MATTAPOISETT — Apponequet may be the top-ranked baseball team in all of Div. 3 in the most recent MIAA power rankings, but the Lakers don’t look past anyone.
“We don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about it at all. We don’t bring it up,” said Apponequet head coach Jim Cabucio. “Same thing with our stats; we don’t talk about our stats. We try to stay focused on the game in front of us.”
Facing tough competition in the South Coast Conference and having a challenging non-league slate, Apponequet has one of the highest opponent power rankings in its division.
“Baseball in our conference, you have to come and play every game because everybody has a pitcher,” Cabucio said. “That’s been our best asset is that we’re tested every single game and every non-league opponent is a good team
“The kids have worked hard and they continue to work hard.”
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The Lakers took care of business on Friday afternoon in a 5-1 win over rival Old Rochester in South Coast Conference action.
“They may not have the record they’ve had in the past, but they play everybody tough,” Cabucio said. “Today’s game was anybody’s game.”
Apponequet led 5-1 entering the seventh inning and Gabe Zuber was able to close the door on the Bulldogs with two runners on and no outs. A strikeout by Zuber and a pair of outs by first baseman Lucas Tremblay ended the game and gave the Lakers their 12th win of the season.
“We kept fighting until the end. We had guys on,” said Old Rochester head coach Steve Carvalho. “We’re disappointed in the loss, but there’s some good to take from it.”
Zuber pitched a complete-game five-hitter with 10 strikeouts, two walks and one hit batsman.
“The first few innings I felt a little tight,” Zuber said. “After the second and third innings, I started loosening up and getting in my groove. I stopped thinking and I started hitting the strike zone.”
“We really needed that,” Cabucio said. “We have a lot of games coming up. Gabe coming up and throwing this complete game for us was critical. It allowed guys to rest their arms a little bit.”
The Lakers have five games against Bourne (Monday), Fairhaven (Tuesday), Bishop Stang (Wednesday), Dartmouth (Friday) and New Bedford (Sunday) to play in the final week of the regular season.
“It’s definitely one of the best in our four years,” said Nathan Levesque, one of eight seniors on the team. “It’s awesome being with the guys. I’ve grown up with them. The team chemistry has been there since 12U so it really came together this year. It’s our last year so we’re trying to make it a good one.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Apponequet jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Caiden Cyr scored on a wild pitch. The Lakers added three more runs in the third thanks to four straight hits from Dylan Bradley, Cyr, Levesque and Tremblay.
Apponequet went up 5-0 in the top of the first when Levesque scored on an RBI sac fly from Justin Serrecchia.
Old Rochester got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth when Jackson Hamilton scored on an RBI single to right field from Aiden Eagle.
Colin Mello threw a complete game for Old Rochester, scattering seven hits with three strikeouts.
“Part of our issues is we’ve had guys on early in games and we’ve had trouble getting them in and we’ve played from behind a lot,” Carvalho said. “Against a good team, I’m proud of the kids for how they competed today.”
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WHAT IT MEANS
With the win, the Lakers improve to 12-4 and 8-3 in the SCC. They host Bourne on Monday. … Old Rochester, which fell to 4-14, hosts Fairhaven on Monday.
STATS
Levesque went 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored for Apponequet while Tremblay was 3-for-4 with a double. Cyr had two hits and two runs scored. Bradley and Joly each had a hit. Serrecchia had two RBIs with a pair of sacrifices. … For Old Rochester, Noah Borgiorno, Aidan Eagle, Mello and Hamilton each had a hit.
Apponequet 5, Old Rochester 1
Apponequet;103;0010;0—5
Old Rochester;000;010;0—1
WP: Gabe Zuber (2-2); LP: Colin Mello
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