Robert J. “Bob” Civetti doesn’t claim to be Buck Showalter, or any big league baseball manager for that matter. However, the Town Councilman-elect enjoyed being part of one of Johnston’s best sports stories of 2016.
Civetti, whose name is etched in the annals of Johnston Little League, most notably with the Orioles pre-teen franchise, helped coach the Knot Sure-sponsored squad to the Junior-Senior Division championship this past summer.
The Junior-Senior Division program is part of the highly-successful Johnston Little League organization and consists of four teams whose players live in town. Those sponsored squads are: Knot Sure, Director Fashion Jewelry, Pappas Physical Therapy and Ward Fisher CPA.
There are also two other teams in the Junior-Senior Division, a club from the Silver Lake section of Providence and a sixth team made up of players from nearby North Providence.
“Our team was named Knot Sure in honor of a local band and sponsored in memory of the late Gill Truscott,” Civetti explained. “Unfortunately, Gill passed away suddenly a few years ago, but was a long-time outstanding volunteer for various youth programs in Johnston. To this day, he is missed by many because he was a great guy and made many contributions to our sports programs.”
In the exciting championship contest, Manager Gary Rhianna’s Direct Fashion Jewelry squad jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to some timely hitting, strong defense and terrific pitching by Dylan Lavoie.
“Lavoie’s pitching kept our hitters off balance,” Civetti recalled. “But, we were able to get things going offensively and rallied for eight unanswered runs by way of some key clutch hitting and plenty of hustle from all of our players.”
Enter Luke Vincent, who turned in a standout relief pitching performance and kept Director Fashion Jewelry hitters at bay.
Knot Sure combined its stingy defense with Vincent’s stellar relief effort and allowed just one run over the final four innings.
“All the fans that attended the game were treated to some exciting baseball,” Civetti recalled. “Each and every player – as well as coaches on both teams – gave 100 percent and also had a great time during a spirited contest that will be remembered for many years to come.”
The entire roster for Knot Sure, which was managed by Jamie Silvia, included coaches Dave Vincent, Robert Civetti, Jim McHale and Eric O’Connor. Players were: Eric O’Connor, Luke Vincent, Ray Beaumier, Joe Silvia, Domenic Petrarca, Matt Silvia, Leonardo Garofalo, James McHale, Justin Salvatore, Bobby Civetti, Matt Loffredo, Dean Simeone and Alex Turcotte.
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