Bradshaw's pitching, Cumberland's bats come up big in I-D baseball
CUMBERLAND — Michael Bradshaw was lined up to start. His offense was due for a breakout after two difficult games. Seven innings were all that stood between Cumberland and a Division I-D baseball title.
It was almost too perfect. And the Clippers weren’t about to veer off script at Tucker Field, dominating Coventry to check off another goal on their preseason list.
Bradshaw turned in six scoreless frames and Cumberland broke it open with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Iannuccilli closed out the 9-0 shutout, and the Clippers can now look ahead to the upcoming postseason after an ideal Monday evening at home.
“Coach (Jared Cardoso) said out of the gate — playoffs, win your division, then the whole thing,” Bradshaw said. “So we’re two steps down.”
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Bishop Hendricken, La Salle and North Kingstown already earned the right to hang a banner entering this final week of the regular season. Cumberland joined them thanks to a 7-2 finish over the second half, including a six-game winning streak. Anthony Martin’s two-run single in the bottom of the second opened the floodgates and the Clippers never looked back.
“Last few games we haven’t gotten started early — we haven’t gotten started at all,” Martin said. “It got the momentum going for the rest of the day. All the bats were alive.”
Brad Denson turned in a complete game to help Mt. Hope snap that extended winning run for Cumberland. Luke Lapham took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished a shutout for the Oakers last week, leaving the Clippers with one more chance to take care of business on their own. Putting their title chances in the hands of tiebreakers — the Huskies, Coventry and Lincoln all entered the week at 8-8 — wasn’t ideal.
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Cumberland turned to its ace to stop the slide. Bradshaw is committed to Merrimack and pitched like it, allowing just three singles and a pair of walks. He faced the minimum through the first four innings, stranded the bases loaded with a strikeout to end the fifth and induced a 6-4-3 double play to wrap up the sixth.
“It’s Game 18 and every team still had a chance to get the 1,” Bradshaw said. “It’s been a battle all year. It’s four great teams.”
Martin’s two-out liner up the middle punished the Oakers (8-9) for a pair of walks in the second. Luke Plumer’s sacrifice fly to deep right made it 3-0 in the third and there was more damage on tap in the fourth. Connor Allard’s single to right, Andrew Ray’s sacrifice fly and a pair of costly errors handed the Clippers (11-7) a comfortable margin.
“We just believe in ourselves,” Martin said. “Eventually we knew we were going to hit. We knew we were going to pick it up.”
Brackets will be released at the close of action this week. Cumberland is in position to have Bradshaw come back on full rest in the opener. Martin and Allard each had two hits and eight different Clippers scored a run against Coventry — that should leave the offense carrying plenty of confidence.
“We talked about it a little bit, but we were just focused on the last couple of games,” Bradshaw said. “Now we can really focus on a game plan for the playoffs.”
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Coventry 000 000 0 — 0 4 3
Cumberland 021 510 x — 9 9 1
Tyler Reall, Ben Catero (3), Logan Downey (5) and Anthony Colucci. Michael Bradshaw, Alex Iannuccilli (7) and Andrew Ray.
bkoch@providencejournal.com
On Twitter: @BillKoch25
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Bradshaw's pitching, Martin's hitting lift Cumberland past Coventry in baseball
