Coventry

WIZARDS AND MOUNTIES JOIN IN FIGHT AGAINST ALS

WEST WARWICK - Receiving a diagnosis of any terminal disease can be the most challenging and overwhelming thing that a person and their family members can ever endure. One of the most frightening and aggressive diseases an individual can get is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. ALS, a degenerative disease which shuts down all of the upper and lower motor neurons in an individual’s body, is one of the most debilitating and devastating illnesses that someone can suffer.

Over the past two years, the West Warwick High School Baseball Team has hosted an ALS Charity Game with Mount Saint Charles Academy to raise money for ALS.

On Saturday night (May 16th) at 6:30, the Wizards and Mounties will play their third annual ALS game in memory of Paul F. “Wally” Seaver and Lorraine A. “Lori” Mottola.

Paul, who passed away on February 5, 2013, was the brother of Tom Seaver, Mt. St. Charles’ Head Coach. A former graduate of Milford High School (Class of 1977), Paul coached many years of basketball as Varsity coach for Franklin High School, Junior Varsity coach of Wellesley High School and the Head Coach of the Metrowest (Milford) Travel Program.

Lori, who passed away on July 5, 2014, was the wife of John Mottola, long-time Assistant Coach of West Warwick High School and the mother of David, a volunteer coach for the Wizards this spring. As a former graduate of West Warwick High School (Class of 1975 ), Lori was an avid supporter of her husband’s high school baseball teams, and enjoyed watching her son (David) play baseball for the West Warwick Bambino (Cal Ripken) League, West Warwick Babe Ruth League and as the starting Third Baseman for the 1997 Freshman State Champions of WWHS.

Over the past two years, the two teams have raised over $1,000. This year, all donations and proceeds from Saturday night’s game will go to Compassionate Care ALS and the ALS Association Massachusetts Chapter.

The West Warwick Wizards were well represented in the Division II 2015 RIBCA All Star Underclassmen and Senior Games.

Seniors Evan Barrera, Tyler Boisclair, Andrew In and Ray Zincone

Juniors Tom Doran, Matt Grenier and Matt Hopper

Details and Pictures Soon! 

The West Warwick Wizards Varsity and Junior Varsity baseball teams enjoyed solid seasons in 2014. 

The Varsity baseball team finished 10-6 in league play and qualified for the post season for the third time in four years.  Although they lost back to back one run losses in the regional to Warwick Vets (2-1) and Tolman (4-3), the Wizards received plenty of accolades for their fine play on the diamond this season.  In fact, the Wizards received one of the highest honors of the year by being recognized as the 2014 Robert Costellow (Association of Baseball Umpires of Rhode Island) as the Sportsmanship Team of the Year. 

In addition to qualifying for the playoffs and receiving the Sportsmanship Award, several players were recognized for their play on the field this season.  First, Gregg D’Ambrosca received his third consecutive All Academic Award (Soccer, Basketball, and Baseball).  After batting .411 in 2013, the senior led the Wizards with 23 r.b.i.’s this spring.  In addition, senior Richard McNeil and junior Kody Greenhalgh were two of seven Wizards named to the Division II-South All Division Team. 

McNeil, who earned First Team Honors, was the most consistent batter in the Wizards batting order this spring (.410 batting average, five extra base hits, 22 walks, 16 runs scored, 17 r.b.i.’s and an OBP of .598).  Greenhalgh capped off a memorable junior year by earning his third All Division honor in three sports (football, basketball, and baseball).  While making 48 putouts in centerfield this spring, he led the Wizards with ten extra base hits (.333 batting average, 20 runs scored, and 11 r.b.i.’s and a slugging percentage of .556). 

Second Team Honors were earned by junior Evan Barrera (.356 batting average, seven extra base hits, 17 runs scored, and 21 r.b.i.’s), junior Ray Zincone (.329 batting average with 31 runs scored, 13 stolen bases and an OBP of .511), and sophomore Matt Grenier who led the Wizard pitching staff with a 5-2 record (45 innings pitched, an ERA of 1.87, a WHIP of 1.29 with 30 strikeouts).   In addition, Grenier (.500 OBP with 18 runs scored and 22 walks), led the Wizards with a fielding percentage of .982 while playing second base this spring.  

Honorable Mention Honors were given to junior Tyler Boisclair (.308 batting average, three doubles, 14 r.b.i.s,  and an OBP of .447).  Besides that, Boisclair, who caught the most innings for the Wizards, also struck out 12 batters in 18 1/3 innings of relief pitching.  Sophomore Tom Doran finished with a respectable 3-2 record in 9 games started this spring.  In 36 2/3 innings pitched, Doran posted an ERA of 2.10, a WHIP of 1.17 and struck out 22 batters.

Lastly, the West Warwick Junior Varsity team advanced to their fourth consecutive II-South League Championship.  After winning three years in a row, the Wizards narrowly missed out on a fourth championship, losing to a talented Tiverton team which posted a record of 16-2.  Sophomore Matt Hopper led the full time players with a batting average of .333 (12/36 with 7 runs scored, and 6 r.b.i.’s) and led the pitching staff with 31 innings pitched. 

