Cranston East product, Ivan Reyes, has made significant contributions on the diamond this spring, his first as a member of the Johnson and Wales baseball team.

Reyes, one of three Cranston natives on the Wildcat roster this season, has played in all but two contests for JWU, mostly as the starting second baseman.

On Saturday, the ex-Thunderbolt hit his second home run of the campaign in the first game of a doubleheader against Norwich, a two-run shot that sparked a five-run seventh inning that helped guide Johnson and Wales to a 9-2 triumph over the Cadets.

In addition to his pair of homers, Reyes has compiled a .293 batting average with six doubles and 13 runs batted in, with all but four RBI’s coming in games versus conference opposition.

Lining up alongside Reyes in the Wildcat infield is sophomore Lou Umberto, whose slick fielding at shortstop has been near-flawless in 2015, as evidenced by his .975 fielding percentage.

Umberto’s handiwork with his glove is only part of the story, however; he is currently batting at a .310 clip and, like Reyes, has driven home 13 JWU baserunners.

Forming the final part of the triumvirate is freshman pitcher Taylor Pacific, who has exclusively worked out of the bullpen this season.

The Cranston East graduate has compiled eight strikeouts in 10.1 innings of work, most recently seeing action last Thursday in the Wildcats’ 6-0 defeat by Saint Joseph’s of Maine.

The Johnson and Wales nine has caught fire down the stretch, winning eight of their last nine games, including doubleheader sweeps of conference foes Norwich and Albertus Magnus last weekend, which has put the Wildcats in second place in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with a 17-11 record.

One test remains for JWU before the GNAC tournament, and it comes on Wednesday afternoon, as the Wildcats cross Narragansett Bay to take on Salve Regina in a non-league game that has previously been postponed twice due to inclement weather.

Other notes

Former Cranston West standout Bobby Allen headed west in search of a good time last weekend, and found it in Walnut, Calif. at the Mt. SAC Relays.

Competing for UMass-Lowell in the 1,500 meters, Allen finished seventh in the event with a time of three minutes, 47.02 seconds, the second-fastest among all America East runners this season at that distance.

Additionally, the effort was the third-quickest all-time for the River Hawks over 1,500 meters and was 1.27 seconds short of the school record, set at the same meet nine years ago by Patrick Morasse.