The Cumberland Clippers will face off against the East Providence Townies at 4:15 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Cumberland 2.8, East Providence 2.4) so any runs scored will be well earned.
Cumberland is probably headed into the matchup with a chip on their shoulder considering South Kingstown just ended the team's ten-game winning streak on Thursday. They fell 4-1 to the Rebels.
Liam Monahan was a force to be reckoned with on the mound despite the final result: he tossed five innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off nine hits. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-low in walks (one).
On the hitting side, Cumberland saw five different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Josh Lyon, who went 1-for-2 with one double and one RBI.
Meanwhile, East Providence faced Cranston West in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Thursday. The Townies came out on top against the Falcons by a score of 7-2. The Townies haven't had any issues with the Falcons recently, as the game was their third consecutive win against them.
Dylan Annicelli looked comfortable as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only one hit while striking out six over four innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because East Providence is undefeated when he allows at most two earned runs, but 5-7 otherwise.
At the plate, the team relied heavily on Brian Rutkowski, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, one run, and one double. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Aidan Martins, who went 2-for-4 with two runs, one double, and one RBI.
East Providence's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 14-7. The home wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 1.0 run on average over those games. As for Cumberland, their loss dropped their record down to 17-5.
East Providence's pitching crew has a crucial task ahead of them: Cumberland hasn't had any issues making contact this season, having earned a batting average of .322. It's a different story for East Providence, though, as they've only averaged .240. Will they be able to contain Cumberland's hitters?
Cumberland skirted past East Providence 6-5 in their previous matchup back in April. Do the Clippers have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Townies turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
