2009 League News and Game Stories
November 8: URI was a beautiful field to see who (finally) would be the winners in this long-delayed 45-division championship series, where the two teams were tied at one game apiece. The Marlins jumped out to a 6-1 lead after three innings. There were no signs of any apparent lay-offs for either team. The Salty Dogs held the Marlins in check ; while they crawled back to a 6-4 deficit. The Dogs squandered a few chances to tie as the Marlins pitching and defense did the job. In the eighth inning the Salty Dogs tied the score . Then with two outs and men on first and second after a pitching change, the Fish faced Ole’ salt – Jim Angarella. He lined a double into the right field gap, scoring both men on base. That gave the Dogs an 8-6 lead. In the ninth, the Marlins battled back with a lead-off triple. That run would score and the tying run was left at third as Ray Verrocchio held the Marlins off for the Salty Dogs' victory 8-7.
September 22: (25-Division Finals) The Gansett Brewers took game 1 of the finals by a score of 4-1 behind the strong pitching of Shawn Rogers. Rogers pitched a complete game while striking out 10. The Brewers great baserunning and clutch hitting from Joe Deluca and Brian Baker lead to the victory. Bill Bergan also had three hits for the Brewers.
September 20: Mert Caton pitched a three-hitter and went 2-3 with two runs scored. Rich Machado closed out the Blues with a perfect final inning on the mound, and chipped in two hits, two runs and drove in three, leading the Red Sox to victory in Game 3 of their semi-final series. John Tedder was 3-3 for the Sox and Jim Cooney (2 RBI, 1 R, 2 SB) and Joe Perruzzi (2 RBI,1 R) were each 2 for 3 for the Sox. The Red Sox now move on to face the Yankees in the playoff championship series which begins Wednesday night at Cranston Stadium.
September 19: Rich Machado allowed just one unearnend run and hurled the complete game win in leading the Red Sox over the Blues. The Red Sox win tied the semi-final series at one game apiece. Jim Cooney was 2-2 with a double and five RBI and Ted Kaiser had two hits with a double and two RBI to pace the Red Sox offense.
September 19: In an outstanding baseball game, the Marlins pulled out the series over the Yankees with a 5-3 win. Great pitching on both sides with Marc Beaulieu pitching six solid innings and getting the win for the Marlins and Rich Pacino throwing the last three for the save. Jim Bracey pitched all 9 for the Yanks and did an outstanding job.
Timely hitting and great defense was the key to the Marlins win. An outstanding over the shoulder catch by Mike Fortin on a Jim Bracey long shot to center with the bases loaded and two outs was a key to the win.
August 30: The Mets defeated Rira down at URI 9-6. The Mets were led by blasts by Michael Martino, Michael Connolly and Ted Kaiser. Steve Borg has 3 RBI on the day including a two-run single in the first to get the scoring started. Rich Tomolonis knocked in two insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Patrick Laverty pitched a solid eight innings and Jay Lawrence finished up with a clean ninth to earn the save.
August 26: Jim Watkins scatterd 11 hits over 9 innings in hurling the Yankees to an 11-4 win over the Marlins and setting up a final game showdown between the Yanks and Salty Dogs for the regular season title. Ted Kaiser was 3-3 with a double (2 R, 2 RBI), Rick Machado was 2-3 with a double (1 R, 2 RBI) and Jim Cooney was 2-2 with a sac fly (2 R, 2 RBI) to pace the Yankee offense. Bobby Bates (R, RBI) and Sirpenser each had two hits for the Marlins. John Braganca had a single and two RBI.
August 23: Mets defeat RIRA 10-5 with some outstanding timely hitting by Dave Moss and Steve Borg (three-run base clearing ball to the fence) in the bottom of the eighth; a solid, quick job on the mound by Patrick Laverty (9 innings for the win), solid outfield defense and Jay Lawrence added two base hits, two steals, Russ Dufresne chipped in two hits, 2 RBI, Fred Harrington with a couple hits.
August 15: The Yanks used combined fifteen hits and eleven walks to best the scrappy Eagles at sweltering RIC Stadium. Dave Masse gave the Yanks a great effort on the hill in his first start of the year, yielding just one earned run in 6+ innings. He also drove in five runs with two bases-loaded hits, a triple and single. Rick "The Machine" Machado chipped in four hits and a walk. Steve Readey added two hits from the lead-off position to ignite the Yanks again.
