NEFL slips past R&R to stay alive in Legion playoffs

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 7/28/16

The No. 5-seeded New England Frozen Lemonade/Shields Post 43 Legion squad leaned on its most reliable crutch, its pitching staff, on Tuesday afternoon to keep its hopes alive for a state championship. Dean

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NEFL slips past R&R to stay alive in Legion playoffs

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The No. 5-seeded New England Frozen Lemonade/Shields Post 43 Legion squad leaned on its most reliable crutch, its pitching staff, on Tuesday afternoon to keep its hopes alive for a state championship.

Dean Streich pitched seven scoreless innings and didn’t allow a hit out of the infield, before Jesse Holland shut the door in the last two frames to secure a 2-0 win over No. 8 R&R Construction/Post 18 at Johnston and Wales University.

“I knew I just had to throw strikes and my teammates would make plays behind me,” Streich said.

NEFL got its damage done in the first few innings. The top of the order remained consistent, with Dave Defusco leading off the game with a double to left center field. Matt Boelter pushed him to third with a single, where Chad Mansolillo drove him in on a line drive to right.

“We’re just getting pitches we can hit, looking to barrel up the ball, drive the ball around and score some runs,” Mansolillo said.

That same tandem would come through again in the third. Defusco led off with a single up the middle and stole second and third base to set up Mansolillo for a sacrifice fly. NEFL led 2-0 after three, and that was more than enough for the lanky right-hander on the mound.

Streich stranded 10 R&R baserunners through his seven innings of work, relying mainly on ground outs to escape jams. An infield single and hit-by-pitch put two runners on in the third, but he induced a grounder to shortstop Chris Reid that ended the inning.

“I usually just keep my cool, there’s no reason to get any fear or anything,” Streich said.

R&R’s biggest threat came in the fifth. No. 9 hitter Eric Durudogan and Austin Walker led off the inning with back-to-back bunt singles. However, during Christian Jorge’s at-bat, Streich spun around and picked off Durudogan at second base to notch the first out. R&R would load the bases with two outs, but Streich induced a grounder off the bat of Tim Powell to wriggle out.

Outside of the top four in the order, which went 7-for-14 combined, NEFL’s offense struggled. The No. 5 through 9 hitters only went 1-for-17, with the only hit coming on Christian Sanchez’s infield single.

The lack of consistent production didn’t matter, though, as NEFL’s pitching proved unsolvable for R&R.

Streich threw 107 total pitches, striking out four and walking six, before yielding to Holland. He made quick work of R&R in the eighth, setting it down in order on seven pitches.

He would walk Connor Richardson to lead off the ninth, but the next three batters went down in order to clinch the victory.

The task got tougher for NEFL on Wednesday, as it faced off with Collette Vacations/Post 10 in another elimination game. If NEFL wins, it would advance to play the loser of No. 1 seed Upper Deck and No. 2 South Kingstown.

“Yeah, I hope so,” Mansolillo said about whether the offense can find some momentum going forward. “Not trying to go home early, so keep hitting the ball [and] get some runs.”

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