Narragansett Slugs Past Westerly 15-12 in Three Hours

The Mariners managed to hold the Westerly Bulldogs at bay when it mattered, as they came out on top, 15-12, in a wild marathon game at Sprague Park on Thursday night.

The game started late, at about 7:20 p.m., thanks to a 14-13 win by the Pier School baseball team against Westerly Middle School. It didn’t end until 10:05 p.m., when Billy Byrne elicited a fly out to right field by Andrew Kmetz with a runner on first.

Narragansett (8-5, 7-3 Division II-South) head coach Keith Vellone said his team has been performing well after initially struggling. The win against the Bulldogs was Narragansett’s sixth straight against a league opponent, boosting its record from 1-3.

Vellone said it was also great to see the Mariners beat the Bulldogs, a pivotal division match-up for them.

“If you want to be competitive, you have to beat a good team,” he said. With the win, the Mariners are a half-game ahead of Westerly (9-4, 7-4 Division II-South).

The game got off to an auspicious start for Narragansett. After Jake Mortrude hit a weak grounded back to pitcher Pat Stone, the next four batters reached on a walk, a single, a double and a triple, plating three runs in the process.

However, in a theme that would develop for the night, Stone bore down and got two groundouts to get out of the inning.

In the bottom of the first, the Mariners took the lead for themselves, thanks to a three-run home run by designated hitter Jack Durkin over the left-center fence. Ross Hodnett and Billy Byrne scored on the blast. Brad Loomis scored earlier in the inning on a single by Byrne.

The lead seesawed back to Westerly in the top of the second, as the Bulldogs scored three more runs. But Narragansett took the lead for good in the bottom of the second.

With one out, Jared Baptista stroked a single to left field. He stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Loomis looked to have a hit in his at-bat, but his liner was snatched out of the air on a great jumping stab by Westerly shortstop Kyle Forsberg-Ley.

However, with two outs the Westerly defense and pitching crumbled. Jimmy Kershaw reached second on a throwing error by the Westery third baseman, which allowed Baptista to score. Julien Nelson drew a walk, and he and Kershaw both moved up a base on a wild pitch.

With runners on second and third, Hodnett hit a ball to third that should have ended the inning. Another throwing error by the third baseman allowed Kershaw to score though, and prolonged the inning for Byrne.

After taking a pitch for a ball, Byrne swatted an inside pitch over the left-center fence for a three-run home run.

“He works very hard in practice,” Vellone said of Byrne. “He got a pitch inside and opened up on it.”

The Mariners scored another two runs in the third inning, and four runs in the fourth, as Forsberg-Ley moved to the mound and couldn’t record a single out. The Bulldogs were forced to use lefty Kaelan Rayner for the final three innings, who shut down the Mariners.

Vellone said he almost had to redo his pitching staff on the fly as well. Stone battled for 4.3 innings, throwing 112 pitches. He walked six, struck out three, and allowed nine hits and 11 runs. Byrne pitched the final 2.6, using 61 pitches and allowing a run.

Vellone said Stone gutted out some innings even though he didn’t have his best stuff. He went long enough to let Byrne finish the game, he said, although Nelson was ready to go if Byrne struggled or if the game went to extra innings.

“[Both teams] hit the #### out of the ball,” Vellone said.

It is a quick turnaround for the Mariners though, as they host Exeter-West Greenwich (5-6, 5-6 Division II-South) at 4 p.m. today.

Speaking of that delay…

The varsity game started about an hour late thanks to a wild middle school game between Pier and Westerly. Trailing by several runs heading into the last inning, the Mariners won 14-13 on a three-base wild pitch. The Westerly catcher couldn’t find the ball, which was resting against the fence. Austin Butler scored the tying run, and Nick St. Laurent came around from first to score the winning run.

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