PROVIDENCE – Monday afternoon brought what felt like an inevitable conclusion for Woonsocket in this Division III baseball season.
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The Villa Novans returned several key performers from a group that captured a championship last year. The target this spring was to repeat, something Woonsocket accomplished on a perfect day at Rhode Island College.
Jordan Plante’s two-run single capped the deciding rally and Braylon Guilbeault made an early lead stand to the conclusion. The Villa Novans secured a 6-4 victory over Blackstone Valley Prep/Central Falls on June 8 to finish a perfect campaign, one that included a sweep in this best-of-three title round.
“The goal was just to win again,” Guilbeault said. “The perfect season came along with it. We played well every game. We showed up every game.
“We just kept stringing along wins. We didn’t think about it too much. One game at a time, we just kept winning.”
Woonsocket scratched single runs in each of the first two innings before breaking it open with four in the top of the third. Cesar Vazquez Jr. scored on an error and Joe Greenless drilled an RBI double to deep left-center while making it a 4-0 cushion. Plante dug in with two in scoring position and grounded one back through the middle and into center field to make it 6-0.
“All I think is just putting the ball in play,” Plante said. “Hit it as hard as you can, whether it’s on the ground or in the air. You’ve just got to get it out there.”
That was enough support for Guilbeault, who struck out 10 and scattered eight hits in a complete game. Cam Beaudreau’s sacrifice fly to right in the bottom of the third and Ale Fernandez’s RBI single to right in the bottom of the fifth weren’t enough to push the Warrior Pride back even. Guilbeault was nicked for a run on a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh but didn’t allow either of the last two men he faced to reach.
“When you get that cushion it’s very easy to pitch,” Guilbeault said. “You have guys behind you and you’re getting runs.”
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BVP/CF (16-10) was attempting to complete its upset run through the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, a surprise winner in Pod 2 to reach a first championship round in program history. The Warrior Pride fell to the Villa Novans via the 10-run mercy rule in each of their three previous meetings, including a 13-3 defeat in Game 1. Beaudreau fired four scoreless innings in relief to keep BVP/CF within striking distance here.
“They played well,” Guilbeault said. “We just turned it up when we needed to. Bats were alive. Pitching was where it needed to be and we ran away with it in both games.”
Guilbeault followed an abbreviated complete game by Patrick Munger in the opener, and nobody outside Woonsocket’s top two in the rotation needed to work in the series. Juleus Perez joined Guilbeault in reaching safely three times and scoring a run in the clincher, the last game for seven seniors who will depart as two-time champions. The Villa Novans (24-0) captured a state crown in 1986 – their third finals appearance in four years – and waited nearly four decades to hang another banner.
“We definitely knew that we were going to be good,” Plante said. “We lost a couple key players, so I didn’t know if we were going to be perfect. Having an undefeated season feels great.”
Woonsocket 114 000 0 – 6 6 2
BVP/CF 001 020 1 – 4 8 6
Braylon Guilbeault and Jayden Piette. Noah Ferreira, Cam Beaudreau (4) and Sid Lockhart.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score of Woonsocket vs. BVP/CF Game 2 in D-III baseball series