With a bit of revenge, East Greenwich gets a shot at D-II baseball title

MIDDLETOWN – East Greenwich will make a fourth straight trip to the Division II baseball title series thanks to a successful second chance against Middletown.

The Avengers needed another game to close out the Islanders in Pod 1 after suffering a shutout defeat Sunday . They capitalized on the benefit that comes with remaining in the winner’s bracket of a double-elimination field, punching another ticket on a sunny Monday afternoon at Gaudet Field.

Anders Nelson found enough escapes from some early jams and his offense backed him on the second turn through the order. Brady O’Brien delivered an RBI single in an early rally and Walker Klika opened it up with a two-run single in the top of the sixth inning, paving the way to an 8-5 triumph.

Nelson worked into the sixth inning while striking out eight and stranding six – all but one of those in scoring position. O’Brien reached safely three times and Klika drove home three runs as East Greenwich buried the 3-0 blanking they absorbed at home the previous day courtesy of Cam Carlisle. West Warwick awaits in a regional rivalry matchup, with the best-of-three series at Rhode Island College opening later this week.

“Obviously a little disappointed yesterday that we couldn’t get the job done,” O’Brien said. “A lot of emotions involved. But we knew we had the talent to come out here and win.”

An infield error leading off the top of the third invited the Avengers to take control. Van Martin singled to left, Caiden Souza beat out an infield single to shortstop and O’Brien sat on the same curveball from Evan Agren that struck him out in his first at-bat. He ripped one through the left side for a base hit that made it 1-0.

“First at-bat he froze me on a pretty good curve, so I knew he was going to try it again first pitch,” O’Brien said. “I put a good swing on it.”

Miles Doman’s fielder’s choice and Klika’s sacrifice fly to right gave Nelson a working margin, and the right-hander made the most of it while scattering four hits. A balk moved runners to second and third in the bottom of the first, but Nelson fanned the next two men to keep the game scoreless. It was more of the same in the bottom of the fourth, as Nelson recorded a swinging strikeout to leave the bases loaded in a 4-0 game.