By Russ Waterman
MaxPreps.com
After a scramble by several squads to gain higher seeding, qualify for the postseason or cement a regular-season title, the field for the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Division I and II state baseball tournaments has been set. It should be a pulsating two weeks of compressed, double-elimination action leading to the state championships.
Division I
Opinion is sharply divided on who can prevail in the top division. Will it be Division I league winners Portsmouth (East), Bishop Hendricken (West), North Kingstown (South) or Lincoln (North)? Will two-time defending state champion Cranston West be able to get a three-peat? Or will there be a spoiler such as South Kingstown, Cranston East or LaSalle Academy?
Those in the 'pitching-decides-everything' category would have to favor No. 2 Bishop Hendricken (17-2), which allowed a paltry 35 runs over 19 games and seems to have quality and depth running to five or six pitchers, in addition to much depth in the field and at the plate, as well.
But three other teams, No. 1 Portsmouth (19-1), South Kingstown (17-3) and Cranston West (17-4) also feature excellent pitching staffs, combined with versatile players who can hit and defend well.
Not lurking in the background: Cranston West, two-time defending state champions with a deceptive seeding of No. 6 and which finished as runner-up to Bishop Hendricken in the West. The Falcons won eight of their last nine games by a combined margin of 74 to 18, including wins over Hendricken, third-seeded North Kingstown and No. 4 Lincoln.
Portsmouth allowed only 44 runs and scored 176, but can the Patriots sustain excellence against teams outside their division?
The Patriots had an otherwise-perfect season marred by a 6-2 loss to Lincoln, and a highly-anticipated matchup in an out-of-conference test against South Kingstown was postponed due to rain last week. Their not-so-secret weapon, however, is Ryan Westmoreland, one of the nation's best all-around players.
South Kingstown, which tied with North Kingstown in the South, has one of the state's best pitchers in Jackson Geary and a lineup bolstered by hurler Kevin Carey. South's mound corps has quietly allowed only 45 runs during the season, helped in part by a superb defense.
North Kingstown has scored an average of 10 runs per game, anchored by two of the most versatile and best players in the state, pitcher/outfielder Cody Normand and pitcher/first baseman Dave D'Errico, who have forged the way for the 17-3 Skippers. Nick Savickas and Nate Izzo have also delivered many timely hits.
The Division I opening-rounds playoff schedule begins in May 21.
In Region One, Portsmouth will first host the winner of No. 16 Cumberland and No. 17 East Providence. In the other half of the bracket, No. 8 LaSalle will be waiting to host the winner of No. 9 Cranston East and No. 24 Barrington
In Region Two, No. 2 Bishop Hendricken, West regular season titlist, will first face the winner of No. 15 St. Raphael Academy and No. 18 Smithfield. Meanwhile, No. 7 Moses Brown, the East second-place finisher, awaits the outcome of the matchup between No. 10 North Providence and No. 23 Toll Gate.
Region Three features what could be the toughest bracket of all to get through. And if the seeding in this bracket hold true to form, North Kingstown and Cranston West could meet in a titanic regional final.
However, North Kingstown first must get past the winner of No. 14 Tiverton and No. 19 East Greenwich, while No. 3 Cranston West has to get off on the right foot by defeating the winner of the game between No. 11 Narragansett and No. 22 Pilgrim.
Finally, in Region Four, an intriguing confrontation looms between No. 4 Lincoln and No. 5 South Kingstown. However, Lincoln must first host the winner of the matchup between No. 13 Chariho and No. 20 Coventry. Nor can No. 5 South Kingstown look beyond too far, either, in facing the winner of No. 12 Woonsocket and No. 21 Middletown.
Division II
Top seed Mount Hope (17-2), the East champion, seems to have an important edge in one important category – pitching. It didn't hurt the Huskies' nine-win streak momentum when Matt Leary pitched a five-inning no-hit decision, 14-0, over Hope High School in concluding the regular season. They have overwhelmed opponents by a combined-run total of 114-23.
Yet with five North teams – Johnston (15-4); North Smithfield (15-4), Mount St. Charles (13- 5), Ponaganset (10-10) and Scituate (9-9) – making the playoffs, the North's influence will be felt.
For Mount Hope, even if it gets past the No. 9 Providence Country Day vs. No. 8 Mt. St. Charles winner in its first playoff appearance, the Huskies will likely have to meet No. 4 North Smithfield, the North's second-place team, if the Northmen prevail over the No. 12 Scituate vs. No. 5 Exeter-West Greenwich winner. The Scarlet Knights of EWG (15-4), second in the South, also could be a possible spoiler, having beaten Prout, 8-5, earlier.
The No. 2 Prout School Crusaders have to be feeling good about themselves after beating North Smithfield, 5-3, in the final regular-season game for both teams. The Crusaders are in the same region, however, as their most formidable opponent, the No. 3 Johnston Panthers, the North regular-season winners who defeated North Smithfield twice for the tiebreaker and the league title.
Johnston, riding a nine-game win skein, first hosts the winner of No. 11 Classical and No. 6 Tolman while Prout is waiting the outcome of the No. 10 Ponaganet at No. 7 Central game.
Russ Waterman covers Massachusetts and Rhode Island for MaxPreps.com. He may be reached at rwathoop3@aol.com
