EAST BOSTON – In a staff day for the Rams and Hawks, Suffolk baseball could not figure out the consistently switching arms on the hills and fell to Roger Williams, 12-5, Wednesday afternoon at East Boston Memorial Park.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Roger Williams 12
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-10) | Roger Williams (19-9)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hawks tested Suffolk's starter Parker Browne from the get go. The senior right-hander found himself in a bases-loaded two-out jam. Roger Williams already had one run on the board before B. Bonavita cleared the bags with a bomb to center field to make the hosts chase five, 5-0.
The Rams responded in the home half of the opening inning as they scored twice with two outs. Rich Gilbride drew a base on balls and advanced to third behind Tim Brigham's double to left field. Zack Aresty brought in the pair with a base hit to right to trim the gap to three, 5-2.
Two Suffolk pitching changes later Roger Williams grabbed a six-run distance in the top of the fourth and pushing matters to 10-2 after 4.5 innings.
With eight runs to make up, Suffolk had a flash of a comeback in the bottom of the sixth. Andrew Ashworth's double down the left field line plated Rich Giandrea, who reached on single through the left side, and pushed Joe Rufo, who knocked a base hit to left field, to third. Ashworth and Rufo then crossed home thanks to Luke Harder's single to center field to bring the Rams back within five, 10-5.
Once again, the Hawks had an answer for Suffolk's scoring as the visitors tacked on two more runs in the seventh.
Double plays and critical pitching changes by RWU kept the Rams quiet the rest of the way.
PITCHERS PICTURE
- Each team used seven different pitchers throughout the nine-inning battle.
- Browne started on the hill for the blue-and-gold. He allowed five runs on three hits and one walk in 1.0 inning.
- RWU's starter Conor Gaughn secured the staff-day win with a two-run, three-hit, three-walk, 3.0-inning outing.
- Michael Muscarella was the most productive Rams reliever with 1.0 inning of scoreless, hitless work with one punchout to his credit.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Brigham batted 3-for-5 with one double and scored once.
- Aresty brought in two runs on one hit.
- Giandrea registered two hits and scored one run.
- Ashworth contributed one hit, one RBI and one run scored.
- Rufo added one hit and one scored run.
- Harder had one hit, while Gilbride scored one run.
POST-GAME PIC
SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
The Rams await the official seeding of the 2021 CCC Tournament, which is set to be released tomorrow, Thursday April 29.
