Legion Team Closes Out Playoff Series With 8-5 Victory

R and R Construction (Newport) and Navigant Credit Union (Woonsocket) met at Gaudet School in Middletown Sunday for the tiebreaker of their three-game playoff series. This was an evenly matched game in which the lead was exchanged twice and good pitching was a key before the locals pulled out an 8-5 victory.

Unlike Saturday's 22-7 rout by Newport at Cardines Field, Navigant held a lead through the fourth inning, when they were ahead 2-1.

The scoring began in the bottom of the third when a sharply hit single by Newport's Kevin Galvin scored Matt Murphy, who had led off the inning. In the top of the fourth, a searing home run by Woonsocket's Melvin Torres scored "Bam Bam" Rodriguez.

Newport put all nine up to the plate in the fifth and scored four runs. Zach Guillet and John Harnett walked, Kelvin Galvin singled, and Josh Beaupre reached on another walk.  Newport shortstop Josh Flynn hit his second single; he would end the day 4 for 5, with 4 singles and 3 RBIs. Woonsocket's 15-year-old starting pitcher, Eduardo Torres, was pulled for Mike Sabatino. Newport catcher Mark Ventura laid down a textbook bunt on the third base line but was left on base at the end of the inning after Sabatino secured the last two outs for Woonsocket.

During the Woonsocket half of the sixth inning, Melvin Torres hit a long ball that cleared the right-center fence, his second home run, scoring Chris Nasuti and "Bam Bam" Rodriguez. Rodriguez reached base three times, on two walks and a single, and he scored twice. Torres went 2 for 4 and was responsible for all of Woonsocket's RBIs.  

Newport's starting and winning pitcher, Ryan Sinclair, forced Woonsocket up and down in three in the top half of the 7th.  He pitched 7 2/3 innings, struck out two, walked two and forced 11 batters into ground outs. Newport's defense was nearly flawless.

The bottom half of the seventh inning brought the last of the scoring. With the scored tied at 5-5, Danny Grimes reached first on a Woonsocket throwing error and was quickly moved around by a single by Josh Flynn and a ground rule double  by Josh Beaupre.  Matt Murphy stroked a near home run that hit the fence in the air for a double.  Murphy reached base three times during the game on two hits and an error, and he flied out to left field in his other at bat. He accounted for three of Newport's eight RBIs.

While Ryan Sinclair appeared able to finish the eighth, with two outs and a runner on third, he walked "Bam Bam" Rodriguez. Coach Ulmschneider brought in Dan Kehew to face Melvin Torres and close out the game. Kehew is an imposing figure on the mound at 6'4" and 275lbs. He forced Torres into a groundball to second and Kehew went on to easily handle the three batters in the Woonsocket ninth. The final score was 8-5, Newport.

After the game Coach Ulmschneider acknowledged the quality of the pitching on both sides. He praised Woonsocket's young pitcher, Eduardo Torres, and added, "Ryan (Sinclair) went into the 8th inning for us … he did a terrific job … the difference boiled down to timely hits."

 Newport advances in the Legion playoffs to face West Warwick Monday night.