WOOD RIVER, JCT. — It was quite a run this spring in the Division 2 baseball tournament for Chariho High.
The Chargers finished 15-9 overall — an improvement of nine games under first-year coach Will Knerr— that included a 5-game winning streak to end the regular season.
And in the D2 tournament, Chariho worked its way out of the losers bracket in Pod 1 to reach the championship round and eventually forcing a winner-take-all game against North Providence before falling 4-1.
Senior Adam Carpenter and junior Landon Sumner — the top two pitchers in the rotation — were named third-team All-State and earned first-team D2 all-conference nods and in Sub-Division C
Carpenter, who is headed to the University of Rhode Island, went 4-4 overall, striking out 76 with 28 walks in 54 1.3 innings with a 2.11 ERA in 11 appearances.
During the D2 tournament, Carpenter defeated Burrillville, 9-5 in an opening round game and in the D2 losers bracket final of Pod 1 — recorded the final six outs – while pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth in a 3-2 victory.
During the regular season, Carpenter struck out a season-high 13, allowing one earned run in a 4-0 loss at Westerly.
“I feel good anytime Adam has the ball,” Knerr said to Westerly Sun correspondent Larry Kelley after the game.
Sumner (6-3, 67K, 2.11 ERA, 53 innings, 13 appearances) threw a 2-hit shutout with eight strikeouts over North Providence that forced the winner-take-all game for Pod 1 and struck out 14 in another 2-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over West Warwick that closed out the regular season.
Freshman Leo Emery (.359, 11 runs, 12 RBI, 8 2B, HR) and senior Gavin Apice (.344, 20 runs, 8 RBI, 14 steals) were first-team D2 Sub-Division selections while senior Ethan Elderkin (16 runs, 6 RBI, 12 steals) and junior Gavyn Pepler (.290, 17 RBI, 5 2B, 2 3B, HR) were second-team Sub-Division C picks.
And named to the All-Academic team were Sumner and Everett Knerr.