Van delivered for East Greenwich, ending baseball title drought
· Yahoo Sports
PROVIDENCE — More than just Van Martin will remember the final at-bat of his East Greenwich baseball career.
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One swing cemented the shortstop’s place in program record books. The Avengers hadn’t captured a championship in 28 years until the senior came through in the clutch late Wednesday afternoon at Rhode Island College.
Martin drilled an RBI triple with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the difference in a Game 3 thriller against West Warwick. Pinch runner Clay Brumberger cruised home from second base with the winning run as East Greenwich pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Wizards under steamy skies.
Jaxson Ayotte worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh as the Avengers erased three previous years of hurt in the title round. West Warwick put East Greenwich on the brink of collapse with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but the Avengers were able to hang on this time and join three Class B winners from their school between 1993 and 1998.
“Even better,” Martin said when he was asked whether how he felt lifting the trophy matched his expectations. “I can’t describe it.”
Anders Nelson dropped a looping one-out single over the shortstop and Tyler Nuti sacrificed him into scoring position for Martin. The left-handed hitter jumped on a first-pitch fastball from Anthony Burt and sent it on a line to deep left-center, with the Wizards giving chase in vain. Martin rolled into third base and let out a roar toward the home dugout, which suddenly had reclaimed the advantage.
“I saw it go,” Martin said. “I was like, ‘No way — this might be the one.’ Off the bat I knew I was going three, too.”
Burt was dominant to that point in relief, coming on in the fourth and retiring seven of the first eight men he faced. West Warwick was uncertain how much the right-hander could work while returning from a back injury, but he came out of the bullpen late in a 15-6 blowout in Game 2. Burt’s effort helped the Wizards buy time while rallying from a 3-0 deficit.
“The momentum definitely shifted toward West Warwick’s favor,” Martin said. “But we’re a gritty team. We proved it all year.”
Nelson breezed to a 6-1 win in Game 1 but found it more difficult working on short rest in this one. He started to tire after a Kole Kilduff run-scoring single in the fourth and another jam in the fifth, eventually allowing the first two men to reach in the sixth. Charlie Brown’s grounder was thrown away for an error that plated Jair Blanco and Lucas Cetola, and the game was knotted at 3-3.
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Nelson hit the 110-pitch limit on the play and Ayotte was summoned from the bullpen with one out. He recorded a swinging strikeout and a 6-4 fielder’s choice grounder to Martin, leaving the potential go-ahead run at third. It was the first action of the series for the left-hander, who was credited with the victory.
“We trusted our ability,” Ayotte said. “We trusted each other, relied on each other and just got the job done.”
East Greenwich (19-5-1) used a pair of errors and a Walker Klika single inside the bag at first to build a 3-0 lead after one. Nelson set down the first seven men he faced and was in complete command until Nick Andruchow drew a leadoff walk in the fourth. West Warwick (19-6) put a man in scoring position thanks to an error and Kilduff grounded one through the left side to cut into the deficit.
“We trusted each other, trusted the coaching, trusted everybody,” Ayotte said. “We just made it through.”
West Warwick 000 102 0 — 3 3 3
East Greenwich 300 001 x — 4 7 2
Michael Sabetta, Anthony Burt (4) and Nick Andruchow. Anders Nelson, Jaxson Ayotte (6) and Brady O’Brien.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score of 2026 RIIL Division II Game 3 Baseball Championship Series