After not playing since May 28, the No. 1 overall seed Warwick Vets baseball team moved on in the Division II playoffs with a second-round, 9-4 victory over Narragansett on Sunday.

The ’Canes plated eight runs in the first two frames and senior ace Shane Kittila went six innings, giving up four runs with only one of them earned on 103 pitches, to dispatch the No. 8-seeded Mariners in Regional Pod I.

“I thought we came out pretty well today,” Vets’ manager Nolan Landy said. “We preached all week ‘You gotta stay sharp, you gotta stay sharp.’ [There was] a long layover, and they did it. These kids did it today, so I’m proud of them.”

Vets did all of its early damage with two outs. Shortstop Jarrod Houle reached first on a fielder’s choice, left fielder Jeremy Batista singled and third baseman Austin Lamaire walked to load the bases with one out. Mariners’ starter Austin McKanna was able to strike out highly productive centerfielder David Defusco, but would have no such luck with catcher Tyler Dipetrillo.

The backstop crushed a bases-clearing triple over the head of left fielder Brayden Stritzinger to give the ’Canes a 3-0 advantage.

“I just see the ball,” Dipetrillo said. “I just want to get the kids on base in. Just anything to win, really.”

First baseman Kyle Denis struck out looking and right fielder Adam Dorsey grounded out to start the second inning, but the ’Canes then received some help from their opponents. After second baseman Christopher Reid singled to left field, McKanna was pulled after he plunked Houle and walked Batista to load the bases again. Relief pitcher Stritzinger looked to be out of the jam when Lamaire popped up to freshman second baseman London Sudduth, but he took his eye off the catch a moment too early and the ball bounced off the heel of his glove and onto the field.

Reid and Houle, who were off with the pitch, came around to score and Batista advanced to second base on the error. Vets took advantage of the mistake when Batista and Lamaire came around to score on Defusco’s deep triple to right field.

“We really struggled with those two-out hits down the stretch, but we’ve been preaching it and preaching it, the coaching staff, the team,” Landy said. “You gotta put [together] a good at-bat when we’re down in the count with runners on base. We’ve been leaving a lot of runners on base, and today we came through and guys really drove the ball with two outs.”

Dipetrillo recorded his fourth RBI on the afternoon when he lifted a double to left field to score Defusco easily from third, pushing the Vets’ lead out to 8-0.

The Mariners showed some life in the third inning, starting with a leadoff double from right fielder Max Laurie. Centerfielder Joseph Levesque later singled to set up a situation with runners at the corners and one out. Catcher Kyle Pereira hit a soft grounder Houle’s way at shortstop, but he bobbled the ball trying to pick it up off the infield grass. Laurie scored from third and Pereira reached first on the play.

After first baseman Lance Waranis popped up, Stritzinger singled to load the bases. McKanna hit a grounder to Houle, who this time threw it wide to Denis’s right and out of play. Levesque and Pereira both came home and Stritzinger and McKanna moved into scoring position. Stritzinger came around on an RBI single from designated hitter Christopher Owens to make it 8-4 before a flyout ended the inning.

Landy stuck with Kittila despite his tough third inning. Past that point, he allowed only two hits, walked one and registered three strikeouts to leave three Mariners in scoring position. He moved to 9-0 overall on the season with the win.

“He was struggling, [but] Shane’s our guy,” Landy said. “I told him a simple adjustment: he gets the ball down. He was keeping the ball up. He keeps the ball down, they’re gonna be beating it into the ground. Next thing, he comes out, he did that. He keeps the ball down, he battled. Shane’s our guy, so I’ll ride him till the bitter end.”

The ’Canes tacked on one more run in the fourth inning after Batista led off the frame with a single to left centerfield. He stole second base and three batters later, designated hitter Nicholas Beaufort brought him home on a bloop single to right field, again with two outs.

Vets’ junior pitcher David Simmons got some game action, throwing 13 pitches to close out the Mariners in the seventh inning. He recorded one strikeout, one walk and forced Stritzinger to ground into a game-ending double play.

Vets will get back to action in the winners’ bracket today against No. 5-seeded Tolman, which advanced with a 1-0 defeat of West Warwick on Sunday morning. The ’Canes claimed both meetings during the regular season, winning 9-2 at home on April 17 and 6-5 on the road to close out the season on May 28.

“Everyone’s just so close,” Dipetrillo said of the team’s chemistry going forward. “We’re confident, we’re not too cocky. We’re here to win and have fun, and the coaching staff really helps us out with that.”