The Warwick Tree Post junior team reached the Final Four of the playoffs last week at Ray Silva Field and will be competing this weekend at the same spot in the regional tournament, which will host nine of the region’s best clubs.

Tree Post entered the playoffs with a 6-10 record and the sixth seed. It would pull off a thrilling two-game upset over the third seed in the opening round, but came up short in the Final Four round.

Drew McCaffrey pitched a gem in the first game which Tree Post took 2-0, then the club would erase a two-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth in extra innings to win the second game.

“It was a team effort. Everybody in both games contributed. Drew McCaffrey pitched a shutout then the second game was a total team effort. We kept going down then coming back, the team showed a lot of fight,” said Tree Post coach Mike Fratus.

The junior squad had one of the youngest rosters in the league this year, relying primarily on middle schoolers to compete with high schoolers. Taking it one step at a time allowed the team to steadily improve as the summer wore on, according to Fratus.

“I’m extremely pleased with how they played. Every single player show tremendous growth throughout the year. We’re ninety percent eight graders going up against teams that are in ninth and tenth grade. I just wanted them to go game by game and they did that. We knew that we had the potential to go on a run. We came up a little short but now we get a chance to compete at regionals. Our guys are ready,” said Fratus.

Although Tree Post will once again enter the tournament as an underdog, the expectations are to compete and make a statement as the program continues to build toward the future.

“We want to win some games. If we play the way I know we’re capable of playing then we will win some games. This helps build the program,” said Fratus.” We realigned the district so now we pull kids from Warwick, West Warwick, Coventry, East Greenwich. The future is bright for the program.”