PORTSMOUTH — A young Portsmouth High School baseball team will begin its playoff run this afternoon (May 24), with a Division I preliminary game at home against Moses Brown at 4:30 p.m.

The No. 7-seeded Patriots edged the No. 10-seeded Quakers on Monday by a score of 2-1.

With the PHS team’s youth comes learning curves, and that has showed itself recently. 

After wins against Smithfield (7-3), Pilgrim (4-3), and Toll Gate (13-3), Portsmouth dropped two games to North Kingstown (6-1) and Cranston West (11-2).

Recently, the Patriots traveled to Cranston East for an important league game. Led by the bats of senior captains Nick Spaner (3-4, home run, 2 RBI) and John Mass (2-4, double, 2 runs), Portsmouth went home with a 4-2 victory. Combining for the three-hit win on the mound were Mass (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 9K), Casey Cord (2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 K), and Oliver Rey (1 IP, 1 K, Save).

Portsmouth then welcomed Bishop Hendricken to Bob Crudup Field. What started off as a one-run game, turned into a 6-0 loss for the Patriots. With only two hits by Portsmouth (from Casey Cord and Spaner), a walk (Avery Amaio), and a hit by pitch (Spaner), Portsmouth was able to put only four runners on base and no one made it further than third.

Cam Ruggieri pitched well during his 5-2/3 innings of work, striking out eight, but Hendricken managed nine hits, thus giving the Hawks the run advantage for the whole game.

The Patriots bounced back with a 6-0 win against Central. Mass took the win (4 IP, 2 H, 8 K) with Cord getting the save (3 IP, 0 H, 1 K). Mass got on in the first, was pushed to third on Spaner’s fielder’s choice, and scored on Oliver Rey’s single to left. That’s all the scoring they would need. Mass (2 H, 2 R, SB), Rey (RBI Single, 2 SB, R), and Spaner (FC, BB, SB, plus threw out two runners attempting to steal) provided the majority of the offense and defense for Portsmouth.

All-Stars

Before going into the home stretch of the regular season, the Patriots sent three players to the Rhode Island Division 1 Baseball Coaches Association All-Star Game on Saturday May 11 at McCarthy Stadium. Mass and Spaner were selected as starters at shortstop and catcher, respectively. Ruggieri was named to the team as a pitching reserve. All three helped their team to an 8-1 victory, led by Spaner (3-3, Double, 5 RBI’s, Run), Mass (2-3, Double, SB, 2 R), and Ruggieri (1 IP, 0 H, BB).

On May 13, the team traveled to Coventry where they left with a 12-1, six-inning win. Ruggieri again pitched well, allowing three hits and a run through six. A three-run double by Thomas Calhoun highlighted a five-run fourth inning.

The following night,, Portsmouth lost a walk-off heartbreaker to Central, when Adonis Medina hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh to secure the victory for the Knights. Portsmouth led 4-3, going into the final frame. Mass (3-3, 3 R, SB, BB) and Spaner (2-2, RBI, R, SB, 2 BB) led the offense for Portsmouth. The Patriots managed six total hits on the day.