           As the summer months move toward August, one team in West Warwick has peaked at the right time of year.  Graham Insurance, West Warwick’s entry in the Rhode Island Connie Mack League, has gone undefeated in their last four league games. 

            While posting a 3-0-1 record last week, Graham Insurance (4-7-2, 13.5 points) picked up several points and moved to within a half of a point of second place Westerly (5-8-0, 14 points) with two games remaining in the regular season.

            The ever-improving West Warwick team, who is the youngest team in the twenty team league (average team age is 15.3) received solid pitching last week by giving up only 7 runs (5 earned) in 31 innings of league play. 

Graham Insurance 3  Westerly 2

            Led by the solid pitching of Drew Doran and the clutch hitting of Matt Grenier (2/3, one run scored), Ben Roy (1/3, one run scored), and Mike Pellerin (1/3, 2 r.b.i.’s), Graham Insurance traveled to Cimalore Field in Westerly and defeated them, 3-2. 

            Doran, who struck out nine batters in six innings, allowed only two runs on four hits.  Ben Roy, who received All Division honors (First Team Division I-North) for St. Raphael this spring, picked up the save by striking out the final two batters of the game.

            Trailing 2-0 in the top of the sixth inning, Graham Insurance rallied for three runs on three hits and two sacrifices.  Grenier singled to right-center to lead off the inning.  Ben Roy, then, reached on infield single, putting runners at first and second base.  After Chris Gaipo (2/3, one double, one run scored) reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases, Pellerin singled to left field, scoring Grenier and Roy.  Drew Doran, then, followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Gaipo.

Graham Insurance 2  East Providence 2 (10 Innings)

            In a ten-inning game played at PCD in East Providence, Graham Insurance and East Providence played to a 2-2 tie in an errorless game. 

            Graham Insurance took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Ernie Wright singled, stole second base and scored on Matt Grenier’s hit to right-center.            

            In the bottom of the first inning, East Providence took a 2-1 lead after scoring two runs on four walks, three stolen bases, and two wild pitches. 

            Graham Insurance relievers, Ryan Carlson and Matt Hopper, however, combined to hold the home team scoreless over the final nine innings.  Carlson, struck out four batters and allowed just three hits in 4 2/3 innings of work, while Hopper worked five innings of two-hit ball. 

            In the top of the fifth inning, Graham Insurance threatened to take the lead with four hits, however, East Providence’s left fielder Sam Stone and pitcher Greg Battison made two defensive plays to hold the West Warwick contingent to only one run. 

            After Tom Pecchia singled, Tim Fournier reached first base with a bunt single.  Then, Matt Hopper bunted a ball toward the third base line to Battison.  The righty picked up the ball, spun toward third, and threw out pinch runner Nick Pecchia (1/2, one stolen base)  After a pop out to second base, Matt Grenier (2/5, 2 r.b.i.’s) singled to centerfield to knock in Fournier to tie the game at 2-2. Ben Roy (2/5, one double) followed with a single down the left field line, which Stone bobbled, but recovered quickly to throw a perfect strike to home plate to end the inning.  

Graham Insurance 5  Chariho 2

            Led by the pin-point pitching of Matt Grenier, Graham Insurance returned home for one game and defeated Chariho, 5-2.  Grenier, who received All Division honors this spring (Second Team Division II-South), not only struck out seven batters in seven innings of work, but threw 67 of 89 pitches for strikes for the complete game victory.

            Graham Insurance took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Ben Roy reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base, and scored on Chris Gaipo’s single to left field. 

            In the fourth inning, Graham Insurance scored another run when Gaipo (1/2, one run scored, 1 r.b.i.) walked and scored on Mike Pellerin’s 330 foot double to the left field fence. 

            Graham Insurance built a 4-0 lead in the following inning when Ryan Carlson (single) and Tom Pecchia (reached on an error) scored on a passed ball and Grenier’s r.b.i. single to right field. 

            After Chariho scored two runs on a three singles and an error, Graham Insurance scored an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Drew Doran doubled, moved to third base on a passed ball, and scored on a throwing error.

Graham Insurance 2  Slocum Baseball Club 1

            Led by the steady pitching of Matt Hopper and exemplary defense, Graham Insurance upset first place Slocum Baseball Club at Lischio Field, 2-1.  

            Hopper, who pitched all seven innings, allowed only one earned run one while striking out three batters and scattering seven hits.

            Defensively, Graham Insurance received solid defense from left fielder Nick Pecchia (three putouts), centerfielder Chris Gaipo (two putouts), and right fielder Mike Pellerin (two putouts), shortstop Matt Grenier (four assists and one putout), and first baseman Tom Pecchia (seven assists and one putout). 

            Offensively, West Warwick’s surging club received all the offense they would need in the top of the third inning when they opportunistically scored two runs on a two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and one single.  After Tom Pecchia (walk) scored on a timely single by his brother, Nick Pecchia, Graham Insurance aggressively scored their second run with two outs.  With Nick Pecchia on third base and Matt Grenier (walk) on first base, Pecchia raced home as Grenier stopped before stealing second base and forced a run down.