Rhode Island Team Of The Week - Coventry
May 1, 2019
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Rhode Island Team Of The Week - Coventry
COVENTRY, R.I. - Coventry has overcome a 1-3 start to the season to win five of its last six games. Strong pitching has been the catalyst in helping the Oakers earn the honor of being the Rhode Island Prep Baseball Report Team of the Week.
“We’ve only given up four earned runs in 68 innings on the year,” explained first-year pitching coach Chris Mann about what has helped Coventry to a 6-4 record entering May.
The V Men - Jayden Voelker and Loren Vaughn (Video) - have been lights out in keeping Coventry in games, both winning their most recent starts by identical 1-0 scores.
Voelker overcame four errors to throw a three-hit shutout, striking out 14 in a 7-inning masterpiece against Cranston East. Vaughn, a junior righty, had an unlikely performance in his last outing throwing just seven balls in a 71-pitch two-hitter with seven strikeouts to beat East Providence.
For the season, Voelker is 2-3 with 62 Ks and eight walks in 32 innings with a 0.48 ERA while Vaughn is 3-1 with a 0.50 ERA in 28 frames, allowing just four free passes.
“Command of the fastball, curve and change in and out of the zone creates weak contact early in the counts and swing-and-misses late in counts,” Mann said about Vaughn, a submarine-style pitcher.
Jason Serapiglia has served as the closer for Coventry with two saves.
“We’ve been pitching heavy,” Mann noted. “I chart everything to get the guys to understand the hitters and help get the hitters off-balance. Both have done a good job of that.”
Senior catcher Jake Organ is also credited with benefiting the pitchers.
“He’s done a real good job of keeping the staff calm in pressure situations,” Mann said of the 5-7 150-pounder ranked 442nd in the New England 2019 class. “He’s done a good job receiving and blocking balls.”
Devyn Vezina has been the spark on offense with a plus-.500 on-base percentage and 9-for-9 on stolen bases out of the lead-off spot.
“He’s the one guy offensively that puts a fear in the opposing team,” Mann said of the sophomore, who plays shortstop, center field and right field while also serving as the number three starting pitcher.
Another sophomore, Will Turner, is the team’s “RBI machine” according to Mann.
“He’s had a lot of base hits that push runs across,” Mann said of the team’s left fielder.
But defensive issues and scoring just 16 runs in 10 games has made for difficult times for the Oakers, which are also without their starting shortstop for the season after an injury during basketball. Nick Fuentes and Vazina have filled in.
“Defensively, we’ve been moving a lot of guys around because our pitchers are role players,” Mann noted. “We’ve been solid on light contact but we’ve got to shore up our defense with the harder hit balls and make the ordinary plays at first.”
The defense did come up big on Tuesday when second baseman Jamie Donahue made a diving catch with runners on second and third and two outs in the sixth to help preserve the 1-0 lead.
“That was an extraordinary play, especially for someone who has not had a ground ball hit to him for three games,” Mann said.
It kept Coventry in front of the tight game, something the Oakers have not always prevailed at this year. Three of the four defeats have been 2-1 scores, with the other loss a 4-3 setback.
“Our ability to stay in close games and not get frustrated even when we’re not scoring has been surprising,” pointed out Mann, whose team has now won four games by 1-0 scores. “When opposing teams go up one we don’t crumble. When you’re starting six sophomores, there was a thought that might happen but it hasn’t. We’ve stayed loose.”
The recent hot streak has Coventry now in third place in league play behind Bishop Hendricken and Cranston West with league foe Cranston East up next on Thursday.