Cranston High School West manager Jeffrey Smith said he had never seen anything like it in softball, just in football.

The No. 11-seeded Falcons fought back on three separate occasions in their first-round, Division I playoff game against No. 6 Cumberland, including multiple six-run deficits, but eventually fell, 18-17. West took advantage of 16 free passes to come back from being down 8-2, 10-8 and nearly erasing an 18-12 hole in the seventh inning.

“We didn’t give anything up right until the last out,” Smith said. “When you score 17 runs, you should win the game in a playoff format [but] we played everyone on the bench, everyone contributed from one through 13. I can’t ask for anything more than that.”

After the Clippers jumped out to a six-run lead in the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons looked to equalize with their backs against the wall. Alyssa Ragosta pinch-hit to lead off the inning, but she was issued a free pass. She moved to second on a passed ball and reached third on a fielder’s choice from Danielle Carmody to put runners at the corners with one out. Second baseman and captain Nicole Bucci grabbed her second RBI of the day with a base hit, while a walk to the next batter, fellow captain Arianna Viccione, loaded the bases.

Third baseman Marissa Cushman, who had laced a double in her last at-bat, looked to do the same this time around. Instead, she was plunked by Clippers’ pitcher Sydney Provencal and drove home Carmody from third. Left fielder Giuliana Hathaway then reached base for her fifth time on the afternoon when she crushed a two-run double to cut the deficit to just 1.

“There was just no quit, that was the best part,” Smith said. “The captains were around them just constantly, [saying] ‘No quitting, play seven innings, we play seven innings.’”

Cumberland left-handed starter Jocelyn Bodington, who was pulled after 3 1/3 innings, reentered the game looking for the save after the right-handed Provencal had given up nine runs in her three frames of work. An error at second base and an intentional walk of right fielder and captain Blake Jackman loaded the bases for West with still only one batter out.

Ragosta stepped in and worked the count, but eventually struck out swinging on a pitch at the letters. Captain and shortstop Lauren Salisbury, who had three RBI singles to her credit at that point, flew out to right field to end the Falcons’ season.

The Falcons (7-11) had already worked two rallies earlier in the game after taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Clippers went silently in the first, but exploded for eight runs in the second off of West starter Brianna Caputo. Cumberland (11-7) tapped her for five hits, including RBI singles for Provencal, Taylor Fay and Samantha Jalbert, to jump out to an 8-2 advantage.

West battled back in the third and fourth with help from Cumberland’s miscues. Salisbury led off with a walk in the third, and got to third following a wild pitch and a fielder’s choice. After designated hitter Keara Pedroso grounded out to third, Salisbury charged home and the throw sailed over the catcher’s head to make it 8-3.

Bodington aided the Falcons’ comeback in the fourth inning, issuing walks to three of the first four West batters to fill the bases. Salisbury then ripped an RBI single into right field to plate Hathaway and reload the bags. Bodington issued a bases-loaded walk to Pedroso, her final batter for the time being, and her replacement, Provencal, walked Bucci to make it 8-6.

“It’s something that we haven’t actually seen all year,” Smith said about the volume of walks issued to the Falcons. “[Bodington] was trying to kind of pound it outside and the girls were laying off it. Their eyes were really good.”

Viccione lifted a sacrifice fly to foul territory in right field that plated Salisbury and moved Pedroso to third base. Pedroso would score the game-tying run when she dashed home on a passed ball.

The Clippers kept responding, though, scoring two runs with help from a throwing error by Cushman and an RBI groundout from Bodington. However, the Falcons wouldn’t quit, as they brought the score level again in the top of the fifth with RBI singles from Caputo and Salisbury.

Once again, Cumberland struck back. This time, the Clippers plated seven in the fifth, finally chasing Caputo from the game. Bodington and Fay both had RBI doubles, and Jalbert, Katerina Kent and Emily Anderson each brought a run home with singles to push the lead out to 17-10.

“I’m very proud of our kids,” Cumberland manager Martin Crowley said. “We’ve learned, we’ve evolved over the year and we’ve learned that we’re never out of a game and to come back. It’s just a matter of staying focused and playing one pitch at a time and that’s what we did.”

The Falcons cut that deficit to five in the fifth inning with Hathaway’s RBI triple to deep right that brought Cushman, who doubled with one out, to the plate. Catcher MacKenzie Beyer’s groundout to shortstop scored Hathaway for the 12th run.

Sophomore Camryn Ricci pitched 1 1/3 innings for the Falcons, striking out one while giving up one run on two hits. The only runner she allowed to cross the plate came in the sixth inning, with Kent scoring on Rachel Gillardi’s groundout to second base.

Caputo took the loss for West, going 4 2/3 innings and giving up 17 of the 18 Cumberland runs on 15 hits and five walks.

“She’s a senior, and I just figured let her get that final out,” Smith said of why he decided to stick with Caputo as long as he did. “I was second-guessing myself, and I even said that next inning, but it’s one of those things. I was hoping she’d get the last out and get off the field, but it didn’t happen. But the bats came back and we made it interesting.”

The bright spot for the Falcons going forward into next season is their youth, as 18 of their 23 players will be returning next season.

They will lose all four captains (Bucci, Jackman, Salisbury and Viccione) and Caputo, but the Falcons retain a core of nearly all freshmen and sophomores. The only junior starter on the team is left fielder Giuliana Hathaway. Their starting catcher, Beyer, and third baseman, Cushman, are both only freshmen.

“We got a real good group coming back,” Smith said. “Good core. They’ve had experience and the games like this will carry through so they’re not scared or intimidated by situations in the following year. So they can build on this. This was actually a very good catalyst for 2016.”