Here's how EP and Hendricken booked their baseball state title tickets
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Ben Hallene starred in the sunshine. And Jayden Burgos brought the heat under milky skies.
The East Providence lefty and Hendricken right-hander ruled the day in Division I playoff baseball. Hallene surrendered just two hits to lift the Townies on their home turf against La Salle. And Burgos, after a rain delay in Warwick, electrified Pepin Field with a championship-booking no-hitter vs. North Kingstown.
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No. 3 East Providence reached its first State Championship appearance in 81 years with a 1-0 defeat of No. 2 La Salle in the Pod 2 Championship on Sunday, May 31. Hallene’s complete-game effort was his second in as many starts after he toppled Lincoln in the opening round.
Burgos fought through scattered showers and finished off the Skippers, 8-0, in just over 100 pitches to send Hendricken to the title game for the third straight year. Burgos finished with three strikeouts and five walks in the Pod 1 Championship triumph.
“Every start just felt great this season,” Hallene said. “Woke up feeling great again today and it just happened. We ended up winning thanks to our defense. I only had one strikeout all game, they made the plays — not me.”
“My heart rate was up,” Burgos said.
The best-of-three championship series begins on Thursday, June 4 at Rhode Island College. For more on the star pitching performances, read on below:
‘Lefty’ loves the pressure
East Providence secured Hallene – or better known as Lefty – his only run in the first inning. A leadoff single from Aidan Martins was followed by a walk from Gavin Palombo. Jamison Sydney advanced them with a single to right and then JJ Renaud’s sacrifice fly scored Martins.
La Salle escaped the 31-pitch first inning with the bases loaded, but Hallene had enough from his offense. He returned for the second, allowed one single, and then began to sit La Salle down in order.
“He’s been doing it all year long,” Renaud said. “Two runs [allowed] all year, it’s just crazy. He’s not a big guy, but he gets weak contact and we make the plays for him.”
Hallene wasted little time in the middle frames with 1-2-3 outings in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. It was the same effort the senior gave in the seventh inning after East Providence scored its winning runs in the sixth against Lincoln in a 2-1 finish last Tuesday.
Hallene’s last two starts include just one earned run on nine hits over 14 innings with three walks. He’s filling up the zone with confidence and has East Providence on the edge of history.
“The pressure, all of the people, another team cheering, it just gets me going,” Hallene said. “I know I have to do good, and I have to pitch well to win.
“Seeing us have the lead after the first inning, it just boosts your confidence. Knowing that we can give up a hit here-and-there and not have to worry about losing the game because of it.”
Renaud captured the first win over La Salle, a 9-4 finish in Providence, to advance the Townies to the Pod Championship. East Providence, who won the D-II crown in 2023, is off to just its second State Championship appearance after the Townies were swept by Warren, 5-4 and 3-1, in 1945.
“It just feels great,” Renaud said. “Big team win, and all year our goal was a championship. Now we’re here, two more wins is all we have to do.”
Rain doesn’t stop Burgos
Burgos had his first out of the game on one pitch. He was already finding another playoff gear after the easy ground ball to the right side. The Skippers didn’t find their first baserunner until working a two-out walk in the third inning.
He surrendered another walk in the fourth frame and two free bases in the fifth but got out of the inning with a strikeout. A two-out hit-by-pitch and a walk in the sixth ended with a fly out to left. The Hawks then turned a double play in the final frame to get him to the 102-pitch finish. The ensuing celebration included a water cooler shower for the junior.
“He’s such a good kid and he’s trusted the work that he put in all year and it was just a great game,” Dylan Poloski said ofBurgos. “Like any guy we put on the mound, we have so much confidence because we put in so much work throughout the year and that’s what carries us in the playoffs.”
Cullen Crain’s stab on a short hop in the second inning and Edgar Rodriguez’s fifth-inning highlight grab in shallow center kept the no-hitter alive as the Hawks’ offense went to work. The first three hitters in Hendricken’s lineup — Parker Boyd, Crain and Poloski — went 6-9 with five RBIs and five runs scored.
A five-run fourth frame included Poloski’s two RBI ground-rule double that pushed the Hawks ahead by six.
“I just locked in and every time I went into the dugout I just sat quietly,” Burgos said.
The Hawks toppled Moses Brown and South Kingstown to reach Sunday's Pod Championship affair. Hendricken, which suffered its only in-state loss to East Providence on April 16, is now just two wins away from a State Championship three-peat.
“We’re going into that game with a lot of confidence because we’re playing better baseball,” Poloski said. “We’re all tight, we all love each other so that is what’s going to carry us.”
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: East Providence and Hendricken baseball to play for 2026 State title