August 12: McCarthy Stadium was the home of a very exiting well played game between the Warriors and Riptide. Warriors jumped out quickly in the top of the first with three runs. Riptide answered back with four runs on a lead-off double by Manny Ferreira, a hit by Mooney, Brian Volpe adding a walk and then a Frankie Bothelo base hit. Tony Paola reaching on a fielder's choice. Mike Monkevicz added a base-hit followed by a double for Chris Gibson to score Paola and Monkevicz. Riptide added one more in the bottom of the second with Dave Desante reaching on a fielder's choice and scoring on a base hit from Graem Everson. Ken Ryan came in for the third inning to try and shut the door for the Warriors he had 10 strikeouts, but Riptide was able to break the tie by scoring 1 run in the 6th inning. Graem Everson reached on a strikeout to lead off the sixth. Manny ferreira added a sacrafice bunt then Everson scoring on a double by Brian Volpe. Warriors tied the game in the 9th inning on a one-out double by Kerwin followed by an Oil Can Boyd single, scoring Kerwin to tie the game 6-6. In the bottom of the 9th with one out, Ferreira scorched a triple. Mark Mooney was at the plate with an 0-2 count, battling pitch after pitch and working the count to 3-2. He reached on a fielder's choice scoring Ferreira to win the game. Ferreira ran on contact but with his speed allowed him to score on a close play. Riptide takes the 7-6 win.
August 9: Jim Watkins (4 IP, 0 ER) and Rick Machado (5 IP, 2 hits, 0 R, W) combined on the mound to lead the Yankees over the Marlins, 8-5 at Cranston Stadium. Scott Tainsh was 4-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI, Steve Readey was 3-5 from the lead-off spot and Jim Watkins had two hits and three RBI to pace the Yanks' offense.
August 8: Dodgers win with balanced attack over the Mariners 8-3 at URI. The Dodgers led by Ruben Reyes, who went 3-4 with three doubles and four RBII. Andrew Sweeney picked up his first win of the year pitching five solid innings. The defense also made big contributions turning five doubleplays.
August 8: The Mariners' Scott Woodward and the Mets' Jim Anderson matched pitching performances. Anderson threw a solid 7+ innings and Woodward went the distance to register the 4-3 win. Darren Cumminsky singled to deep center to knock Gary Raymond home for the game ending run.
August 8: On a beautiful day in Exeter, the Yankees and Red Sox fought it out through 11 innings. Keith Jackson for the Yankees and Rick Machado for the Red Sox pitched great all game, Machado went all 11 innings for the Sox, who prevailed in the 11th when Jim Cooney doubled to the fence in left and finally scored with two outs to secure the 3-2 win for the Sox.
August 1: On a very hot day at the beautiful URI field, two short-handed teams slugged it out over the course of two games. The game Eagles hung in through numerous injuries to push the Yanks to their limit in both games. There was no paucity of offense, as the Eagles registered double-digit hits in both games and took advantage of Yanks miscues to keep the games close. Steve O'Neil did his Iron Man stint on the mound for the Eagles, pitching a complete Game 1 and then pitching into the 6th inning of Game 2. The Yanks were led by a host of hitting stars, ignited by Dave Masse's first game three-run homer and second game triple. Also contributing clutch hits in the wins were Steve Readey, Ted Kaiser, John Tedder, George Nasuti, Paul Savoie, and Joe Perruzzi. Clyde Britt did his best imitation of a young Vlad Guerrero with stellar defensive play in right field. Jim Watkins pitched an excellent Game 1 and chipped in with a big ground-rule double. Tom Bush contributed two hits and solid center-field play in Game 1 as well.
August 1: Dodgers win in a 9-8 walk-off fashion over Effins. After rallying from an early five-run defecit, the Dodgers took a one run lead in the seventh inning, but Effins rallied to retake the lead in the top of the eighth. In the ninth, Scott Baptista led off with a single to left and after a hit batsman and a walk, the bases were loaded for Anthony Ucci who hit a single to right center to score the tying and winning runs. Anthony DeSano and Ruben Reyes led the offensive attack with two RBI apiece. Ryan Tainsh got the win with five innings of four-hit relief.
July 29: Brian Baker pitched seven strong innings as the Gansett Brewers defeated the Cardinals 6-4. Joe Deluca blasted a two-run homerun to tie the game at 3 and Gansett never looked back.
July 22: Dave Gilbert bested Ken Ryan and the Warriors as the Colt 45s earned a 2-1 victory.
