It was a beautiful night for America’s game as Johnston’s own Pezzuco Construction Post 64 defeated West Warwick Post Two by a score of 16-3. With scattered fireworks flying through the air, the two sides took to McCarthy Field in West Warwick for some Junior American Legion baseball.
Pezzuco Construction scored early and often, setting the tone in the top of the first by posting four runs, the first of which came from the smart baserunning of Jake Coro. Coro stole second on a passed ball, later advancing to third and scoring on another passed ball. Not long after, Johnston’s bats came alive as Nick Raposo blasted a triple to center, knocking in Nate Fournier. Raposo would score on the next at-bat after a fly ball from Emilio Rodriguez dropped into left field. Rodriguez would also score on a one-hop to the shortstop off the bat of Jason Jantanian with the bases loaded.
West Warwick answered with two runs of its own, one batted in by Ryan Blais, and the other knocked in by Colby Knott. Johnston catcher Andrew Cleases helped Johnston maintain its early lead with an incredible run-saving stop on a wild pitch with a West Warwick runner on third.
Johnston widened its lead in the second, scoring five runs. The rally started with Rodriguez’s line drive to shallow center which knocked in Fournier. Dante Parisi would knock in Raposo on a liner through the gap between the third baseman and shortstop. Rodriguez later scored from third on a passed ball, and Cleases batted in Parisi and Kevin Roque on a fly ball that dropped into left field. Parisi pitched a solid inning, holding West Warwick to just one walk and striking out three batters, establishing a wide gap between Johnston and West Warwick.
Parisi posted another zero on West Warwick’s side of the scoreboard in the third inning, supported by another two runs for Johnston. The inning started with a leadoff blast to deep left field by Raposo who beat the tag for his second triple with a head-first slide. Raposo would score on yet another base-hit RBI by Rodriguez. Rodriguez would score again on a sacrifice grounder by Parisi.
Johnston widened its lead in the fourth inning with another sacrifice ground ball, this time from Fournier to knock in Coro. The play was followed by another hit for extra bases by Raposo, but this time it would be a double. Raposo was batted in by Rodriguez on a deep single to center.
West Warwick was able to cut back on Johnston’s lead just slightly. It answered Johnston’s two runs with one of its own, scored by Anthony Moretti on a sacrifice grounder by Kyle Kortick.
A three-run fifth and final inning sealed the deal for Pezzuco Construction’s victory. One run came from Parisi, who scored on a sacrifice fly by Jantanian. Cleases and Roque also scored on a blast to left center by Coro for a triple. Wrapping up his complete game, Parisi retired the side, forcing a ground out and two strikeouts. Parisi pitched an excellent game, giving up just two hits and three runs in five innings pitched while posting seven strikeouts.
In the end, Pezzuco Construction’s well balanced game proved to be too much for West Warwick Post Two, regarded as a “Young, rebuilding team” by manager Richard McNeil.
“We’re happy with the effort that our kids put out,” Pezzuco Construction manager Ron Pezzuco said. “They’re a great bunch of kids. They play as a team and I’m sure we’re going to be very competitive when we get to the end (of the season).”
When asked about the key to his team’s success, Pezzuco replied, “They played well all over. The hitting and pitching was very good today.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here