Archive - Apr 2012 - Sports Article
April 22nd
In a span of seven days, Michael Bowden went from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.
All’s well that ends well, it seems, as the ex-Red Sox relief pitcher now gets a chance to start anew with his hometown team, the Chicago Cubs. Perhaps just as important, the 25-year-old now has a legit shot to find a niche on a big-league roster – something that proved quite elusive during his seven-year tenure with Boston.
PAWTUCKET – Granted, it’s only April, but when a player increases his batting average by 170 points in less than two weeks, curious minds want to know why.
Is the player seeing the ball better? Or is the spike the result of some sort of mechanical adjustment, such as closing the stance or shortening the stride? Are all those extra sessions in the batting cage finally paying off?
In the case of Jose Iglesias, the recent rise in his offensive production can be traced to the adjustments the shortstop prospect looked to make before the first pitch of the 2012 season was even thrown.
April 20th
WOONSOCKET — As soon as senior Zack Viveiros grounded out to third to end the top of the sixth inning, Tolman High skipper Theo Murray huddled his troops in front of their first-base dugout early Friday afternoon and implored them to exhibit outstanding defense.
“This is it,” he told them, referring to the Tigers’ 2-1 cushion. “They’ve got 9-1-2 (the ninth, first and second batters) coming up! We’ve got to get out of this inning!”
April 19th
WOONSOCKET — Playing tight, or extra-inning, tilts is becoming quite the norm for Burrillville High.
Back on April 11, the Broncos snatched a 10-6, 10-frame affair against Central Falls, then – the very next day – lost to red-hot Johnston, 6-5, in nine. And, on Tuesday, it overcame an early deficit and edged North Smithfield, 10-9, with a run in the back half of the seventh.
WOONSOCKET — Three throwing errors, three walks, some mental miscues, and a couple of squeeze bunts in the final two innings of play added up to a disappointing loss for Woonsocket on Thursday afternoon.
Visiting South Kingstown erased a 2-1 deficit by scoring five unearned runs in those frames and found themselves busing home with a 7-2 victory in this Division II crossover game at Cold Spring Park.
April 18th
WOONSOCKET — Late last week, St. Raphael Academy head coach Tom “Saar” Sorrentine explained to his senior ace, Nick Cesino, that he would draw the start when the Saints took on host Mount St. Charles on Wednesday morning.
He also told the righthander that the Mounties' infield contained a rather tall mound, and suggested he get to know it better over the weekend.
Cesino followed his mentor's order and threw some pitches from the foreign rubber on Sunday, and it became rather obvious as the innings passed he had become rather familiar with it.
CUMBERLAND — Nick Zammarelli spent all game looking for his pitch – the one he could drive.
April 17th
WOONSOCKET --- The 1-3 start is surprising. So was Mount St. Charles’s play in its Division I-North game against visiting Smithfield on Tuesday afternoon.
The Mounties turned in a lackluster performance against their neighboring foes and dearly paid for it in a game that took nearly three hours to complete. The Sentinels banged out 14 hits and took advantage of five Mount errors and a number of wild pitches and passed balls en route to a 15-10 victory.
Dave Constantino has been competing in marathons for a decade, and when it came down to recalling the hottest ones he has run, the Cumberland resident didn’t hesitate to bring up the 26.2-mile adventure he encountered on Monday at the Boston Marathon.
“That was probably the hottest marathon I have ever done out of the 10 years I have been competing,” Constantino said on Tuesday morning while he was “recuperating” at Scarborough Beach. “That was unbelievable. It was a tough one. It was a tough one for everybody.”
April 16th
BOSTON — Hilary Dionne, a former cross-country and track & field standout from Cumberland High School, finished 15th among women at the Boston Marathon Monday, crossing the finish line in 2:51.56. Her time was third-best among American winners. Dionne, who now works in Boston, graduated from Cumberland in 2003.
The 26-year-old Dionne averaged six minutes, 19 seconds during the first 6.2 miles of the race before shaving off five seconds over the next three-plus miles of the grueling 26.2-mile test of endurance and stamina. She ended up placing 256th overall and 11th in her age group (18-39).
