For the second straight season, the Bishop Hendricken baseball team is Rhode Island’s Division I state champion after sweeping the Cumberland Clippers in two games in last week’s title series.

The Hawks won the second game 12-2 on Sunday at Rhode Island College to run away with the trophy. The Hawks led in a 3-2 dogfight heading into the sixth inning but would blow the lead open by tacking on five runs, highlighted by a three-run home run by senior Braeden Campbell.

“I was just thinking, I needed to get those guys in. We needed the extra runs, the insurance runs, and just got my pitch and ended up hitting a home run. It’s been a dream of mine and I always tried to do it, but this time it happened naturally,” said Campbell.

The Hawks then added four more runs in the top of the seventh to cement their place as the state’s best team for the second straight season.

Hendricken was not quite as dominant or consistent as last year’s team, losing three straight contests toward the end of the regular season then suffering an early playoff loss to La Salle before rebounding for five straight wins to cruise to the championship.

Finding a spark offensively and playing unselfish baseball helped jump-start the late surge, according to Campbell.

“All together as a team, we collectively put at-bats together. Focused more on the team than on ourselves. We thought we could do it by ourselves,” said Campbell.

Hendricken took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Campbell drove in Mason Crain and Parker Boyd on a two-run single. The Clippers wasted no time responding as they put up two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.

Cam Daley drove in Jack DePalma in the fourth inning to regain the lead for Hendricken. Boyd and Cullen Crain knocked in runs prior to Campbell’s homer in the sixth. Cullen Crain then drove in two more runs in the seventh while Boyd and Campbell also recorded RBI in the inning. 

Hendricken pitcher Dylan Poloski earned the complete game win, allowing two runs in seven innings and picking up seven strikeouts. 

The Hawks won the first game of the series, 4-3. The game was knotted 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, and Frank Tillinghast drove in Boyd on a sacrifice fly for the game-winner. Patrick Clemmey and Cooper Maher split pitching duties, with the latter picking up the win by allowing one earned run and striking out four in 4 2/3 innings of work.

Campbell, was thrilled to finish his career on top and to prove that the Hawks weren’t going anywhere. 

“It was a grind. Coming into the season, everyone said we weren’t as strong a team as we were last year, but I think they were wrong, I think we were the best team in the state, and obviously it showed. We had to grind to get here, we had some ups and downs, but it helped us overall,” Campbell said. “It’s the last one so you have to celebrate to the fullest.”