Ocean State defeats Newport, 5-4
June 29, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release
WAKEFIELD, R.I. "" Shaun McGraw's infield pop-up drove in the eventual winning run in the seventh and Oliver Powers tossed three scoreless innings of relief as Ocean State held on to defeat Newport, 5-4, on Saturday night at Old Mountain Field.
The victory is the second-straight for the Waves (10-8) and the first-ever over the Gulls (11-4). Newport's eight-game winning streak came to an end with the loss.
Trailing 4-2 in the fifth, the Waves started their rally with two outs. Caden Bailey ripped a single through the right side and Christian Muscarello followed with a perfect bunt single to put two runners on. Mike Gerber then laced Ocean State's third-straight two-out single to right-center to score Bailey from second to make it 4-3.
The Waves then got a big boost from reliever Connor Kelly in the top of the sixth. A hit batter and a double put runners at second and third with no outs for the Gulls but Kelly bore down. He got a fly ball to center for the first out, struck out the next batter looking and ended the threat with a fly ball to right.
Ocean State responded by tying the game in its very next at-bat. McGraw and Chris King started the inning with singles, Dalton DiNatale advanced both with a sac bunt and Pat Quinn tied the game with a sac fly to left.
That set for the stage for an exciting seventh in which the Waves took the lead. Walker Moses started the inning with a double inside the left field line and Muscarello reached on an error to put runners on the corners with one out. After a strikeout, McGraw hit a high pop fly on the infield that was lost in the fog by both the second baseman and first baseman and fell on the infield grass for a single, scoring Moses from third.
Powers did the rest, holding the Gulls off the board over the final three innings. He retired the side in order in the seventh and got some defensive help in the eighth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Trace Tam Sing hit a ground ball up the middle that looked like it would go into the outfield but Muscarello slid and fielded it. He had no throw to first so quickly turned his attention to third where the runner had taken a big turn and quickly fired to Bailey who applied the tag to end the inning. Powers then stranded two runners on base in the ninth as he got a fly ball to center to close the door.
For the second-straight night the Waves jumped on top with a pair of runs in the first. Bailey dropped a one-out single into left field and Muscarello's ground ball to third eluded Joel McKeithan to put runners on first and second. Gerber and McGraw then followed with back-to-back RBI singles to put the Waves up 2-0.
Newport fought back, however, scoring once in the third and three times in the fourth to grab its first lead. In the third, Shea Donlin walked with one out and came around to score the first Gulls run of the game on an infield throwing error. In the fourth, the Gulls loaded the bases on a walk and two hit batters before Ethan Ferreira delivered a two-run ground-rule double to left field to make it 3-2 Gulls. Another infield error followed the double, allowing Newport to score its fourth run.
Tyler Bowditch made his first start of the year for the Waves and lasted 4.2 innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on just three hits and struck out four. Kelly tossed 1.1 scoreless innings of relief and Powers allowed just three hits over three scoreless to earn his second win of the summer.
Offensively, the Waves finished with 13 hits. McGraw posted his second four-hit game of the summer and drove in two runs and Gerber had two hits and two RBI. Moses and Bailey each had two hits and Bailey also scored two runs.
The Waves head on the road Sunday when they travel to Laconia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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