Warwick PAL clinches division with victory over 365 Sports

By Ryan D. Murray
Posted 8/2/16

Warwick PAL beat Bristol’s 365 Sports 13-9 in a slugfest at Mickey Stevens on Wednesday night. It was the season finale for PAL, which secured first place in its division with the …

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Warwick PAL clinches division with victory over 365 Sports

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Warwick PAL beat Bristol’s 365 Sports 13-9 in a slugfest at Mickey Stevens on Wednesday night. It was the season finale for PAL, which secured first place in its division with the win. 

“It’s good,” Warwick PAL head coach Mike Martin said. “It’s a minor accomplishment, but we got a long way to go. I’m looking forward to the playoffs and we got a good team so I think we can do some damage in the playoffs.” 

Jordan Huntoon started on the hill for PAL. He walked Charlie Amarante and then Jack Serbst hit a double to right over the head of PAL’s Brett D’Andrea. With runners at second and third, Stewart Kay hit a grounder to the PAL shortstop, but he misplayed it and a run scored, giving 365 Sports a 1-0 lead. With two down, Huntoon walked Bristol’s CJ Casalino to load the bases. Josh Gale, the left fielder for 365 Sports, hit a fly ball to center that was dropped by the PAL left fielder leading to another run, putting 365 Sports up 2-0. Then, Jared Faria hit a sacrifice fly to score Kay making it 3-0. With runners at first and second, Huntoon struck out Robbie DaCosta to prevent any further damage. 

In the bottom of the first, Ryan Pires pitched for 365 Sports. Pires struck out Dillon Borduleau before walking Huntoon. The pitcher would try to pick off Huntoon, however, that backfired when Nick Simeone, the 365 Sports first baseman missed the throw. Huntoon turned on the jets and went all the way to third on the miscue. Sean Blanchard knocked in the runner, putting Warwick on the board at 3-1. Next, Pires was called for a balk, moving Blanchard to second. Pires then walked both Alec Bloomingburgh and Steve Foster to load the bases for PAL. Pires continued to struggle as he brought in a run after walking Anthony Russo, making it 3-2. With the bases reloaded, Pires walked Owen Kiernan to tie the game at 3. With the bases still crowded, Foster scored from third on a passed ball to the plate, giving PAL a 4-3 lead after one inning. With PAL still threatening, 365 Sports went to its bullpen before the conclusion of the first, bringing in Gale, who recorded the final out of the first.  

Huntoon struck out Pires on three pitches to lead off the top of the second. Amarante reached base before Huntoon got Serbst to fly out and Kay to ground out for the final out of the inning. 

In the bottom of the second, Gale got Borduleau to fly out to right before giving up a hit to Huntoon. Gale then retired Blanchard and Dylan Palmiotti to end the inning. 

Huntoon struck out Simeone and Gale in the top of the third and put Casalino out on a ground ball. 

With one down, in the bottom of the third, Gale walked Foster, who would eventually steal second. Next, Russo put a ball on the ground, which led to an error at first, putting Russo at second and Foster at third. Kiernan then hit a single to center, scoring Foster and extending the PAL lead to 5-3. With runners at second and third, Gale walked Brandon Paiva to load the bases. Mike Mazzorella, the 365 Sports manager, elected to go back to his bullpen and bring in Amarante to pitch. He got 365 Sports out of the jam when a failed squeeze attempt saw PAL’s Russo tagged out at home before Amarante struck out D’Andrea to end the frame. 

Huntoon struck out Faria to lead off the top of the fourth. After getting DaCosta to ground out, Huntoon walked Pires and Amarante. Serbst hit a ground ball that caused an error after the throw to first was airmailed, leading to Pires scoring, pulling 365 Sports within 5-4. With runners at second and third, Kay hit a rocket to left to score two runs, putting 365 Sports ahead 6-5. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Borduleau led off with a walk. With one down, Borduleau stole second. Then, Blanchard hit a ground ball that led to an error at first that scored Borduleau, tying the game at 6. 

Foster came in to pitch for PAL in the top of the fifth. He started by walking Simeone. Next, Foster got Casalino and Gale to fly out before he fanned Faria to strand Simeone. 

Foster walked and stole second in the bottom of the fifth before taking third on a passed ball. A single to right from Russo scored Foster, putting PAL up 7-6. Next, Casalino came on in relief for 365 Sports. Kiernan got a hit off the pitcher and with runners at first and second, Paiva bunted to load the bases for PAL. With Zach D’Andrea at the plate, Russo was thrown out trying to score at home after a wild pitch from Casalino. Nonetheless, D’Andrea would smack a single up the middle, scoring two runs and putting PAL on top 9-6. After another wild pitch and a passed ball, D’Andrea moved to third. Casalino walked Borduleau next and he stole second. With runners at the corners Dan Reph singled up the middle, scoring two more runs and putting PAL on top 11-6. Reph went to second base after a balk was called on Casalino. After a third strike in the dirt to Blanchard, Reph moved to third and Blanchard took second. Another pitch in the dirt to Palmiotti scored Reph, putting PAL up 12-6. Palmiotti grounded out for the second out while scoring Blanchard, putting PAL up 13-6. Casalino would end the fifth when he got Bloomingburgh to fly out to center.

In the top of the sixth, Foster walked DaCosta. Foster tried to pick off DaCosta at first, but it backfired, causing an error that allowed DaCosta to advance all the way to third. Foster walked Pires next to put runners at the corners. After getting Amarante to fly out, Serbst crushed one to left off of Foster to score DaCosta, pulling 365 Sports within 13-7. Kay would knock in another run with a hit to center, making it 13-8. Simeone followed with a single to right. With runners at first and second, Casalino singled to score Kay, pulling 365 Sports to 13-9. That’s where the scoring would end. Foster struck out Gale to end the top half of the sixth. 

Kay came out to pitch for 365 Sports in the bottom of the sixth and he led off by hitting Foster. However, Foster got caught in a pickle between first and second and was eventually tagged out for the first out. After walking Russo, Kay got Kiernan to ground out for the second out before getting Paiva to fly out to right for the last out.

In the top of the seventh, Foster went out in style, striking out Faria, DaCosta and Pires in order. 

Even though PAL won, their coach knows they can play better.

“Our fielding isn’t indicative of how we normally play,” Martin said. “We’re normally very solid in the outfield. We dropped a few balls that we don’t normally drop. I told them against good teams, you’re not going to win games.”

PAL played their playoff opener last night against Narragansett at Mickey Stevens, but results were unavailable at press time. Zach D’Andrea was set to start Game 1, while Dillon Borduleau is set to pitch for Game 2.

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