July 19: The Gansett Brewers continued to roll behind the strong pitching of Mike Squatrito. Mike threw a complete game 4-0 shutout. The Brewers were lead by the offense of Justin Hackley and Brian Baker.
July 18: In an intense game at Exeter, the Yanks battled back from a five-run deficit, twice, to win 9-8 in a walk-off over the Salty Dogs. Down by two entering the bottom of the ninth, the Yanks chipped away, led by a lead-off double by Scott Tainsh, followed by a key hit by Jim Cooney, a two-out, game-tying hit by Paul Savoie, and the winning run driven in by Rick Machado. Savoie also pitched well for the Yanks in his first outing of the year, keeping them in the game for the late inning heroics.
July 15: Manny Ferreira and Ray Verrocchio combined to contain the Yankees offense, and key hits by Ferreira, Bob Trembley, Mark St. Jean, and Jim Angarella keyed the 7-5 Salty Dogs' win. Rick Machado pitched well in defeat for the Yanks.
July 13: The Yanks rode an 18-hit attack to victory over a battling Eagles squad. The Yanks were led by Tom Bush with 3 hits, and Scott Tainsh, Jim Watkins, Ted Kaiser, Scott Owen, and Steve Readey with two apiece. Watkins delivered the game-breaking blow, a late bases-loaded, bases-clearing double which one-hopped the fence in deep right center. Mike Goduto had two hits for the Eagles.
July 12: Scott Olson hit a go ahead grand-slam in seventh inning at Exeter and was the winning pitcher in an 10-7 Westfall victory over the Cardinals.
July 12: In the second meeting of the season, the Dodgers rallied for an 8-6 win over the Seadogs to split the season series. Steve Marano, Jim Anderson led the offensive attack with two hits apiece, with Marano knocking in two runs and Anderson knocking in one. Scott Baptista batted in the winning runs with a single in the sixth. Jim Anderson got the win with Ryan Tainsh earning a three inning save, giving up only one hit with three strikeouts and getting out of a bases loaded no out jam in the seventh without allowing a run.
July 12: In a well-played pitchers' duel, Ted Kaiser bested Brian Bowen as the Yankees won 5-2 over the Marlins. The Yanks came up with timely hits from Tom Bush, Jim Watkins, Joe Perruzzi, and Steve Readey to lead the effort.
July 5: Riptide defends their title at the Downeast Wood Bat Classic for the 25 division in Portland, Maine. The Riptide defended their title with overall offense from Shawn Rogers (nine hits), Frank Botelho (seven hits), Chris Zervas (six hits), Mark Mooney (six hits), Mike Monkevicz (five hits) and Tyler Martin (five hits). Excellent pitching by Dan Dillon who combined with Steve Hueston for a four-hitter. Tyler Martin pitched a 3 -hitter with six strikeouts, Chris Zervas allowed no runs to score in twelve innings on the hill.
The semi-final game versus Maine was a nail biter with Tyler Martin on the mound pitching a fantastic game. Martin registered six strikeouts and only allowed three hits in going the distance. Botelho, Monkevicz and Cofield all paced Riptide with two hits apiece and the team pulled out an exciting 1-0 win.
The championship game versus the Connecticut Tophats had Chris Zervas pitching six innings of outstanding relief. The Tophats came on strong in the early innings and took a quick 6-1 lead. The Riptide never gave up with strong offense from Zervas with three hits, Martin, Mooney and Monkevicz all with two hits each. The Riptide chipped away, took the lead and never looked back in winning 12-6. Zervas held the Tophats to three hits and no runs allowed. Rogers, Mooney and Sean Duprey all combined for a very solid Riptide defense. Shawn Rogers lead the team with 9 hits, struck out 10 batters in 10 innings in game one of the Round Robin Play and earned the tourney MVP.
This was the third championship in ten years of competing in the Downeast Classic, a family favorite.
Thanks to all on the Riptide Roster:
Glenn Terry (Player/Coach), Tony Paola, Mark Mooney, Sean Duprey, Mike Monkevicz, Frank Botelho, Mike Lunardelli, Dan Dillon, Shawn Rogers, Chris Zervas, Tyler Martin, Brian Volpe, Steve Hueston, Steve Cofield, Jason Eckman. And a special thanks to Robin for all the behind the scenes organization.
Tony Paola leads off third base |
Pitcher Dan Dillon shuts 'em down |
Tyler Martin went the distance hurling a three-hitter |
June 28: Dodgers outlast Riptide 9-8. With seven players getting at least two hits apiece, the Dodgers used a strong and balanced offense to beat Riptide at Exeter. Steve Marano provided the margin of victory with a solo home run in the eighth. Other offensive contributors included Mike Casavant, Frank Ribezzo, Scott Baptista and Ruben Reyes. Ryan Tainsh got the win with Mike King sealing the victory with a three inning save.
