Is it a good bet that the power outage against LaSalle was a minor blip on the radar screen?
Probably.
The bats re-awakened against North Providence yesterday afternoon, as our guys returned to their habit of invoking the "mercy" rule on their opponents, downing the Cougars 10-0 in six innings. While the offense as a whole seemed back on track up and down the lineup, the three most noteworthy performances were delivered by junior pitcher Anthony "AC" Cofone, junior transfer Andrew Ciacciarelli, and sophomore shortstop John Willette.
Of course, The Network was there with full and live coverage, with Cam Brennan and Stone Freeman handling the play-by-play and analysis duties, and Max Zweiner doing triple duty on social media, camera, and instagram highlights.
Who doesn't love Zweiner?
The wif-fi situation - while not intolerable - did provide us with a bit of difficulty, as the connection apparently cut out several times during the course of the broadcast, unbeknownst to us in the booth. Consequently, in addition to the final inning being available in the first Ustream viewer at the top of site, the remainder of the game can be seen here, albeit in several pieces:
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by Ustream
Video streaming by UstreamLast season, when the junior varsity found themselves in tough games and tough situations, AC was the man who time and again answered the call. In addition to an all-round unbelievable season on the mound and in the field, he shut down LaSalle - essentially the team that constitutes this year's Rams' varsity - three times, including in the state championship game. As it turned out, however, the junior Hawks lost a tough one there in extra frames to their archrivals. One would think that a team as talented as LaSalle was last season would be able to figure out a pitcher after facing him twice. That they didn't is not a criticism of them; it's the quality and toughness of AC's performances that made the difference. This year, however, with a staff that includes the likes of Mike McCaffrey, Matt Kennedy, and Anthony Graziano, AC hasn't had a real chance to ramp it up.
Yesterday, he did.
His first inning was a bit uneven, as he surrendered two hits but struck out the side. One of the most dominant characteristics of his pitching, however, is that he gets stronger as he pitches throughout a game; he becomes even tougher. True to form, AC looked better and better as the game progressed. His line for the game was impressive for a first varsity start: five innings, three hits (none after the second inning), zero walks, and five strikeouts.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
After having to sit out the required number of games consequent to his transfer from Cranston West, Andrew Ciacciarelli showed that his bat may have been worth the wait, as he returned to action with a three-for-three performance, which included a double. Adding Ciacc to the mix at first base and on the mound only makes the Hawks even stronger.
And, finally, sophomore John Willette rounded things out by belting a deep home run to left-center field, a shot that - given that it's 385 feet to dead-center at North Providence, and his shot was still pretty high when it left the yard - had to have traveled at least that far, if not slightly further. His home run can be seen here:
Willette also had three hits on the day, and bear in mind that he hits out of the ninth spot in the order. John Toppa, Dante Baldelli, and Brady Chant also contributed multiple hits to the Hawks' attack.
All stats can be seen below.
The Hawks travel to Woonsocket this afternoon to take on the Villa Novans at Renaud Field at 4pm....assuming the rain holds off, of course. The Network will remain behind, as we'll have live coverage of Hawks' lacrosse from Hayden Stadium. Game time there is 6pm.
