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June 16, 2007

Division I Championship: Portsmouth 7, South Kingstown 4

WEST WARWICK – Portsmouth maintained its status as Rhode Island’s only undefeated high school baseball team yesterday as the nationally ranked Patriots posted a 7-4 victory over South Kingstown in their opening round game of the R.I. Interscholastic League’s four-team, double-elimination Division I Championship series.

Portsmouth now will play Cranston West in the tournament’s winners-bracket final tonight at McCarthy Field at 7 p.m. South Kingstown will play Hendricken in a losers-bracket game at 4 p.m.

Portsmouth combined a strong pitching from Ryan Westmoreland, a few timely hits, 12 walks and 4 South Kingstown errors for their 22nd consecutive victory in Interscholastic League play this season.

Westmoreland, the Patriots’ junior right-hander limited South Kingstown to five hits over the seven-inning route.

Portsmouth broke a scoreless deadlock in the bottom of the third when John Sleeper, who had singled with one out, scored on a wild pitch after moving to third on John Pedrotty’s double.

South Kingstown took a 2-1 lead on Brian Lessard’s two-out, two-run single, but Portsmouth regained the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fourth.

The Patriots’ James Ayars raced home from first with the tying run when Westmoreland’s sinking line-drive single to left skipped past the South Kingstown left-fielder.

A walk and infield error then loaded the bases and Westmoreland came home with the tie-breaking run when Matt Billington walked on a 3-2 count.

Portsmouth added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth when South Kingstown starter Corey Benton, showing the effects of his 100-pitch effort in the bottom of the fifth, issued two straight walks with one out.

Senior Andrew Joyce came on in relief and struck out Westmoreland for the second out, but Adam Reece’s fly ball to deep right bounced off the glove of South Kingstown right fielder Kevin Carey, sending home two runs.

That pushed the Portsmouth lead to three, but South Kingstown cut its deficit back to one in the top of the sixth when the Rebels scored two runs without the aid of a hit.
An infield hit and an infield error gave South Kingstown runners on first and third with no outs. Westmoreland eventually struck out the side, but not before the Rebels scored the two runs on a passed ball and a wild pitch.

But Portsmouth didn’t waste any time regaining the three-run cushion. Nick Grande’s one-out single with runners on first and second scored one run and the Patriots added another run on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs.

--JOHN GILLOOLY

Posted by Chris Venditto  at 11:38 PM to High School | Permalink

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