Cranston West’s Chris Famiglietti is safe at home with the first run of yesterday’s game as Portsmouth catcher Connor Fagan tries to put a tag on him.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

CRANSTON — The fans and pro scouts that flocked to Cranston West yesterday expecting to see a matchup between two of the top pitchers in Rhode Island — Cranston West All-Stater Dan Hopkins versus Portsmouth All-Stater John Pedrotty — were initially disappointed, as Pedrotty didn’t pitch in the nonleague contest.

But the game still turned out to be low-scoring affair featuring two high-profile hurlers — Portsmouth junior Ben Grande and Hopkins, and several lesser-known pitchers who also performed well, including Portsmouth’s Brian Shelburne and Cranston West’s Jake Morgan and Steve Larsson.

Grande and Shelburne combined to hold the defending state champions, who entered yesterday’s game averaging 11 runs per game, to just three hits and one run in a 3-1 victory for the Patriots.

“This is a great win,” Portsmouth coach Dave Ulmschneider said. “Cranston West has a great program. They are the two-time defending state champs. I thought it was a really well-played game between two very good teams.”

Grande threw four strong innings, scattering two hits while striking out six. He had one walk and one hit-batsmen.

“I thought Benny was great,” Ulmschneider said. “He was right around the plate. He spotted his curveball and was able to throw it for strikes and he was able to keep it low and get them to chase some. I thought he did a phenomenal job.”

Shelburne held Cranston West to just one hit with two strikeouts and no walks over the final three innings for the save.

“I thought Brian did a real good job,” Ulmschneider said. “The big thing with [Grande and Shelburne] is the confidence they showed today coming in and facing a very good-hitting team. They pitched with a lot of confidence and a lot of focus.”

Portsmouth scored all three of its runs in the top of the first inning off Hopkins (two earned). Grande and Shelburne, with some help from two double-plays, did the rest.

In the top of the first, Adam Reece reached on an error and advanced to third base on a Dan Dugan single to right. University of Vanderbilt-bound Ryan Westmoreland, who several pro scouts came to see yesterday, drove in Reece with an RBI single to left, and Pedrotty plated Dugan and Westmoreland with a two-run single up the middle.

Hopkins, who has committed to UMass-Amherst, settled down after that and allowed only one more hit before Malo opted to go with Morgan to start the third inning. Morgan pitched three innings and only allowed two hits with one walk, and Larsson closed out the last two innings for the Falcons, walking three and allowing only one hit with one strikeout and one hit-batsmen.

“Hopkins is my number-two starter. He was supposed to start on Saturday and we were rained out so I had to give him a little work before his next start on Friday,” Malo said. “The other two kids, Jake Morgan and Steve Larsson, they are bullpen guys that I haven’t had to use yet. I brought them up from JV because we had an injury. I wanted to see what they could do, and they did a lot better than what I expected. They both threw the ball well.”

The pro scouts were certainly impressed with Westmoreland, who went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double, an RBI, and he stole two bases. Duggan (2-for-4) and Pedrotty (2-for-3, 2 RBI, walk), who will play for Holy Cross next year, also had more than one hit for the Patriots.

Cranston West All-State outfielder Chris Famiglietti, who signed a national letter of intent to play for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi next year, broke out of his recent slump by going 2-for-2. He scored the Falcons’ run by stealing home in the bottom of the fourth inning.

“Hopefully this will be a turnaround for him,” Malo said.

Ulmschneider said that the Patriots (5-0 RIIL, 7-0 overall) have been successful this year because of their hard work.

“These guys work very hard and they play all facets of the game well,” Ulmschneider said. “They try to pay attention to detail, and when they make a mistake or something is not right, they work real hard to correct it. They are a real easy group to coach and they are a real talented group.”

Malo said that everyone in the Falcons’ lineup can hit the ball well on any given day and that’s what makes Cranston West (4-1, 5-2 overall) a dangerous team.

“At different times, different guys can get it done,” Malo said.

Portsmouth

300 000 0 – 370

Cranston West

000 100 0 – 131

Ben Grande, Brian Shelburne (5) and Connor Fagan; Dan Hopkins, Jake Morgan (3), Steve Larsson (6) and Michael Saccoccio.

roblee@projo.com