Prout Baseball Pulls Away From Mariners

WAKEFIELD – Things fell apart for Narragansett High School baseball in the top of the fifth Thursday afternoon against the hosting Prout, as the Crusaders sent eight people to bat in the pivotal three-run inning.

Chasing Narragansett senior and starting pitcher Mike Herchen from the game with five hits in the fifth, the Crusaders broke a 0-0 score with the three runs.

Prout (5-2, 5-1 Division II-South) would add three more in the bottom of the sixth for a 6-1 win against Narragansett (4-3, 3-3 Division II-South).

After getting groundout from starter Ryan Walsh, Herchen gave up a single to right by Prout senior Marshall Vigneault. He stole second, but Shane Sandoval struck out, the second out of the inning.

However, sophomore Jack Lambrecht finally broke the 0-0 logjam with a sharp grounder down the third base line and into the corner for a double. Vigneault scored on the play.

Brendan Natal scored Lambrecht on the next pitch, stroking a single to left field, and Natal moved up to second on a fielding error by the left fielder.

Natal scored the third and final run of the inning on a soft pop fly single by David Feole – The senior hit a booming pop fly that was misplayed by the shortstop and left fielder for a hit.

After giving up another single to Andrew Horsfield, Herchen was relieved by Adam Gabrilowitz, who ended the inning by getting a groundout from Casey Farrell.

It was another tough-luck loss for Herchen. He managed to strand runners – seven reached base via the walk or being hit by pitch in the first four innings – thanks to some highlight reel plays from Austin Butler at third base and two baserunners caught stealing by catcher Nick Schone.

Prout would score another three runs in the bottom of the third off Gabrilowitz, with the big hit coming from Feole, who mashed a ground rule double into the stone wall in left-center field. The hit scored Lambrecht and a pinch runner for Sandoval, who injured himself running to first.

Vigneault scored earlier in the inning, on an infield hit by Lambrecht. The damage could have been worse, but Butler made a diving stop of a hot grounder by Sandoval. He tagged the runner coming to third, Ryan Walsh, but made a throwing error on the play.

Walsh earned the win for Prout, allowing a single earned run in five innings of work. Although he didn’t strike anyone out, he elicited lazy flyouts from batter after batter, thanks to a strong wind at play.

The lone Narragansett run came in the sixth inning, with the Mariners down 3-0.

Jimmy Kershaw worked a walk from Walsh. Sandoval came into pitch, but Kershaw got to third with two outs with a stolen base and a balk.

The balk gave second life to Narragansett’s Jared Baptista at the plate, who had struck out on a pitch that was waved off. However, Sandoval got two more fouls from Baptista before striking him out on a ball in the dirt. Feole had to throw down to first for the out, which allowed Kershaw to score.

Sandoval bore down on the next batter though, striking out Schone on four pitches. In his one inning of work before leaving because of the injury, Sandoval struck out all three batters he faced with a dominant fastball.

Zachary Rusiloski closed out the game for Prout. Although Connor Butler drove a ball deep to right field for a double, he was stranded on second following a strikeout by Brayden Stritzinger and a groundout by Austin Butler.

Narragansett hosts Mt. Pleasant (4-2, 3-2 Division II-Central) at 4:15 p.m. Monday. Prout plays at Wawaloam Field 2 p.m. Saturday against Exeter-West Greenwich (3-3, 3-3 Division II-South).

In the early-morning game, Narragansett junior varsity beat Prout 6-2 in extra innings.