June 27: Behind the great pitching of Brian Baker, the Narragansett Brewers continued to roll to an undefeated 9-0 record on the year in defeating Effins 8-1. Brian pitched eight scoreless innings. Keith Labelle and Galen Conte led the offense for the Brewers. The game was locked at 0-0 in the top of the ninth when the Brewers struck for eight runs after Effins' Bob Barton left the game. Barton threw eight solid innings for Effins.
June 23: Scott Ferreira went the distance for the Riptide for a 9-1 win over the Reds. Mark Mooney reached on a fielder's choice Frankie Bothelo followed with a base hit Tony Paola followed with a double to score Mooney. Riptide scored two more runs in the third inning. Riptide exploded in the fourth inning with a lead off homerun by Chris Gibson followed by another homerun by Ernie Pacheco then a base hit by Everson and Desante and a walk to Greg Irons to load the bases for a grand slam hit by Mark Mooney. Riptide scored six runs that inning. Benoit came in relief for the Reds and held Riptide scorless for four innings
June 20: Jay Lawrence went 8+ innings to set up the win for the Mets, benefitting from key two-out hitting from Mike Connolly and Ted Kaiser in the eighth inning that drove in four runs.
June 20: Riptide jumped out ahead with two runs in the first inning. Manny Ferreira got hit with a pitch, stole second base Mark Mooney reaching on an error Tony Paola hit a base hit scoring Ferreira and Brian Volpe adding for a hit to score Mooney . Riptide added one in the second inning. Then added one more run in the fifth inning. Mark Mooney led off with a double and Paola and Volpe added with a walk each. Paul Savoie sac fly to score Mooney. Paola went 3 for 4 with a triple and Mark St Jean went 3 for 4 Dave Desante also had a good day at the plate going 2 for 3
June 19: Los Toros jumped out to an early 3-0 first inning start. Riptide answered with one run in the second inning. Tony Paola started the inning off with a base hit followed by a Chris Gibson base hit then a single by Scott Ferreira to score Paola. Riptide tied the game in the fourth inning. Riptide grabbed the go ahead run in the fifth with a walk to Mark Mooney. Then a double by Brian Volpe to score Mooney. Riptide broke out in the sixth to add five more runs and added one more in the seventh. Paola went 3 for 4 with a triple in the seventh. Brian vople went 2-4 with a double and a triple in the sixth inning. Gibson also had two hits and Scott Ferreira also with two hits. Gary Harnois pithched six innings and Scott Ferreira pitched three to close the door for Riptide
June 19: Narragansett continued to roll behind the strong pitching of Chris Zervas. Zervas threw a complete game and also had three hits at the plate. Also for Gansett Justin Hackley had three hits, Shawn Rogers, Keith Labelle, Jason Dunlea and Dante Blancarte all had two hits apiece.
June 13: Rick Machado and Mark Beleau locked up in a taught pitcher's duel at RIC as the Yankees and Marlins battled for sole possesion of first place. Beleau scattered six hits and Machado shut out the Marlins until the bottom of the final inning on four hits. Machado was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBI to pace the Yankee offense. Mike Sweeeney and John Briganza each had clutch two-run doubles in the final inning to earn the tie. Bob Bates and John Tedder both had two hits for the Marlins.
June 12: John Favalaro pitched complete game 7-1 win for the Warriors. Warrior catcher Bob Sasso had three hits.
June 12: Narragansett continued their great start with an 8-2 victory over the Riptide. Shawn Rogers pitched 7 innings to pick up the win. Joe Deluca, Jeff Gaccione, and Dante Blancarte led the way at the plate for Narragansett
June 7: Dave Joseph pitched nine innings to win the first game for the Salty Dogs against the Red Sox. Then he pitched ten more innings against the Marlins to get 2 wins (that's 28 innings and three complete game wins in twenty-four hours!!). 8-6 in ten innings . (Editor's note: Mr. Joseph, please contact the 35+ division Mets, we have a whole team of surgeons on our roster looking to meet with you!)
June 6: Dave Joseph pitches 9 innings for the complete game victory for the Salty Dogs over the Blues. But wait, read above, there was more to come from Dave.
