The Cranston East baseball team fell to defending champion Bishop Hendricken 12-1 last week and then dropped an 11-0 decision to first-place South Kingstown on Monday.

Ethan Torres hit a solo home run for the Bolts to give them the 1-0 lead over Hendricken in the bottom of the second inning. However, the Hawks would waste no time responding when they put up eight runs in the top of the third and continued to roll until the game was ended after the fifth.

Damien Wholey, Smerlyn Lopez and Harrison Fisher combined for five innings of work on the mound. Fisher finished with a pair of strikeouts while Wholey and Lopez had one each. 

The Bolts graduated a big senior trio from last year’s team, including ace John Devine as well as Carlos Merejo and Jayden Tolentino. East has been trying out different lineups in the early going as it’s looking for the newcomers to make an impact.

“We just don’t have the depth to compete with a team like that at this juncture. John Devine, Carlos Merejo, Jayden Tolentino, we had guys that could rattle their cage but we just don’t have that depth right now,” said East coach Gary Bucci. “We’re trying, it’s a learning curve, the weather has been awful which hasn’t helped. We’ve mixed and matched.”

Bucci was encouraged by Torres, who has jumped out to a nice start at the plate.

“He’s been with the program for a while and he’s starting to find himself. it was nice to see,” said Bucci.

Fisher got the team’s lone hit against the Rebels on Monday. Jeu Leon and Antonio DeFusco each struck out two batters on the mound.

The Hawks got multi-RBI efforts from Braeden Campbell, Edgar Rodriguez, Cooper Maher and Cameron Daley in the win. Mason Crain earned the win on the mound as he tossed four innings and allowed one run while striking out five batters. 

Campbell and Rodriguez each hit home runs, and it was the latter’s first career varsity homer as he missed his entire freshman season recovering from injury. 

“It felt amazing. I was excited to be able to start today and to (hit that home run) was amazing. (It’s) just motivation. I worked hard to get back here and I’m grateful,” said Rodriguez.

Campbell added: “It’s good to see. We’re not as offensively strong this year but we’re going to make things happen. We put up 11 runs, got a few bunts, stole bases. Kids like Edgar and a couple other younger guys this year are good to have. He’s a good player.”

As reigning champs, the Hawks are confident in their experience and are looking forward to going for consecutive titles. 

“We want to be as good as possible. It’s important for us to do good because we’re next year’s future,” said Rodriguez of his and the underclassmen’s needed contributions. “We’re just going one game at a time, focusing on every game, every inning, every out. We’re focused on winning, it doesn’t matter how.”