CCRI softball, baseball begin postseason play this week with eyes on national championships

Warwick, RI – Playoff fever has hit the Community College of Rhode Island with its baseball and softball teams competing in postseason action this week. 

After finishing 15-16 overall and 13-5 in regional play, the baseball team earned the No. 2 seed in this week’s Region XXI Tournament and will host No. 3 seed Massasoit (10-8) at the Warwick Campus tomorrow at 3:30 pm. The Knights went 3-0 against Massasoit during the regular season.

The Region XXI Baseball Tournament features four teams in a double-elimination format. Tomorrow’s winner plays the winner of the No. 1 Northern Essex (15-3) and No. 4 Bunker Hill (9-9) game Saturday morning at 10 at host school Clark University in Worcester. The finals are scheduled for Sunday beginning at 10 am with a winner-take-all game scheduled for later in the afternoon, if necessary. 

The Knights have advanced to the championship round in each of the last two seasons and this year hope to bring home their first regional title since 2019. The Region XXI champion plays the Region XV champion in the Northeast District Tournament from May 17–19 with a trip to the NJCAA Division III Baseball World Series in Auburn, NY, on the line; the Knights have been to the World Series five times with their last trip coming in 2019. Eight schools qualify for the World Series with seven automatic and one at-large bid.

This year’s baseball team surged in April and May following a tough spring trip to Florida in March where they opened the season 1-8. Once regional play began, the Knights found their rhythm and won their first six against their Region XXI foes and eight of their first nine, including a win over top-seeded Northern Essex on April 21. Since the calendar flipped to May, the Knights are 4-1. They closed the regular season May 4 with a doubleheader sweep over Quinsigamond to wrap up the No. 2 seed in the tournament. 

The Knights carry a deep lineup into the postseason with six regulars who batted above .300, led by sophomore Josh Lincourt (North Kingstown, RI), who finished with a team-best .417 batting average and .558 on-base percentage. Lincourt also led the team in home runs (4) and RBI (29) and tied for the team lead in walks (27) with sophomore Avery Acuna (Providence, RI). Team ace Calvin Battersby (West Warwick, RI)  led the Knights with eight starts in 2024 and finished 4-2 with a team-best 3.82 ERA.

The 2024 Region XXI champion softball team – ranked No. 6 in the nation in this week’s poll – continues its record-setting season this Saturday when it plays Region XV champion Monroe College-Bronx at the Express’ home field in New Rochelle, NY, in the double-elimination Northeast District Tournament. Games 1 and 2 are scheduled for 1 and 3 pm with a winner-take-all game (if necessary) slated for Sunday. This weekend’s winner earns one of seven automatic bids in the NJCAA Division III Softball World Series in Chattanooga, TN.

Following a dominant regular season in which they won their first 20 games for the best start in program history and finished 30-2 to set a new single-season record with a .938 win percentage, the Knights are on the doorstep of the program’s first trip to the World Series. They played Monroe College-Bronx four times this season and won each game by a combined score  of 52-7, including a doubleheader sweep in New York to close out the regular season on April 28.

Softball finished among the top 10 in the nation in a number of categories, including fourth in home runs (30); second in RBI (307); third in hits (401); eighth in walks (132); second in batting average (.429), slugging (.631), and on-base percentage (.519); and second in total shutouts pitched (9). Kate Motta (Warwick, RI) led the team in hitting with a .514 average and a team-best .576 slugging percentage while sophomore Ashley Klingberg (Coventry, RI) batted .470 and finished with seven home runs and 48 RBI. Freshman Zoe Battersby (West Warwick, RI) hit .490 and slugged a team-best .854 while leading the Knights with eight home runs.