Senerchia splits first two in legion playoffs

Posted 7/29/14

The opening weekend of the Rhode Island American Legion baseball playoffs was a minefield for the league’s top teams, and No. 1 seed Senerchia Post 74 was not immune.

Senerchia was still alive …

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Senerchia splits first two in legion playoffs

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The opening weekend of the Rhode Island American Legion baseball playoffs was a minefield for the league’s top teams, and No. 1 seed Senerchia Post 74 was not immune.

Senerchia was still alive as of Sunday, but the Bishop Hendricken-based club was upset in Saturday’s opener by No. 8 Gershkoff Auto Body/Auburn Post 20, the last team into the tournament and a team that lost its final eight regular season games. Gershkoff rode a strong performance by Frank Pettinato and just enough offense to a 2-0 victory.

Senerchia bounced back Sunday with a 16-3 victory over defending state champion Navigant Credit Union/Fairmount Post 85 and was set to play another elimination game on Monday, with results unavailable at press time.

Upsets also hit No. 3 Collette Vacations/Post 79, which lost in the first round, and No. 2 New England Frozen Lemonade/Shields Post 43, which fell to Gershkoff in Sunday’s second round.

“Baseball’s a funny game,” Senerchia manager Chris Sheehan said Sunday. “We had 16 runs today. Yesterday, we couldn’t even get one. Gershkoff’s pitchers did a good job. [Anthony] Graziano and [Kyle] Barbato did a good job for us. It was just one of those games. We didn’t get the timely hit.”

Pettinato pitched into the seventh for Gershkoff. John Beneduce relieved him and got Gershkoff out of a jam before Myles Levy finished off the upset with two scoreless innings of relief.

Gershkoff pushed runs across on a sacrifice fly and an infield hit.

As Senerchia tried to regroup, the focus was on relaxing.

“I think we needed to loosen up,” Sheehan said. “Yesterday, I think we were a little tense coming in. We kind of have the rivalry with Cranston. We were trying to stay loose today and really bounce back.”

They did it without much trouble. Anthony Cofone allowed three runs in a seven-inning complete game and the offense pulled away with four runs in the fifth inning and seven in the sixth.

Navigant scored two runs off Cofone in the first inning, but he allowed just one run on five hits the rest of the way. He faced the minimum over the final three innings and finished with nine strikeouts.

“He was huge,” Sheehan said. “To use one pitcher in a game in this tournament is great. He really came up big for us. I’m proud of Ant. He’s a tough kid and he pitches well in big games.”

Senerchia made it a 2-1 game in the bottom of the first then added two in the second to take a lead it would never relinquish.

Rob Henry had a three-run triple to blow the game open in the fifth, and Dave DeFusco had a two-run double to spark the seven-run sixth inning.

John Willette finished 4-for-5 with three RBI, while Henry and DeFusco were each 2-for-3 with three RBI. Andrew Ciacciarelli, Brady Chant and Mike Webb all had multi-hit games.

“It was great to see us bounce back with the bats,” Sheehan said “Hopefully that keeps going.”

Senerchia was scheduled to play No. 6 South Kingstown Post 39 on Monday, hoping to keep the run going.

“We try to put the positive spin on it,” Sheehan said. “Basically, you’ve got to win one more game than you would have to if you stayed in the winner’s bracket. I think we’re in pretty good shape.”

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