June 7: RiRa jumped out to an early 3-1 lead after the first inning. Riptide tied it up in the 4th. RiRa went ahead 4-3 top fifth, but Riptide came right back in the bottom of the inning scoring two runs. Manny Ferreira led off with a base hit stole second, then scoring on a triple by Brian Volpe for the tying run. Tony Paola hit a single up the middle scoring Volpe for the go-ahead run. Riptide added another run in the seventh when Ferriera led the inning with a single, another stolen base then scoring on a hit by Volpe. Rira made it interesting in the ninth with men on first and third and one out but pitcher Scott Ferriera and catcher Chris Gibson connected on a "strike him out, throw hime out" double play to end the exciting game, and take the 6-4 victory.
June 7: Dodgers win behind strong offense. Led by Paul Rioles, Mike King, Anthony DeSano and Steve Marano, the Dodgers' scored 10+ runs for the second consecutive game. Jim Anderson pitched a three-hitter with 8 strikeouts.
June 6: Mert Caton and Keith Fisher scatterd eight hits in combining on the mound for a 13-7 Red Sox (50's) victory over the Yankees. Jim Cooney had a grand slam home-run, double and five RBI in pacing the Sox offense while Rick Machado and Mert Caton were both 3-4
May 31: Dodgers rally in 9th for 10-8 win over RiRa. With one out in the top of the ninth, Anthony Ucci hit a double to left center to start the comeback. Mike King followed with a game-tying triple. Mike McGee and Paul Rioles knocked in the go-ahead and insurance runs with back to back singles.
May 31: Scott Ferriera started for Riptide and threw six innings and gave up just three hits. Manny Ferreira pitched the seventh and Frankie Bothelo hit a solo homerun in the 3rd inning. Riptide ended the game with one run in the seventh on a base hit by Graham Everson scoring Scott Ferreira
May 31: Narragansett continued to roll with scoring 8 runs in the 4th behind the strong pitching of Brian Baker. To lead the Brewers offensive attack was Galen Conte who had 3 hits and drove in 3. Justin Hackley and Dante Blancarte also had a big day at the plate in their 13-4 win over the Mariners.
May 29: In a 10-0 victory over the Dodgers, Shawn Rogers threw six innings and gave up only one hit and added two doubles as the Gansett Brewers recorded their third consecutive game of scoring in double digits. Brad Herman and Jason Dunlea also added two hits apiece for the Brewers
May 27: McCarthy Field was home to a pitchers' duel with great performances by Riptide's Dan Dillon and the Cardinals' Dave Buldoc. Dillon came out ahead pitching a complete game two-hitter and added eight strikeouts in a 3-1 victory. Riptide woke up in the seventh inning as Tony Paola lead off the inning with a double, Sean Duprey followed with a base hit then moved to second on a passed ball. Dillon capped the inning with a two-run single, scoring Paola and Duprey.
May 23: Ramon Cruz pitched 8 innings in a 7-2 Toros win over the Mets and Juan Arias pitched the ninth. Ramon Santos had 3 hits 3 RBI
May 17: Jim Anderson pitched 6+ strong innings to get the win in the Mets 3-2 win over Riptide.
May 17: Steve Dunlea pitched a complete game shutout to beat the Mariners 2-0, making three consecutive shutouts pitched by Seadogs pitching staff
May 16: Tyler Martin pitched a complete game shutout as the Seadogs defeated the Dodgers 2-0
May 16: Jay Lawrence went the distance for the Mets, giving up just two earned runs in a 6-3 win over the Warriors. Kerwin went yard for the Warriors in the 9th. Russ Dufresne stroked the game winning hit for the Mets.
May 14: Dan Fitta threw 7 scoreless innings in a Mariners 4-1 win over the Colt 45s.
May 13: Dan Dillon pitched a complete game for an 8-0 Riptide win over the Mariners. Dillon gave up 3 hits and struck out 10. Mike Monkevicz added a 3-run home run in the 8th.
May 6: In a tight 2-1 game through five innings, Frank Bothelo broke the game open with a grand slam in the top of the 6th, as Riptide cruised to an 11-1 victory over the Colt 45s.
May 3: Jim Bracey and Jim Watkins combined on the mound for the complete game win. Scotty Tainsh was 4-4 with 3 RBI and 3 R for The Yankees.
Apr 26: Jim Anderson struck out the side in the ninth for the save and Dave Moss went two for two with the game winning hit as "rookies" led the way for Mets in a close 8-7 opener with the Colt 45s. Dave Gilbert pitched well for the Colts in the loss.
