By ALEX SPONSELLER Flood Ford Auto topped East Greenwich in two games in the Connie Mack semifinals last week and went on to also sweep Slocum to claim the state championship on Tuesday.

Flood Ford cruised past Slocum by scores of 12-6 and 11-6 to put an end to its seven-game win streak that it carried into the finals. Flood Ford entered the playoffs with the top seed.

Anthony Iamarone took home MVP honors, going 3-for-5 and scoring a run in the series-clinching game. Other run scorers were Xavier Quezada, Griffin Croin, Chris Manzo, Jay Pilderian, Owen Leahy, Connor Kennedy and Alex Coutcher.

The Flood Ford pitching staff led the way in the semifinals against East Greenwich, guiding the team to wins of 5-3 and 4-1.

Connor Kennedy and Danny Rice held off a late Avenger rally in Game 1 while Rob Whalen recorded three hits and an RBI. Rice had a strong performance at the plate in Game 2, going 3-for-3 with two RBI while Jonas Kendra picked up four strikeouts on the mound and allowed just one hit.

“Being from (Bishop Hendricken), we’re used to playing this type of competition day in and day out. Whether it is with other teams or at practices against ourselves. This team is really competitive, and we have a strong desire to win. Whether it be the starters or people on the bench,” said Kendra after the win. “We’re feeling great, we’re just happy to be playing in the first place. With us not having a spring season, we all really want to get a championship and this is one way that we can do that.”

Flood Ford manager Ed Holloway felt that experience was key in his team’s success this summer and throughout its playoff run.

“We have a good number of experienced players and we’ve gotten great pitching throughout the whole year. They are playing with a lot of confidence, this is an older team than we normally have and they have done a really good job,” said Holloway, who was also happy to see his club compete despite the various circumstances this summer. “That is the great thing about summer, we know what they can do going in, but a lot of the time this is their opportunity to show us. Some guys show us some good things, others don’t, but this team has been very good and I have seen a lot of good things especially considering that we were not able to have a varsity season. A lot of guys stepped up. Between not seeing much of them this spring and under the circumstances, it was really important for these guys to play this summer and for us to see what they can do.”