Huskies baseball clobbers Tiverton and Barrington, hoping for deep playoff run

Photos and story by Richard W. Dionne Jr. rdionne@eastbaynewspapers.com
Posted 5/23/18

The Mt. Hope baseball team clobbered Tiverton and Barrington in their last two games, moving them ahead of Smithfield for sole possession of third place in Division II with a record of 11-5.

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Huskies baseball clobbers Tiverton and Barrington, hoping for deep playoff run

Posted

The Mt. Hope baseball team clobbered Tiverton and Barrington in their last two games, moving them ahead of Smithfield for sole possession of third place in Division II with a record of 11-5.

The Huskies’ bats came alive, scoring 20 runs against their East Bay rivals. Senior third baseman and five hitter C.J. Casalino and Nick Simeone were strong offensively for the Huskies. The timely hitting combined with the terrific pitching that they have been getting from senior ace Connor Padovich, Ethan Leary and closer Charlie Amarante will be a deadly combination for their D-II foes come playoff time.

“If we win three games we get to McCoy and that’s the goal,” said Head Coach Mike Mazzarella. “It’s been the goal all season. In a three game series, I think we are one of the teams to beat.”

The Huskies beat Tiverton 12-5, on Friday and Barrington 8-2, at Guiteras Field on Wednesday.

“We hit the ball well against Tiverton,” coach Mazzarella said. “We were aggressive on the base paths. I think we stole 10 bases.”

Senior third baseman C.J. Casalino had a big day against Tiverton.

“C.J. had four RBI in his first two at bats. Two big two-out hits with players on second and third,” said coach Mazzarella. “We preach to not waste at bats and put the ball in play. We try and make the opposing team make mistakes.”

Freshman starting pitcher Ethan Leary went five strong innings for the Huskies, holding Tiverton to just 4 runs. London Camelo closed the game out yielding 1 run.

In the Barrington game, Senior pitcher Connor Padovich and relief pitcher Charlie Amarante teamed up to hold Barrington to six hits.

“That’s a real good win for us,” coach Mazzarella said. “That’s a real good offense, probably the best offense that we’ve faced all season. They held their own and they worked us.”

Padovich increased his record to 4-1 as a starter. Amarante entered the game in the fifth inning and shut down the Barrington lineup with his fast ball and slider.

“It was a big game against Barrington,” Amarante said. “I tried to play my game and throw strikes and we got the win. I like to throw the fastball and throw it by them.”

The closer also had a good day at the plate, with a hit and two runs scored. Senior catcher Caden Cabral led the Huskies with 2 hits and 2 runs scored, but it was senior first baseman Nick Simeone’s 3-RBI blast that won the game for the Huskies.

Amarante got the Huskies on the board in the first when he led the game off with a single. Cabral followed with a hit. Senior short stop Cam Santerre then hit a sacrifice fly driving in Amarante for the Huskies first run.

The fireworks started in the third inning when Cabral and Santerre reached on walks. Clean-up hitter Stew Kay hit a flyball to right field, moving Cabral to third base. Senior third baseman C. J. Casalino singled to left scoring Cabral. London Camelo walked to load the bases for senior Nick Simeone. With two strikes and two out, the big first baseman dug in and slugged the ball to right center emptying the bases with a three-run double giving the Huskies a 5-0 lead.

“Coach says when there are two strikes on you, it’s not an at bat for you, it’s an at bat for the team,” said Simeone. “It’s a ‘Huskies at bat’ he says, and that’s what I’m trying to do there, just put the ball in play and get a hit for the team.”

Barrington scored two runs in the fourth inning. Outfielder Cabot Maher greeted Padovich with a towering home run over the left field fence and into Silver Spring Marsh. The next batter, Andy Marra walked and scored off a hit by Andrew Conaty.

The Huskies struck for three more in the sixth. Freshman Ryan Pires singled with two outs. Amarante reached on an era. Cabral singled and drove in Pires. Santerre singled home Amarante and Kodi Saotome, running for Cabral.

“Offensively the team showed resilience. Barrington’s pitcher Matt Zeleznik pitched well. Our players stayed back and hit him after a couple of times through. It was a good win for us,” said coach Mazzarella.

With just two games left, at Exeter-West Greenwich and Westerly at home, the Huskies are in good position for the playoffs, but need to take care of business with Smithfield 10-5, Barrington 9-4-1 and Narragansett 9-5 at their heels.

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