East Side turns heads in victory

It’s always nice to drive, but sometimes you have to take the L-Train.

That’s how East Side knows Liam O’Sullivan — the fireballer whose arrival in the game spells disaster for opposing batters.

So when he strode to the mound for the fourth inning yesterday, it was all over for Warwick, R.I. He tossed two scoreless innings as East Side won its opener in the 15-year-old Babe Ruth New England Regional.

Of course, East Side was winning 11-1, so the game was really in doubt.

“He’s 6-(foot)-4 and just throws gas,” coach Wally Derosier said. “He’s our Papelbon. Liam shuts the door all the time for us.”

And just like Papelbon, O’Sullivan needs to be in a position to win — that’s where Kevin Greene came in.

Despite a sore back, having taken a pitch right in the spine during the state tournament, Greene held R.I. to just one run and three hits during his three courageous innings. He also went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs to help propel East Side.

The team plays at 4 p.m. today against Goffstown, N.H.

“He had a sore back, and he just fought threw it,” Derosier said. “He fought through it so we could get to Liam.”

Derosier couldn’t have been happy with his team’s performance.

“The first game is the big thing — getting into the winners’ bracket,” he said. “It stated that we’re here. It showed everyone who we are. And we’re coming — we’re coming hard this year.”

And if the two-run first inning didn’t make that clear enough, East Side emphasized the point in the second.

Shane Keddy, East Side’s No. 3 hitter, came up with two on and no outs. He worked the count to 2-0 then sent a fastball some 360 feet over the left-field fence to extend the lead.

“It was 2 and 0,” Derosier said. “I remember telling him to lock in, look for it. He just crushed it.”

Keddy finished 2 for 3 with the homer, a triple and five RBIs.

Billy Derosier was also 2 for 3 with two RBIs. The No. 4 hitter followed Keddy’s blast with a bomb of his own, sending a double off the center field fence 400 feet away.

“Having those two hits back-to-back was great,” the coach said. “It was a big announcement that we were here.”

Yesterday was the third time in a row that East Side has won its first game in this tournament, bringing up what coach Derosier calls the “hump game.”

Two years ago, the team lost, 2-1. Last year the team lost to Goffstown, 3-2, and the idea of revenge is not lost on these kids. Ten of them have been playing on this team for the last three years, and 13 of them have been around for two.

“It’s the same group of kids,” the coach said. “It’s a close-knit group of kids that just want to keep playing.”

To that end, Derosier is putting Keddy on the mound. The Worcester Tech star is the ace of the staff, and he’ll need to bring his best stuff — Goffstown is also starting its No.1.

East Side is no surprise to anyone in this tournament.

The team started the game with leadoff batter Steve Bodou getting a base hit, stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball before being driven in by Greene, the No. 2 batter.

“That’s what we wanted to do,” coach Derosier said of his team’s quick start. “We were the 2:30 game and everybody was there watching us. We showed we’re serious. It’s all business up here this year.”