Falcons edge 'Bolts in division matchup

The Cranston West Lady Falcons edged out the Cranston East Thunderbolts, 4-2, last Tuesday afternoon at Aqueduct Field. West senior Alyssa Ragosta broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the fifth inning when she knocked in the go-ahead run.

East junior Kaitlynn Drowne started in the circle and pitched a complete game, giving up four runs including two home runs, while striking out four.

“That’s all I have,” East head coach P.J. Bessette said of his starting pitcher. “That’s my horse. So, I got to ride with her. She did a great job. She had a stiff arm to start the game and she battled right through the game.”

Falcons’ leadoff hitter Marissa Cushman launched the second pitch she saw for a home run over the fence in left-centerfield to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead. Next, Drowne walked MacKenzie Beyer prior to striking out Danielle Carmody. The right-hander was able to induce a ground ball out from Ragosta before striking out Megan Anderson to escape the inning without any further damage.

Camryn Ricci pitched for West to start the game. The senior got the leadoff hitter, Khadijah Antoine, to line out to short. Next, Ricci got Amber Pinheiro to ground out for the second out. Then, Ricci walked McKenzie Richards. Next, Taylor Sukys hit a single to center to put runners at the corners. Drowne then came up and hit a single to score Richards to tie the game at 1.

With two down in the bottom of the second inning, East shortstop Izzy Ferry lifted a shot to center, which ended up getting stuck under the fence. After review, the umpires ruled it an inside-the-park home run because the centerfielder failed to raise her arm to alert the umps that it was stuck. East took a 2-1 lead.

West freshman Caitlin Lopez relieved Ricci in the top of the third and earned three strikeouts in the inning.

In the top of the fifth, West got revenge. Beyer hit a two-out double to left. Carmody followed it with an RBI double to tie the game at 2. Then, Ragosta hit a single up the middle to score Carmody to give West a 3-2 edge.

East worked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but the ’Bolts’ stranded the runners when Antoine lined out to end the inning.

Beyer gave West a buffer with two outs in the top of the seventh, when she hit a solo blast to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the inning, East’s Richards earned a walk. Next, Sukys hit a single, but Richards was thrown out trying for an extra base at third. With two down, Lopez got Drowne to ground out to end the game.

After its lone run in the first inning, West failed to bring anyone home until the fifth inning.

“In between, we left a lot of runners on base,” West head coach Jeff Smith said. “But, Cranston East had some great defensive plays and we just couldn’t get the timely hits like we should have, but hats off to Cranston East because they played a really great defensive game.”

With the win, West improves to 4-1 and East moves to 2-3.