The Warwick Tree Post junior Legion team had a solid showing at regionals this past weekend at McCarthy Field as it went 1-1 overall.

Tree Post took on New York in the first round and was tied 1-1 through four innings, but New York’s bats would explode from there as it ran away with the 11-1 victory.

“We played them tough through four innings, we played a great half game. They just hit, hit, hit starting in the fifth inning and we ran out of steam, not much you can do,” said Tree Post coach Mike Fratus of the Game 1 loss.

Tree Post turned around to edge the Connecticut champion 4-2 the following game. Kyle Rezendes was solid on the mound as he earned the complete game win while Zach Fontenault knocked in three RBI to pace the offense. Nick Andruchow was stellar behind the plate as well, throwing out multiple runners in the win.

“We played good defense and got some timely hits in the first and second inning then held them off from there. It was a great team win, great defense,” Fratus said.

Tree Post had one of the youngest rosters in the tournament, similar to how things played out in the Rhode Island state tournament. Fratus was pleased by his team’s maturity in tough situations and feels that the regional experience will pay dividends moving forward.

The Tree Post junior team is expected to lose just one player next season as Andruchow is likely moving up to the senior level.

“I’m very satisfied considering we were going against teams with ninth and tenth graders and we were a team of eighth graders. I was very impressed. It was like night and day from the beginning of the season,” said Fratus. “The growth and the confidence, they now know that they can compete with high level teams and leagues. It does wonders for their confidence.”

With so many returners heading back next summer and beyond, Fratus and the Tree Post coaching staff are looking forward to the future and were excited to also see the core group of players hit if off all summer long. They also felt that seeing local teams making noise against out of state clubs was an important statement to make.

“These kids love each other. They’ll go to war with each other. It was a great group and they meshed. This year was huge for us moving forward,” Fratus said. “You also have to give a shout out to Riverside who made the finals and Gershkoff who was there, too. It was nice to see some representation from Rhode Island and it’s great to see these team competing at the regional level.”