With a big win Thursday and a doubleheader forfeit this weekend, the Community College of Rhode Island baseball team has now won three consecutive games and eight of its last 12 heading into the stretch run of the 2023 regular season.

CCRI beat Bunker Hill Community College 19-4 in a five-inning game Thursday on the road and the Bulldogs forfeited both games of Saturday’s scheduled doubleheader at Whitey Fell Field, leaving the Knights at 17-13 overall and an impressive 13-2 in Region XXI play.

With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Knights are within striking distance of recording 20 or more wins for the fourth time in the last five years. They return to action next Wednesday, April 26 with a doubleheader at New Hampshire Technical Institute beginning at 2 pm.

The Knights are averaging 8.4 runs per game in 2023 and have scored 10 or more runs eight times, including 40 against Roxbury Community College on March 30. They’re batting .342 as a team with an impressive .438 on-base percentage, led by sophomore outfielder Sam Laurie (Narragansett, RI), who sports a team-best .448 average with 23 RBI in 26 games. Freshman catcher Josh Lincourt (North Kingstown, RI) has driven in a team-high 26 runs and leads the team with three home runs in addition to a .384 batting average.

On the mound, freshmen Nate Kelly (Lincoln, RI) and Calvin Battersby (West Warwick, RI) have been sensational; in five starts, Kelly is 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings while Battersby has posted a team-best 3.03 ERA in five starts with two wins – both complete-game efforts. Sophomore co-captain Marcus Botelho (Portsmouth, RI) has anchored the bullpen with three saves and eight strikeouts in seven appearances.

CCRI sofbtall extends streak to 12

With two more victories this past weekend on the road against Columbia-Greene Community College, the Knights have now won 12 in a row as they prepare for their inevitable return to the postseason next month.

CCRI beat the Twins 19-2 and 15-4 Saturday in a pair of five-inning games and now boast a 15-7 overall record, which earns them a spot in the NJCAA Division III Region XV Tournament from May 6–7 in Selden, NY – a three-team, double-elimination that includes host school Suffolk County Community College and Monroe College-Bronx, the latter whom the Knights have beaten six times (including two forfeits).

The winner of the Region XV Tournament advances to the Northeast District Championship with a trip to the NJCAA D-III Softball National Championships on the line. If the Knights win the regional tournament, they’ll host the districts at their new home at Brayton Park in Cranston, RI.

First thing’s first, the Knights have two regular-season games remaining this weekend in Massachusetts against Bay Path University, an NCAA Division III school.

In Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Knights busted it open with nine runs in the top of the fourth inning and seven more in the fifth. Sophomore centerfielder Hanna Dias (Charlestown, RI) drove in five runs and finished 4-for-5 while sophomore shortstop Lucie Willett (Charlestown, RI) homered and drove in a pair of runs.

Sophomore outfielder Emily Gil (West Warwick, RI) finished 4-for-5 with three RBI and sophomore infielder Abby Pinault (Pawtucket, RI) and freshman Morgan Rodrigues (Tiverton, RI) each had three hits. Sophomore Samantha Marsella (Rehoboth, MA) cruised to a complete-game victory, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts.

In Game 2, the Knights scored early and often with 13 runs over the first three innings courtesy of Dias, who homered and drove in three runs, and freshman catcher Ashley Klingberg (Coventry, RI), who continued her torrid pace with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate with a pair of RBI and four runs scored. Gil finished 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and freshman infielder Jenna Medeiros (Swansea, MA) homered and drove in three runs.