Living in Southern New England, when there is a troubling forecast of wind, rain, storm surge, potential power outages – we New Englanders get prepared. We go shopping, we fill up our gas tanks, we board up windows, we move and store deck furniture, and for some of us, we move an entire weekend of games into one day. The Joe Charette Memorial 10U Tournament, hosted by Chariho Little League’s Chris Charette in honor of his father, was scheduled to have a roster of games on Saturday with the finals on Sunday. However, with the forecast looking tropical and “hurricane-ish” for Sunday, Chris and his crew of volunteers pulled together and finished the tournament on Saturday night. In his words, “In an exciting day of baseball, the Joe Charette Memorial Tournament 10U division wrapped up bracket play on Saturday to avoid the incoming storm with great success.” Here is a recap of Saturday’s games from tournament director Chris Charette along with some photos he took from his spot in the press box:
Quarter Final. Chariho (4) Vs. East Greenwhich (5)
Chariho cruised through EG with a 6-run lead 8 to 2 Saturday. Riley Conroy took to the mound for Chariho and threw 4 solid innings giving up 1 hit with 9K’s and 3 walks. Owen McKeen came in for relief in the 5th allowing 1 hit and 2 runs while striking out 4 with 2 walks. Chariho bats were Hot right out of the gate in the 1st with McKeen grounding out scoring Sean O’Leary. Chariho scored 3 in the 2nd. Dustin Peno started the 2 out push legging out an infield single and batted in by Ezrah Schonrog. Sean O’Leary then drove Schonrog in and then advanced to score himself on a pass ball. 3 more runs in the 4th were put up by Chariho and 1 in the 5th. Chariho tallied 12 hits in the effort led by Sean O’Leary and Cam Ziegenfuss.EG tried to piece together a rally in the 6th bringing 2 across the plate scoring Quinn Healy and Gianni Amato. Sean O’Leary went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s and 3 scores. Ziegenfuss 2 for 3 with 1 RBI.
Semi Final Rumford (2) vs Narragansett (3)
Narragansett put on a hitting show in the 13 to 1 victory eliminating Rumford. Gansett’s team knocked in 5 runs in the 1st to put immediate pressure on the Rumford Squad. RBIs from Hunter Kopf, Max Downey, Rory Plaziak, Sam Tetreault and Edward Audet. Rumford answered with a score from lead off man Ryan Pita in the 1st. Gansett then poured it on in the 2nd with eight more runs Led by Eddie Ballgame and batting through the order. Audet threw 2 innings allowing 1 hit and 1 run striking out 6. Luke Talliani came in for relief recording the last 6 outs. Narragansett racked up 11 hits Luke Talliani, Hunter Kopf and Rory Plaziak all collected 2 hits. The Gansett crew did not commit a single error in the outing closing the door and moving into the finals with some serious momentum.
Semi Final Warwick Continental (1) vs. Chariho (4)
Walks and errors plagued the Chariho group as they could not seem to score the runs needed to keep up with the 1 seed despite out hitting them seven to three. This was either squad’s game up until the 4th inning when Brian Dale drew a walk and eventually scored to begin a 3 run rally. Dale, Michael Sabetta, and Owen Sowa all scored for WCA. The Warwick crew never looked back.
Charles Mackowitz took the win on the hill throwing 3 & 1/3 allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 4. Drew Zablocki came in for the close recording the last 7 outs. Warwick had 3 hits from Colby Fales, Drew Zablocki, and Max Delauro. Chariho had 7 hits led by Sean O’Leary and Leo Clark with 2 hits each.
FINALS Warwick Continental (1) vs Narragansett (3)
This one was a nail biter down to the final pitch ending in a walk off to give Warwick Continental the 3 to 2 Championship win. This was a back-and-forth pitcher’s duel that definitely had the feel of the 2 best teams battling it out. Starter Max Downey threw 4 innings striking out 6 giving up 3 hits and 1 run only walking 2. While Drew Zablocki threw 2 & 2/3 solid innings giving up 5 hits but allowing zero runs and striking out 2.
Warwick struck first in the 1st inning with an RBI double By Zablocki to score Colby Fales. Narragansett threatened several times but was not able to execute until the 4th when Luca Riccitelli, Luke Talliani and Hunter Kopf drew walks, and an RBI single by Max Downey scored Riccitelli to tie the game. Rory Plaziak then singled to score Talliani. The Gansett boys held the lead thanks to solid Defense and pitching. Hunter Kopf took the mound in the 5th and struck out the side. In the bottom of the 6th Narragansett locked down 2 quick outs but then a walk and a hit batter put 2 runners on. Brian Dale hit a swinging bunt between the pitchers mound and 1st base which he legged out at 1st and aggressive base running scored Drew Zablocki from 3rd on the same play to tie it up. Michael Sabetta came to the plate and Rory Plaziak took the mound for Gansett. Sabetta, aggressive at the plate drove the 1st pitch he saw straight up the middle to center scoring Grant Holbrook for the walk off win.
We look forward to kicking off the 12U tournament next week with pool play on Tuesday & Wednesday. A big thank you to all the umpires, sponsors and volunteers that made this past weekend a success.
Everything went very smooth.
Congratulations to all the participants in the 10U Division of the Joe Charette Memorial Tournament. Great job Chris Charette and to your staff of volunteers for making Saturday a memorable day of baseball here in Rhode Island and big thanks for the photos and excellent recap of the games. And stay tuned for brackets and pool play information for the 12U Division of the 2021 Joe Charette Memorial Tournament starting this week.
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