The Cranston 15-year-old all-star team has a stiff challenge in front of it as the Babe Ruth state tournament continues, but through the opening weekend it is in prime position.

Cranston won its first two games, knocking off North Providence 6-1 Saturday and Coventry 13-0 Sunday to advance to the winner’s bracket final on Tuesday against Warwick.

The game against Warwick presents a huge challenge, as Warwick won the state championship each of the last two years as 13-year-olds and 14-year-olds. The results of that game were unavailable at press time.

With a win against Warwick, Cranston will play for the title on Friday. With a loss, it will drop to the loser’s bracket and need to win three straight games to be state champion.

“They’re very excited to be out there,” said Warwick manager Joe Rodriques. “A couple of new guys out there that have changed the mix a little bit. They work very hard and so far we’ve seen the dividends of it.”

In Cranston’s first game of the tournament, Chris Manfredo dominated on the mound, going the distance and striking out 11 batters.

At the plate, Mike Rodriques paced the offense with a 2-for-2 day, including three RBI.

“The team spirit is very good,” Joe Rodriques said. “We’re very confident. I think we have a good chance to win.”

The second game was even more dominant, as Cranston blew out Coventry right from the get-go. Collin Gershkoff was the offensive star with three hits, but he was far from the only one who made a difference at the plate.

“Everyone hit up and down the entire lineup,” Rodriques said.

The three-headed pitching combination of Justin Gist, Connor Kiernan and Drew Phillips did the job on the mound, as their combined efforts secured the shutout.

“We played well,” Rodriques said. “I stressed to them now walks, and give them three outs an inning and we should be okay.”

Cranston’s roster is made up of Mitch Carvalho, Brian Cipolla, Mike Cuddemi, Ronald DeBartolo, Gershkoff, Gist, Sam Hanley, Sean Heart, Kiernan, Brendan Lanigan, Manfredo, Sam Owens, Phillips, Rodriques and Nik San Antonio.

13’s win a pair in different ways

The Cranston 13-year-old Babe Ruth all-star team didn’t necessarily draw it up this way so far, but its off to a 2-0 start nonetheless.

Cranston fell behind 9-6 in the fifth inning of its opening game to Providence before rallying late to earn the 14-9 victory. It rode that win to another one the next day, taking care of business against Coventry 14-5.

With the pair of wins, Cranston sits in the winner’s bracket final and was scheduled to take on Warwick Tuesday night, with the results unavailable at press time. Warwick won its first two games by a combined 26-4 score.

“Offensively, 28 runs in two games is crazy,” said Cranston manager Mike Enright. “Defensively, they need some work. They’re young, they’re still learning the game.”

The first game, though, got a little dicey. Cranston struck first, going up 6-0 in the first inning.

But from there, things started to unravel.

“They’re 13, so walks and errors happen,” Enright siad. “Before you knew it we were down 9-6.”

Larry Matano got the start on the mound, before Brad Thies came on to pitch the middle four innings. That settled down Providence’s offense, and Cranston’s woke up.

It scored a run in the fifth to get within 9-7, and then piled on seven more in the sixth inning to jump back in front by five runs. Nick Snowling had a pinch hit that got the rally started.

“That opened the floodgates,” Enright said. “After that we had a seven-run inning.”

Jamie Pacheco came on to close out the game on the mound, lifting Cranston to an all-important opening-game victory.

In the second game, Cranston pitched much better, changing the complexion of the game. Pacheco started and pitched four innings, before Nick Santurri came on for the final three.

The team made no errors, and cut down severely on its walk total from the first game.

 “We went from 10 walks to about five walks,” Enright said.

Offensively, Cranston scored three runs in the first, three more in the second and two in the fourth to jump out to an 8-1 lead. Coventry got within 8-3, but never closer.

Cranston scored five runs in the final inning to put the game on ice.

Cranston’s roster is made up of Thies, Nelvin Blanco, LJ Felicio, Pacheco, David Egan, Santurri, Anthony Cardi, Snowling, Quinn Lanigan, Jason Filippone, Matano, Evan Rinaldi and Ivan Rosa.

14’s into winner’s bracket final

Two games in to the Babe Ruth state tournament, the Cranston 14-year-old all-star team has shown no mercy.

 Both of its games have been cut short due to the 10-run rule, as Cranston defeated Providence 14-1 in its opener Saturday and then run-ruled Newport/Middletown 19-7 Sunday.

The first game went six innings, while the second one went just five.

“I feel real good about this team,” said manager Bob DeCosta.

The winner’s bracket final game is up next, and it’s a tough one. Cranston was scheduled to take on Coventry Tuesday, with the results unavailable at press time. Last season, as 13-year-olds, Coventry went all the way to the Babe Ruth World Series.

“We’ve been practicing hard,” DeCosta said. “We really look good. I just hope we can pull it all together tonight.”

Cranston has looked good so far. In the first game, Jake Palazzo went five innings before Sean Conley came on and finished it off with a one-two-three sixth inning.

It was only up 4-1 after four innings, however, until it exploded in the fifth. Cranston scored 10 runs, giving it plenty of breathing room, and it ended the game the next time Providence came to bat.

Steve Rocchio led the way with three hits.

“The ball wasn’t dropping for us,” DeCosta said. “We were hitting. We weren’t striking out. I figured at some point we were going to explode.”

In game two, Cranston got off to another slow start and trailed 7-6 into the second innings. Conley and Griff Mason sruggled on the hill, as Cranston issued 11 walks.

But Cranston wasn’t held down for long, as the bats continued to roll. It scored 13 runs over the next three innings.

“Our offense is pretty potent,” DeCosta said.

On the mound, Cam Harris came in and shut the door.

Cranston is now two wins from the title if it wins its next two. If it were to lose to Coventry, it would drop to the loser’s bracket and need to win three straight games to finish the job.