Bolts, Hawks finish epic championship runs

The spring sports season is officially closed as the final championships took place last weekend. 

Beacon Media had two of its teams clinch championships, as the Cranston East boys volleyball team shocked North Kingstown and the Bishop Hendricken baseball team defended its title.

Starting with East, what an unbelievable game that was. I know there could be some recency bias here, but that was the best volleyball game I have ever covered.

North Kingstown entered the game as the heavy favorite, and rightfully so. The Skippers were undefeated, had only lost five sets all spring, and dealt the Bolts three losses in the regular season. 

Admittedly, I regret not picking the Bolts on the record leading up to the match. In last week’s column, I didn’t make an official prediction, but I simply said that the Skippers were the favorite. Deep down, I had a feeling that an upset may have been in the cards but was too shy to actually put it in writing. Shame on me.

The Bolts shot out of a cannon and cruised to taking the quick 2-0 lead. It was the first time all year that NK had lost two sets.

East was rolling in the third, but with their season in the balance, the Skippers finally woke up to come back, win the third and fourth sets and force the fifth. The teams went back and forth before the Bolts grabbed the 16-14 win in the final set. 

I have seen plenty of seesaw battles in volleyball, especially in big matches. This was different though. It felt like East was truly a team that was destined to win.

I mean, the Bolts had all the makings of a championship team. Two elite hitters in Charles Pincince and Dennis Dixon, a high-end setter in Caleb Xum, quality depth pieces led by Darien Peterson. The team had seniors, experience, a proven coach in Jhamal Diggs. This upset should not be viewed as massive as it has been, even though on paper the Skippers were so impressive. 

The deciding factor, though, was that East wanted it more. It’s cliché, but it’s true. The Bolts played angry all season long and felt that they should have won it all last year. NK was a resilient team as well, but once playoff time started, East was just so locked in.

I also think the Bolts played with more confidence on Sunday, despite having lost every match this season to the Skippers. East took the first two sets and made it look easy. Even when the Skippers mounted the comeback, the Bolts never seemed discouraged or shook. They just kept playing. That right there is experience. 

This is the first boys state title that I have covered for Cranston East since starting here in 2018. The boys swim team won divisions a few years back and the softball team won last year on the girls side. 

To finally see a boys team clinch a championship was cool to see. The basketball team has had some strong years and I started right at the tail end of the football team’s run as a DI powerhouse. It’s cool to see these kids finally bring one home.

For Hendricken, the Hawks just keep on winning.

Many people questioned Hendricken’s ceiling this year after losing a big core from last year’s team, one that included Griffin Crain, Christian Butera, Cole Camara and Ryan Thompson. Of course, the Hawks are always a force, no one doubted that they’d be one of the top teams in the state, but would they be the best?

Well, last weekend proved that they certainly were.

Braeden Campbell’s series performance will go down in Hendricken history, highlighted by the massive home run to essentially put the game away on Sunday. Mason and Cullen Crain continued their family’s tradition of excellence at the school, and guys like Jack DePalma, Frank Tillinghast, Cooper Maher and Dylan Poloski also stepped up into bigger roles and had their moments. 

You can’t forget Parker Boyd, either, who put the team on his back earlier in the postseason. The fact that the team got the job done without fully relying on ace Patrick Clemmey was also impressive. This year’s team got hot at the right time and couldn’t be stopped.

Hendricken will be losing an even bigger senior class this year, including Campbell, Clemmey, Maher, Tillinghast, and DePalma. What this season has shown, though, is that this machine isn’t slowing down any time soon.