Cranston East defeats Elmwood, Johnston en route to District 1 title

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We hear the term ‘heat of the moment’ in sports about as often as we hear Bill Belichick say ‘all three phases of the game’ – so often that we sometimes forget how hot the moment can be. Well, the Cranston East 15/16 all stars did their best to remind us, winning two hotly contested games at Fay Memorial Field this week against the Elmwood and Johnston all-star teams to win their district and move on to the state level of the all-star competition.

Having defeated Johnston once already in its first game of the competition, Cranston East headed into its matchup with Elmwood on Tuesday looking to improve its record to 2-0 and take a stranglehold on its lead in the district. From the very start, it was a tight affair – and a chippy one.

The first inning opened with Elmwood starter Christian Sanchez allowing three straight walks, with a passed ball and a wild pitch mixed in to allow the leadoff runner, Dan Estman, to open the scoring. Elmwood then had an opportunity to limit the damage when Cranston East cleanup hitter Alex Martinez hit a hard grounder to shortstop, only for the throw to first to sail wide, allowing another run to score.

Cranston East nearly broke the game open then and there, as third baseman Jawzel Liberata lined a ball to the right side with men on second and first; however the liner was caught at second base, and the lead runner was gunned down at second with no chance to make it back to the bag.

Elmwood proceeded to answer in kind in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs of its own on the back of a leadoff single by shortstop Christian Mercedes and two errors by Liberata, which continued a difficult day that would only proceed to deteriorate as the game went along.

Cranston East registered a plethora of baserunners in the middle innings, all on free passes. All told, by the end of the extra-inning affair, Cranston East had received 23 bases-on-balls, an astoundingly high figure that, realistically, should have allowed a talented Cranston East squad to simply blow the game wide open. However, despite the conga line of baserunners, Cranston East constantly failed to hit with runners on, allowing the game to remain close as it headed down the stretch.

“Part of the problem was their pitches were so off the strike zone, we weren’t even getting good pitches to hit,” said Cranston East manager John Robison. “Then guys get impatient and swing at strikes they shouldn’t swing at, which isn’t going to get it done.”

The game got somewhat out of hand in the fifth inning, with Liberata, whose luck seemed to have entirely deserted him on the day, being subjected to some jawing on the part of the Elmwood fans after he advanced to third base. The Cranston East coaches attempted to diffuse the situation by pinch-running for Liberata, but a few choice words as he left the field earned him an ejection, one which, by rule, forced him to miss his team’s next game.

Down 4-3 at the time of the ejection, Elmwood seemed to rally after the altercation, scoring five runs to take what at the time seemed to be a commanding 8-4 lead. However, unfortunately for the resurgent Elmwood squad, Cranston East suddenly rediscovered its form at the plate, scoring a combined five runs over what should have been the final two innings to take a 9-5 lead into the last of the seventh.

Then came the game’s second big controversy – namely, the approaching darkness. With the constant deep counts and myriad baserunners that both teams had registered, a game that had begun at 5:30 p.m. was heading into the final frame as the sun was already well on its way to setting. Before Elmwood’s final chance to tie the game, the umpires and league officials commiserated, as there was some confusion over the rules of calling a game for darkness, with some saying the score would revert to the last full inning (granting Elmwood the victory). Some said that Elmwood would not be allowed to bat and the game would be called altogether, while others said that the game would have to be picked up again the next day. In the end, the umpires decided to allow Elmwood to bat and make a ruling after the last half-inning, most likely due to the very real possibility of an Elmwood walk-off settling the issue for them.

The umpires’ ruling almost seemed prescient, as Elmwood came out firing with its back against the wall. The first three Elmwood batters reached, and the game was tied on an error, leaving the winning run on second base with two outs. Then, fittingly, the inning ended on yet another controversy, as a pop up into the middle infield landed between three Cranston East fielders, loading the bases, only for the second base umpire to rule that the runner at second had interfered with the shortstop, which registered the third out and ended the inning.

With visibility at nil and tensions high, the game was called for darkness and picked up the next day. Luckily for everyone involved, round two of the contest was infinitely less controversial; Cranston East scored three runs in the top of the eighth, and stifled the Elmwood offense en route to a 12-9 extra-inning victory.

Having won its first two games, Cranston East had only to await the winner of the Elmwood and Johnston matchup, with the winner needing to defeat Cranston East twice to advance. As luck would have it, Johnston defeated Elmwood, and set up a decisive matchup with Cranston East on Sunday.

While the second game of the week had much less drama between the lines for Cranston East – it led by six runs after the first inning, and came close to 10-run-ruling Johnston on multiple occasions – several extracurricular occurrences gave the game a sense of high tension usually reserved for a Red Sox-Yankees game circa 2004.

Later on in the game, a player whom the umpire coached – the cause for some controversy – was himself ejected after being thrown out at home plate, leading the Cranston East coach to argue that the personal relationship had actually worked against the player and that he had been unfairly ejected. A plethora of other happenings – such as a near fan altercation and the presence of non-coaching staff adults on the field in between innings – only escalated the situation, and the umpires struggled to maintain control as the game wore on.

“Cranston-Johnston has always been a rivalry, and that’s the intensity of the game,” said Johnston manager Tony Cimagua in regards to the game’s high tension. “It’s not meant to be disrespectful to anyone, it’s just the intensity of the game.”

In the end, the entire affair was little more than hot air, since the game itself was never in question. Cranston East led the entire game, and missed 10-run ruling Johnston by a single run in the fifth inning. Despite all the preening and posturing, it was only Cranston East left on the field, holding a championship banner and holding up a “2” sign to signify its repeat as the district champions.

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