BRISTOL, R.I. – Sophomore pinch-hitter Tim Atwood (Gorham, Maine) scored on the second consecutive error to open the 10th inning as Roger Williams defeated Wentworth, 3-2, in an elimination round game of the 2007 Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament played at Paolino Field.

Wentworth opened the game by leaving a running in scoring position when sophomore Nick Cunningham (Pembroke, Mass.) hit a two-out single up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. However, he would be stranded when a strikeout ended the inning. The hosts had an opportunity to score in the opening frame when sophomore Bill Lambert (Hanover, Mass.) hit a one-out single to left and moved to second when sophomore Jamie Dahill (South Boston, Mass.) singled. The Hawks’ threat would end when Leopard rookie starter Scott Borges (Westport, Mass.) induced a double play to end the inning.

In the home half of the second Roger Williams cracked the scoring column, as sophomore Brian Hurld (South Boston, Mass.) drew a leadoff walk. After a fly out, he stole second and sophomore Radd DeWeese (Rexford, N.Y.) would walk to place runners at first and second. Both runners advanced 90 feet when sophomore Grant Bolin (Simsbury, Conn.) grounded out and Hurld scored on a wild pitch.

The Leopards squandered a golden opportunity to tie the game in the fourth inning when they would leave the bases loaded. Sophomore Phil Costello (Medford, Mass.) drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a two-out single to right by junior Jarrett Ament (Boylston, Mass.). Sophomore Mike Roberts moved everyone over a base when he reached on an error, but when senior Tom Molinari (East Sandwich, Mass.) reached on a fielder’s choice, Costello was out at the plate.

An inning later Wentworth would finally get on the board and would tie the game at 1-all. Junior Bryan Kuefner (Islip, N.Y.) led off by walking on four pitches, which would chase freshman starter Dan Roberge (Oakdale, Conn.) from the game. Junior Bobby Criscuolo (Branford, Conn.) came on in relief and threw out freshman Pete Oggeri (Sandy Hook, Conn.) on a sacrifice, which moved Kuefner to second. Freshman Anthony Carbone (Goshen, Conn.) reached on an error to place runners on first and second and Cunningham followed with an RBI single to left center, scoring Kuefner and moving Carbone from first to third. Cunningham stole second, but Criscuolo struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

The tie was short-lived, though, as the Hawks regained the lead in the home half of the fifth. Sophomore Alex Perry (Glastonbury, Conn.) led off with a double to left center and would score when Lambert followed with a single and took second on an error. Borges would get the next three batters to go quietly and prevented Roger Williams from increasing its lead.

With neither team scoring in the sixth and Wentworth going in order in the seventh, the Hawks squandered a chance to add to their lead in the last of the seventh by leaving the bases loaded. Freshman Ryan MacCarthy (Middleton, Mass.) was hit by a pitch to open the inning, but would be erased two batters later when Lambert reached on a fielder’s choice. Dahill drew a walk and sophomore Kevin Simpson (Londonderry, N.H.) reached on an error to load the bases. However, Borges got Hurld to fly out to end the inning.

Down to its final three outs, Wentworth would not go quietly, tying the game in the top of the ninth. Roberts led off by reaching on an infield single and stole second base. Sophomore pinch hitter Mike Rall (East Hampton, Conn.) moved the tying run 90 feet closer with a sacrifice bunt. Roger Williams would then bring in freshman Billy Dunn (Fiskdale, Mass.) to close out the game, but he allowed the tying run to score when Roberts scored on a squeeze by Kuefner. Oggeri was then hit by a pitch—for the school record-tying 14th time this season—and would steal second. He would advance to third on a wild pitch, while Anthony Carbone walked and stole second, but Dunn got a fly out to end the inning.

Freshman Matt Vezina (Uxbridge, Mass.), who had come on to get the final out of the eighth, set the hosts down in order and sent Wentworth to its fifth extra-inning affair of the season.

Costello led off the 10th with a walk and Simpson then replaced Dunn on the mound. After getting a fly out, senior Brent Grenier (Oxford, Maine), who came on to pinch run for Costello, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. However, he would be stranded there when Simpson got the next two outs on a strikeout and a foul out.

Atwood pinch hit for Dunn to open the home half of the 10th and laid down a bunt. Vezina fielded it cleanly, but his throw was off the mark, which allowed Atwood to take second base. Looking to move Atwood to third, sophomore Chris Ziakas (Succasunna, N.J.) laid down a sacrifice, which Vezina fielded. However, his throw wide of the bag, allowing the winning run to score.

Simpson picks up the win (1-0), setting down all three batters he faced in the 10th inning. Roberge pitched four-plus innings, allowing one run on two hits, while walking four and striking out six. Criscuolo allowed one run on two hits and struck out a pair in 4.1 innings of work, while Dunn waked two in two-thirds of an inning. Offensively, Lambert had two of the Hawks’ five hits.

Vezina takes the loss (0-2) as he allowed one unearned run and struck out one batter in 1.1 innings of work. Borges, who threw 42 pitches in picking up a three-inning save Wednesday at Eastern Nazarene, threw 143 pitches over 7.2 innings. He allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits, while walking six and striking out five. Offensively, Cunningham was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Fourth-seeded Roger Williams improves to 22-18 and advances to one bracket final where the Hawks will have to beat top-seeded Curry on the road twice tomorrow in order to advance to the championship game on Sunday. Wentworth finishes its season at 13-18—the most wins the program has posted since the 1998 squad finished 14-21-1.

Despite the loss, the Leopards established a new school record for lowest earned run average in a season, as the pitching staff posted a 3.00 ERA. Even more remarkable is the fact that Wentworth shaved 4.86 runs off of last year’s ERA.

Roger Williams 3, Wentworth 2 (May 04, 2007 at Bristol, R.I.)
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Wentworth........... 000 010 001 0 - 2 4 5 (13-18)
Roger Williams...... 010 010 000 1 - 3 5 3 (22-18)
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Wentworth - Scott Borges, Matt Vezina (8) and Pete Oggeri; Roger Williams - Dan Roberge, Bobby Criscuolo (5), Billy Dunn (9), Kevin Simpson (10) and Ryan MacCarthy
Win-Simpson (1-0), Loss-Vezina (0-2); T-2:48 A-250
Game notes:
2007 Commonwealth Coast Conference Baseball Tournament (Game #9)
#4 Roger Williams advances to semifinals to face #1 Curry; Wentworth ends season at 13-18
Roberge faced 1 batter in the 5th; Vezina faced 2 batters in the 10th