American rally falls short in loss to NPE

William Geoghegan, Sports Editor
Posted 7/6/11

It took a while for the Cranston American 12-year-old all-stars to hit their stride in Sunday’s District 1 elimination game against North Providence East.

Once they did, it looked like they’d …

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American rally falls short in loss to NPE

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It took a while for the Cranston American 12-year-old all-stars to hit their stride in Sunday’s District 1 elimination game against North Providence East.

Once they did, it looked like they’d be off to the races. Trailing by four runs entering its last at-bat, American scored two runs and had the bases loaded with nobody out.

But just as quickly as the American stars got back into the game, North Providence East pushed them right back out. Reliever Anthony Pescorino came on with nobody out and though he allowed a walk and an RBI single, he proceeded to strike out the next three hitters to end the game and secure a 6-4 victory.

The loss ended American’s tournament run. The team had lost its opener to Johnston last Wednesday.

“They took it right down to the end,” said American manager Mike Cuddemi. “Bases loaded, nobody out – I thought we were going to do it. But they gave it a good shot.”

American trailed 6-2 going into the bottom of the sixth, and it wasn’t looking promising. North Providence East pitcher Austin Conte had allowed just three hits to that point and had recorded seven strikeouts.

But American was undeterred. Michael Cuddemi led off the sixth with a solo home run, which put the wind back into American’s sails. Ryan Mollo followed with a walk before John Anderson lined a double into the gap.

That chased Conte, but it looked for a moment like it would be more of the same against Pescorino. The first batter he faced, Chrisdione Mendez, drew a walk to load the bases. Jordan Smith followed with a line drive to left to score Mollo, making it a 6-4 game.

But that’s when the comeback ended. Pescorino buckled down and needed just 10 pitches to strike out the next three hitters. All of them went down swinging.

“The kids battled,” Mike Cuddemi said. “They never gave up. Give [North Providence East] credit. They came to our house and hit the ball and shut us down.”

Most of North Providence’s damage was done in the third inning. Smith started for American and didn’t allow a hit through two, but the top of the North Providence order got it going in the third.

Chris Sweeney legged out a bunt single before Pescorino walked. Conte then battled through an eight-pitch at-bat before belting a three-run homer. Brady Erickson followed with a solo shot.

Michael Cuddemi relieved Smith at that point and kept North Providence at bay. Though he walked seven, he also struck out eight and kept the game within reach.

North Providence added two runs in the sixth after loading the bases with two outs against Cuddemi. Reliever Brendan Lanigan came on, but before he could get the final out, Aaron Cicilline grounded a single through the middle to score two insurance runs.

Before its sixth-inning rally, American struggled to put it all together against Conte. Lanigan scored on an error in the third, but Conte got out of the frame without further damage.

In the fourth, American was poised to break out, but even then, the rally didn’t come together. Mollo walked to start the inning but was caught off second base after Pescorino made a diving stop at shortstop and threw back to second.

Mendez reached on that play and Smith followed with a single. Lanigan then crushed a deep fly ball to right-center that was almost a home run. Instead, it bounced off the fence. Mendez scored easily but North Providence threw out pinch runner Nick Stallings as he tried to score.

“It’s the second game in a row we ran into a good pitcher,” Mike Cuddemi said. “I give him credit. He was mixing it up – he had a good fastball and an off-speed pitch. He kept them on their heels. We could never get it all going at once.”

In American’s first game of the tournament, it couldn’t get anything going against a Johnston team with championship aspirations.

Johnston rode starter Matt Kennedy, who allowed just one hit and struck out 10, to a five-inning 11-1 victory. Kennedy also hit a solo home run to lead off the fifth inning, ending the game by virtue of the 10-run rule.

American’s one run came in the second inning when Anderson, who began the inning with American’s only hit of the day, came around on an infield error three batters later.

Though American’s run ended earlier than the team hoped, Cuddemi had no complaints about the effort.

“This is a great bunch of kids,” Cuddemi said. “I’ve known probably all of them since instructional. They’re great kids. I feel bad for them. They’re good players. It just didn’t come together for them this year, but they all had their moments. We worked them hard, and we couldn’t ask for anything more.”

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