Western’s high flying offense with solid fielding in the fourth, highlighted by a phenomenal shoe-string dig by shortstop Dimetri Iafrate, who fired to first baseman Matt Capraro just in time for the second out.

Johnston just couldn’t gain ground on Cranston Western as Demers continued his lights-out performance, showing excellent variety in his arsenal of pitches and striking out the side once again to end the inning.

Cranston Western put Johnston away in the fifth and final inning, doubling its score with five more runs. After Dave Marchetti and Jared Olson (substituted for pinch runner Ryan Demers) each hit for back-to-back singles, Cam Adamec blasted a three-run home run to deep right-center. On the next at-bat, Patalano followed up with a homer of his own, a solo shot to left field. Immediately after, Mason hit a rocket over the left field wall and all the way into Johnston’s Susi Field for his second home run of the game, providing the third of back-to-back-to-back home runs for Cranston Western. Mason’s solo home run would be the last of the 10-0 game.

Despite Cranston Western’s five home runs, the game really came down to pitching. When asked his opinion on the key to his team’s success, Gary Bucci, manager for Cranston Western simply replied, “Dylan Demers. He didn’t let up a hit.... I didn’t really know what to expect from Johnston as far as hitting so Dylan Demers was absolutely in the zone. He was fantastic.”

Bucci also gave his offense lots of credit. When asked about his team’s hitting ability, he replied, “Actions speak louder than words... we’re a good hitting team. When we play our game, we’re a tough team. There’s no question. They work extremely hard, they hit every day and they’re into it. I just asked them at the end [of the game], I said, ‘Do you guys want a day off tomorrow?’ I knew the answer was going to be ‘no.’ They’re a good group. They work very hard.”

To prepare his team for the championship, Bucci said, “We’ve got to practice. I’d like to get a scrimmage going one day next week... just to stay sharp. What I do is I bring down high school kids and college kids to come down and throw to them so that keeps them sharp.”

Cranston Western will have the advantage of needing to defeat the losers’ bracket champions just once in order to be crowned District 1 champions, while the losers’ bracket champion will have to try to beat Cranston Western twice for the District 1 title.

For Johnston, the road to the championship has become much longer. In order to become District 1 champions, it will have to be perfect, winning one more game to become the losers’ bracket champions. If it can do that, it will get its rematch against Cranston Western in the District 1 championship. To get to the championship, Johnston manager David LaVallee believes, “We have to hit. Our team hit very well the first two games. We scored eight runs in our first game against North Providence Western and we scored 14 runs in our second game against Mt. Pleasant but we saw good pitching tonight. [Cranston is] a well coached team and a winning organization.”

“I have a lot of respect for them and their coaches, but we just didn’t hit. We made the plays in the field... our defense was okay but we just didn’t hit. You can’t win if you don’t hit but my kids work hard. I’m proud of all my kids and we will be back. I’m thinking we will see them again.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here