The Toll Gate baseball team was looking primed to pull off an upset during its non-league tilt with Pilgrim on Saturday night, leading 3-1 after four innings at Mickey Stevens Field, but the pitching staff lost control.

The Titans (3-11) issued nine walks in the last three innings, allowing the Pats to storm back and snap a two-game losing streak with a 9-6 victory. Pilgrim used the free passes to plate eight runs with the aid of only four hits in those three frames.

“We’ve had quality at-bats all year long,” Pilgrim head coach Scott Bailey said. “We face some outstanding pitching in our division. We’re facing everybody’s ace, multiple times, so the kids have battled every single game.”

Pilgrim (8-6) started off the fifth inning down two runs when first baseman Devin Ramos reached on a bloop single to right field. Left fielder Patrick Mascoli walked to put runners at first and second before shortstop Tyler Perry drove in Ramos for the second Pats’ run with a single. Pilgrim took advantage of one of four Titans’ errors, an errant pickoff throw to second base from pitcher Steve Foster, to advance Mascoli and Perry to second and third respectively.

Mascoli ran out of the baseline during a run down, but Perry advanced to third and right fielder Mike Broccoli reached second base on the fielder’s choice. Foster walked designated hitter Christopher Ray to load the bases, and also issued a free pass to his last batter of the night, second baseman Brandon Paiva, to drive in the game-tying run.

“I probably kept [Foster] in two guys too long, but we have three games this week, so I tried to stretch him out a little bit,” Toll Gate head coach Nick Durand said. “I knew the guys after our starter were guys who don’t get a lot of innings to begin with, so that fifth inning when we gave up some runs was ‘See if I could get that guy through the inning.’”

Freshman pitcher Nick Cehelsky was the guy to relieve Foster, but the walks and control issues continued.

Centerfielder Chris Duchesneau drew the third consecutive walk to score Broccoli from third and gave the Pats their first lead of the game. Duchesneau exhibited patience at the plate on Saturday, recording two walks and an RBI single, the latter of which came after a nine-pitch at-bat.

“The kids, regardless of our opponent, have been patient at the plate all year long,” Bailey said.

Catcher Evan Broccoli jolted a two-RBI single to left field to bring Paiva and Ray home for the fourth and fifth runs of the inning, all charged to Foster. Foster, who struck out five in the first 3.1 innings, ended up taking the loss with six earned runs on four hits and four walks.

Pilgrim pitcher Anthony Cardarelli picked up the win, going four innings after giving up three runs on six hits with three strikeouts and only one walk, but junior Darren Grant helped quiet the Titans in the fifth and sixth.

Grant walked centerfielder Elvis Pimentel to lead off the fifth inning and then allowed shortstop Austin Giard to reach on a single to left field. Grant settled down, though, striking out first baseman James Meizoso, Jr., with runners at first and second with no outs. After a fielder’s choice that plated Pimentel, Foster struck out swinging to end the inning.

“Darren has tons of potential,” Bailey said. “He gets better every time he steps on the hill.”

Pilgrim helped Grant in the top of the sixth, plating two runs on only one hit. Anthony Russo reached base on a leadoff walk, and Ramos was safe at first on an error at third base. David McMullen popped out to second base and Matt Woods was called out for stepping on the plate during a bunt attempt, setting the stage for Mike Broccoli’s fourth and final at-bat of the day. He grounded a single into right-centerfield to plate Russo and Ramos, putting Pilgrim ahead 8-4.

Grant was resilient again in the sixth after getting himself in trouble. He struck out left fielder Marcus Alexander before plunking extra hitter Joe Gasbarro and yielding a single to Matt Martinez. Second baseman Dylan Palmiotti’s RBI single cut the deficit to three, and put runners at the corners. Grant took back control, striking out Cehelsky and forcing Pimentel to ground out to second.

The Pats tacked on one more in the seventh inning without the benefit of a base hit. Paiva walked to lead off the frame, stole second base, reached third on a throwing error from catcher Ryan Viti and scored on a wild pitch for the 9-5 lead. Toll Gate pitcher Josh Coleman walked four batters in the inning, but escaped with a caught stealing and two strikeouts.

Giard scored again in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Viti with one out, but Steve D’Andrea forced two groundouts to quiet their bats for good.

“We had some big hits today,” Durand said about how his team can use the loss to improve in the future. “Two of our freshmen [Martinez and Palmiotti] had hits later in the innings, so we look to the older guys to see what they’re going to do. And if they’re going to stay up, we’ll stay up.”

The Titans got on top early with a three-run third inning with their biggest hits of the night. Pimentel’s deep double to left field brought home Palmiotti, who reached on a walk, and Pimentel advanced to third on the throw. Giard’s RBI groundout brought Pimentel home. Meizoso, Jr., crushed a triple to left field over Mascoli’s head, and then scored on Viti’s RBI infield single to push the lead to 3-0.

Pilgrim first got on the board in the bottom of the fourth after Duchesneau’s RBI single plated Paiva, who tripled with one out. Duchesneau, Evan Broccoli and Mike Broccoli each finished with two RBIs.

The Titans were scheduled to return to action on Monday against Johnston for a game at 3:30 p.m. at Johnston Memorial Park. Pilgrim was scheduled to face Cranston West on Monday at 4 p.m. on the road. Results were not available at press time.