Saturday crowned another batch of high school champions in Rhode Island, ending the spring season for all but a pair of teams, and The Journal staff — Eric Rueb, Bill Koch and Jake Rousseau, along with freelancer William Geoghegan and photographers David DelPoio, Louis Walker III and Glenn Osmundson — was there at every stop, from the baseball and softball diamonds, and the volleyball courts, at Rhode Island College to storied Cardines Field in Newport.
Here’s a wrap-up of Saturday’s championship action.
BASEBALL
Hendricken sweeps its way to state championship
Bishop Hendricken star Griffin Crain had a game he’ll remember the rest of his life. The Louisville commit threw a complete game on the mound and the Hawks offense mounted a pair of rallies that made the difference in the Division I state championship against South Kingstown. Hendricken won, 7-1, to finish a Division I sweep in this best-of-3 title round at RIC’s Pontarelli Field.
“It feels like I needed it,” Crain said of winning the title. “It feels like I’m complete. Going three years without it, a couple of heartbreakers — it’s just great to be out of here with a win.”
Westerly meets its high expectations
The Bulldogs put the finishing touches on a second Division II championship at Rhode Island College, more glory for a town and a team that endured three decades without something similar. Jack Tenuta, Zach Miner and Tom Fiore all starred at Pontarelli Field. East Greenwich was blitzed early and couldn’t catch up, as Westerly eased to a 6-3 victory and a best-of-3 series sweep.
“I’m just happy we could represent the community in a positive way,” Tenuta said. “Everybody was behind us. It just feels great to do this for our town and do this for our community.”
Not done yet
The third baseball championship game of the day wasn’t as decisive as the first two. That’s because West Warwick, which lost its first game of the season on Wednesday when Rogers stunned the Wizards, 3-1, in the best-of-three Division III title series, returned to form in Game 2 at Cardines Field. West Warwick rolled to an 11-1 victory over Rogers and forced a winner-take-all game Sunday at 1 p.m. (Check providencejournal.com/sports later today for the outcome.)
SOFTBALL
Chieftains outlast Bulldogs for Div. III championship
In what was a see-saw battle for the Division II championship, it was a freshman who delivered in the bottom of the eighth for Ponaganset against Westerly at Rhode Island College. Ponaganset’s Ava DiFiore opened the bottom of the eighth with a double and two batters later, freshman Mia Duncan hit a single that brought DiFiore home with the winning run in a 9-8 victory over Westerly that gave the Chieftains the D-II title.
“I’m ecstatic,” Duncan said. “There’s really no thoughts going on up there. I’m just over the moon right now.”
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
La Salle clinches second-straight state title
The Rams appeared ready to claim another championship, but surrendered five straight match points to North Kingstown to turn a fifth-set lead into a deficit in the Division I boys volleyball finals. But La Salle wasn’t going to be put away without its own fight for the crown on Saturday at Rhode Island College. Christopher Benell won a point in the middle to regain the lead, and again back on match point, the Rams turned to their star.
Ephraim Abhulime, lined up on the outside, loaded up for the game-winning block. And the senior came through with a denial on North Kingstown’s spike in an emphatic return-to-sender finish for a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-15, 16-25, 17-15) win for La Salle’s second consecutive state championship.
“I’m ecstatic at that point after the block,” Abhulime said. “I was hoping to bring it home because they were fighting for every ball, so it felt great to get the last play of the game.”
Confident Pawtucket walks the walk
Hayson Ortiz called his team’s shot after the semifinals. He knew Pawtucket boys volleyball was destined to win the Division III crown before Saturday’s match even began, and he said so. And the No. 1 seeded Shea/Tolman (19-1) co-op made good on the junior’s claim as Pawtucket swept its way to the league crown, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-12), against Central Falls.
“I knew we were going to win and we came in and won in three sets,” Ortiz said. “Once the ball fell out of bounds [for the final point], I was just so excited.”
Pawtucket never trailed by more than a point against second-seeded Central Falls (17-3) to cap a dominant season.
