Titans edged by Quakers, drop second straight game

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 4/21/15

After falling, 4-0, at previously winless Central on Thursday, Toll Gate’s bats once again went cold on Saturday, as the Titans dropped their second-straight game, 3-1, at Moses Brown.

Down 3-1 …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Titans edged by Quakers, drop second straight game

Posted

After falling, 4-0, at previously winless Central on Thursday, Toll Gate’s bats once again went cold on Saturday, as the Titans dropped their second-straight game, 3-1, at Moses Brown.

Down 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Toll Gate set itself up to tie the game with a base knock, as James Meizoso and Elvis Pimental led off the inning with a pair of singles.

Marcus Alexander then moved Meizoso and Pimental over to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, but Moses Brown’s sophomore southpaw, Jared Schott, was able to escape the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

In all, the Titans mustered just six singles against Schott, with several opportunities to score runs thrown by the wayside.

For head coach Nick Durand, the recipe for winning more games is simple – his team has to hit.

“We missed an opportunity there in the fourth with runners on second and third and one out,” Durand said. “We have to be more aggressive at the plate – we’re not hitting.”

However, the Titans had an ideal start.

After each team was retired quickly in the first inning, Toll Gate was able to manufacture a run in the top of the second.

Ryan Viti laced a one-out single to left field and advanced to second on an error. Manny Bjorklund then ripped a two-out single, but Viti couldn’t score from second, putting runners at the corners.

Bjorklund then got caught in a run down between first and second after the next pitch, allowing Viti to score before getting tagged out. The heads up play gave Toll Gate a 1-0 lead.

But Moses Brown, now 5-1, answered back with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning.

With runners on the corners, Colton King took off for second and he beat the throw down, allowing Macalister Slepkow to score from third to tie the game, 1-1.

King then scored the eventual game-winning run on a double off the bat of first baseman Gianni Valentini. The line drive in the gap gave the Quakers a 2-1 lead.

Toll Gate right-hander, Steve Foster, was able to strand Valentini on second, but Moses Brown was back at it in the bottom of the third.

Mark Palumbo led off the inning with a double, then came around to score on a throwing error when he was attempting to steal third, giving the Quakers a 3-1 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Toll Gate put together its best offensive inning of the game, but the opportunity was wasted, as it wasn’t able to score Meizoso or Pimental from third and second with one out.

That turned out to be the best chance that the Titans would have for the remainder of the game.

Foster and reliever Joe Gasbarro were able to keep Moses Brown at three, but Schott continued to stifle Toll Gate in the late innings, as it was only able to muster one hit in the final three innings at the dish.

The performance was disappointing considering the fact that Schott was someone who Durand felt his team should’ve handled well.

“We have to be more aggressive against the third pitcher in their rotation,” Durand said. “We should have been hitting him all over. I don’t know why we’re not hitting.”

On the mound for the Titans, Foster took the loss, battling his way into the fifth inning, throwing 4.2 innings and allowing three runs, before Gasbarro came on in relief and tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless ball.

“He battled hard,” Durand said of Foster. “This was his second start of the week – he started at Portsmouth on Monday too. He did a good job for us, ate up some innings. Then Gasbarro came in and held them. Our defense was good today – defense wasn’t the problem.”

Pimental paced the Titans with two hits, while Viti, Gasbarro, Bjorklund and Meizoso all registered one hit apiece.

Now at 2-4, Toll Gate will have to get its bats going as soon as possible with two more games scheduled for this week.

Toll Gate hosted South Kingstown on Monday at 4 p.m. at Mickey Stevens, but results were unavailable at press time. The Titans will also host Johnston at Mickey Stevens on Wednesday, with first pitch also set for 4 p.m.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here