Hendricken baseball remains perfect against South Kingstown; here's how they did it

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Hendricken baseball flexed its power with a seven-run sixth inning against La Salle last week.

The Hawks showed they can pile up runs in a hurry, but it wasn’t their cleanest game in the comeback win. They returned with a drubbing of Smithfield in the following contest as the bats came alive.

And in the third game of this sequence, Hendricken had its best performance to date with a 4-1 triumph against South Kingstown in a matchup of undefeated Division I powers on Tuesday at Old Mountain Field.

Griffin Crain threw 110 pitches over 6 2/3 innings allowing just one run and five strikeouts. Jack LaRose went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and an RBI and Ryan Thompson’s two-run double to right-center closed SK’s chances to remain perfect.

“We kind of just trust each other more,” Crain said after storming back against La Salle. “We know if we go down at any point, we have each other's backs.”

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Hendricken never trailed against the Rebels and took a 2-0 lead in the top half of the second as Cole Camara started the rally reaching on an error through the left side. The Hawks worked back-to-back walks with no outs to load the bases, but SK rallied in the frame to sit down a pair. LaRose, in his second at-bat of the game, worked a 3-2 count before taking a pitch outside to walk in a run.

Thompson followed with a single through the left side that scored Christian Butera for a 2-0 lead that was plenty for Crain.

“Obviously they're a really good team so we kind of pulled together and played clean defense, which hasn't really been there all year,” Thompson said. “And really threw the ball well with timely hitting and that’s what wins baseball games right there.”

South Kingstown stranded a pair in the bottom half of the second, left one on in the third, and was set down in order against Crain in the fourth. The calendar hasn’t flipped yet for the Louisville commit, but the senior might be rounding into form.

“You want to play your best baseball at the end of May going into June,” Crain said. “I feel like we're just building off every game. Everyone's getting better as the season goes on and [as a] midseason performance, it's kind of what you look for in guys.”

The Rebels plated their lone run in the fifth as Liam Sagal reached on an error and then stole second before scoring on Brandon Westerfield’s single.

In the following inning, Crain dropped a bunt down the third baseline and LaRose found a hole on the right side for back-to-back singles. Thompson, in the three-hole, scored them both on a shot to the right-center gap and a 4-1 advantage.

“It's the best I've been seeing it all year,” LaRose said of his approach. “Started off a little slow, but I feel a lot better now. Just seeing everything makes you feel a lot better in the box.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Crain walked a batter and surrendered a single with two outs before getting pulled. Cooper Maher walked the bases loaded against his first batter, but the junior secured Crain the win with a strikeout to end it.

“Anytime we're down, we know we're in any game and we can just bounce off that and come into more games with confidence,” Crain said.

jrousseau@providencejournal.com

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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hendricken baseball hits its stride against South Kingstown