The Cranston East baseball team won its season opener in a 1-0 decision against Pilgrim on Monday afternoon.

The two teams were scoreless heading into the final inning, but East would get the game’s lone run across the plate when a passed ball allowed Jayven Alexandre to reach home.

Pitching led the way for each club, as East starter John Devine earned the win and tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings while allowing just three hits and racking up nine strikeouts. Pilgrim’s Tyler Boudreau allowed no earned runs while also allowing just three hits and picking up nine strikeouts.

East coach Gary Bucci was happy to see his club escape with an opening day win.

“It was very, very important. We’re not sure if we are going to play the rest of the week with the incoming rain, so it’s nice to get this one under our belt for a few days,” Bucci said.

Devine is slated to be the program’s ace this season after emerging as one of the state’s best No. 2 arms last season behind Randy Guzman. Bucci sees a seasoned performer on the mound in Devine, who will need to continue to dominate for the Bolts to return to the postseason this spring.

“John pitched outstanding. He’s smart, he knows how to keep a runner at bay, he mixes up his timing to the plate, he mixes up his timing on throws to first, keeps the runners off balance. He’s does a great job,” Bucci said.

The East offense struggled for the most part on Monday, with senior Carlos Merejo leading the way, getting two of the team’s three hits. The Bolts started the season with multiple players injured, so Bucci expects the pitching staff to carry the load in the early going with hopes of the offense coming alive by midseason.

“We had much more opportunity to score three, four, five runs,” Bucci said, specifically when East stranded three baserunners in the seventh. “If we can find a little bit of offense, I think we’ll be pretty good. We have some good young (pitchers) that will help us. We’ve been hit by injuries that have taken two or three starters, but we can play with anyone and we should be above the curve. I’m excited about the team.”

East was scheduled to take on La Salle on Thursday afternoon.