Confidence level for Warwick North hasn’t dwindled, even in defeat

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 8/23/16

Warwick North should be exuding confidence after Saturday’s 8-0 victory over Oregon.

After an anticlimactic, 7-2 loss to New York to open play in Williamsport on Thursday, the local all-stars …

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Confidence level for Warwick North hasn’t dwindled, even in defeat

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Warwick North should be exuding confidence after Saturday’s 8-0 victory over Oregon.

After an anticlimactic, 7-2 loss to New York to open play in Williamsport on Thursday, the local all-stars shook away the nerves and looked like a completely different team in their 8-0 victory two days later, getting their first win out of the way on Little League’s biggest stage.

“We played a good team that was better than us that day, but certainly there were some nerves,” Warwick North manager Ken Rix said of the loss to New York. “We were playing in front of something like 15,000 people and [New York] had its hometown crowd, so there were nerves. But the kids were very relaxed and confident going into Game 2, so we felt good about that.”

Obviously the venue and competition aren’t congruent, but Warwick North has been in this position earlier this summer.

Having to be beaten twice in the District 3 championship, South Kingstown upended Warwick North on its home field in the first game of that title series.

But Rix’s squad would respond, handily defeating South Kingstown the second time around to grab the district crown and start an impressive win streak – a streak of seven games that lasted through the state and regional tournaments before being cut down by New York last week.

That streak showed Rix that his team can respond and come together after a bump in the road, and he’s confident that his team has another run like that in it.

“To lose to South Kingstown, it proved to the kids that they can bounce back,” Rix said. “Now, they expect to bounce back if they catch a bump in the road. After the loss to New York, they didn’t go back to the room and cry about it. They came back to practice the next day and worked just as hard, if not harder. I think they’ve really learned how to bounce back from any kind of setback.”

Warwick North has no room for error on its quest to play for a world championship, though, as it has just one loss to spare in the double-elimination format.

However, the ball is starting to bounce Warwick North’s way.

Due to a washout on Sunday in Williamsport, Warwick North will now play today at 3 p.m. instead of on Monday.

The extra day of rest allotted ace Colin Lemieux the two days he needed to recover following his 50-pitch, four-inning outing on Saturday.

Now, Lemieux is good to go for the full 85-pitch limit against the loser of Iowa/Kentucky today.

“More than likely,” Rix responded when asked if Lemieux would start on the mound today. “We usually stick to our rotation, but we are leaning towards Colin to come back for this game. One thing we did was manage our pitching well the last two games to put us in the position to do that. We have all of our pitchers available, so with a little bit of luck and the right decisions, we feel like we’re set up to make a run.”

The defeat on the opening day of play hasn’t diminished Warwick North’s confidence in the least bit.

With confidence high, its pitching in line and its bats remaining strong, Warwick North feels like it’s going to be a tough out as the tournament rolls forward.

“If we reel off another win, you can get another exciting run out of us,” Rix said. “Our kids truly believe they’re going to win. They’re not intimidated by the teams that are out here. I think the win [against Oregon] validated their thoughts. We didn’t just come out here to win a game or participate, we came to win the whole thing.”

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