The Comeback Kings of D-II do it again as Middletown walks off a winner
· Yahoo Sports
MIDDLETOWN – Spent after a brilliant relief effort, Evan Agren was in the dugout as his team was getting ready to bat in the bottom of the seventh and having a moment of deep reflection realizing he was three outs away from his high school career being over.
And when Cameron Carlisle hit a leadoff double to open the inning, Agren remembered this is Middletown baseball, and comebacks are what they do.
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The Islanders looked dead in the water against Narragansett ace Zayden Kent, but when Carlisle’s hit happened, demeanor changed. An error led to the tying run and Noah Travers came through with the biggest hit of his life, a single to right field that scored Colton Kerrison from second and gave Middletown a 2-1 walk-off win, keeping its season alive in the process.
“It’s a little ridiculous, honestly,” Travers said. “I was thinking before, when I struck out in the fifth inning, I wasn’t going to get to the plate [again]. I came up first and second, I didn’t have a great game before at the plate but I got it done.”
“I was getting a little emotional in the dugout. I didn’t want this to be my last game,” Agren said. “… We pulled off some magic like we always do.
“It’s just that last inning drive that all of the energy we put in, it pays off.”
For the majority of the game, the only question was whether or not Kent was going to throw a no-hitter and when somebody would score.
Kent, who will pitch at the University of Rhode Island next spring, was simply dominant. He was perfect through 4 1/3 innings before Kenny Pirches delivered a single that Kent followed with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.
“You just have to tip your cap sometimes,” Agren said. “He’s very powerful up there but sometimes he’s going to miss a spot or a ball will bounce the other way. We have to take advantage of the situations we get and work on it from there."
Middletown tried in the sixth inning. Kyle Keefe led off with a single. He remained there until Michael Lisella hit a slow roller to third that he had beat down the line.
The thrown to get Lisella came late and wild, with the ball getting into the vast emptiness behind first base at Gaudet Middle School. With two outs Keefe took off on contact and never stopped running. Middletown head coach Eric Godin, knowing chances were limited, sent Keefe home, but right fielder Finley Hohl got to the ball in time to fire a strike to Riley Cronin, who applied the tag for the final out of the inning.
Up 1-0, Narragansett was sitting pretty at this point. While Middletown’s pitchers didn’t Middletown’s pitchers don’t quite have the stuff Kent does, they were equally effective. Pirches earned the start and was yanked in the fourth after Kent led off with a walk and took third on a passed ball.
Agren came in to try and stop the threat, but another passed ball allowed Kent to score with ease. He retired the next batter and didn’t give up a hit the rest of the outing, keeping the Islanders in the game.
“Our coach told us [Thursday] I was going to come in in relief,” Agren said. “I had a lot of bad outings earlier in the year and I’d been working in the bullpen for a lot of practices in a row. I was just ready to pounce.”
But after getting out of an error-induced jam in the top of the seventh, the reality of the situation began to hit Agren, one of the team’s four seniors.
Comebacks weren’t new to Middletown. The Islanders had four comeback wins and three other walkoff victories this spring, the last in the opening round of the playoffs against Kent and Narragansett where Kerrison’s two-out single gave Middletown a 1-0 win.
Carlisle got ahead in the count to open the inning, then hit a double and the shift in energy was noticeable.
“It completely swung momentum,” Agren said. “You see that hit and everybody is up and ready to pounce. It’s super exciting to watch.”
Kerrison followed with a ball that was mishandled by second base and Carlisle slid home without drawing a throw. Middletown’s dugout exploded and when Pirches wore a pitch, things only got louder.
Kent bounced back with a strikeout, sending Travers to the plate. The junior knew what Kent could bring and went in with a game plan – keep it simple. After taking a strike, he put a good swing on a fastball on the outer half and punched it into right field, bringing Kerrison home with ease.
“In the cage earlier before the game, everything was top right corner,” Travers said. “I figured with him throwing what, 90, I was going to have to throw my hands out there and make contact.”
Narragansett’s season comes to a close with two championship-worthy performances against a team that just made one or two more plays. Middletown season continues Sunday against an East Greenwich team that beat it 3-1 on Thursday, May 28.
The Islanders will need to beat the Avengers twice if they want to earn a spot in the Division II final. It’s a tough task, but they’re more than ready for the challenge.
“We faced [EG’s] No. 1 [pitcher]. To be honest, I don’t want to talk all that, but I don’t think they have much besides that,” Travers said. “I think we’re ready.”
“I think we have it,” Agren said. “I think we have to pull deep into our bags.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score from Narragansett at Middletown playoff baseball on Friday May 29