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SOUTH KINGSTOWN — Nick Vellone went from providing some insurance to walking it off.��

His extra chance to drive an important run home was unexpected, but South Kingstown’s second baseman capitalized nonetheless. His infield single in the bottom of the seventh inning kept the good times rolling for the Rebels in Division I.��

Vellone’s bouncer up the middle went for a base hit, and South Kingstown avoided what would have been a stinging defeat on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. They slipped past the Clippers, 3-2, and kept pace atop the league in a thriller at Old Mountain Field.��

“It’s a statement win right there,” Vellone said. “Beating the defending champs like that on our home field, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a big win.”��

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The visitors flashed their mettle in the top of the seventh, as Tyler Hurteau’s two-run double erased a 2-0 deficit. The Rebels kept the game tied and made the most of the only chance they needed to capture a third straight victory in league play. Vellone dug in with the bases loaded and sent a three-hopper past the mound, allowing Ryan Fuscaldo to beat the flip to second base and chasing Jonah Monnes home with the deciding run.��

“We kept having runners in scoring position — one out, no outs,” winning pitcher Quinn Matos said. “If we kept it tied, we could produce a run.”��

Cumberland didn’t have much working against South Kingstown starter Nolan Urian until grinding down to its final three outs. Josh Lyon singled to right, Luke Plumer dumped another base hit to right and Hurteau slashed a liner to deep left that rolled to the base of the fence. Lyon and Plumer both came all the way around and Urian, who developed a blister on his pitching hand late in his outing, departed without a decision in a 2-2 game.��

“Getting out of there without another run, we have a big chance to walk it off,” Matos said. “It was huge.”��

Monnes battled back from a 1-and-2 count to draw a walk, pinch hitter Jack Noonan singled through the left side and Fuscaldo reached on an infield error to load the bases with one out. South Kingstown��couldn’t tag up from third base on a soft liner to shallow left, but Vellone did the honors instead with his grounder back through the middle.��

“When I get up, just hit a hard ground ball or a line drive and make it tough for them to make a play,” Vellone said. “That’s exactly what happened.”��

Urian induced a liner to right in the seventh before Matos was summoned, and the funky right-hander went to work. He notched a strikeout and a fielder’s choice bouncer to short to send the Rebels (10-1)��back to the home dugout with a chance to win it. Urian allowed just four singles through the first six innings and Matos side-armed his way through the bottom of the order, leaving the Clippers (7-3) on shaky ground.��

“It was just go in there and throw strikes,” Matos said. “I’m a strike-thrower. Just try to get us out of the inning so we can hit and hopefully walk it off.”��

Monnes lined an RBI single to left in the third and Vellone went the same way with a run-scoring single in the sixth. South Kingstown piled up 13 hits but none of them went for extra bases. Cumberland issued a lone walk and committed just the late error — the Rebels weren’t going to be gifted this one, and they eventually hung around long enough to take it.��

“We just don’t get down,” Vellone said. “We always stay up. They come up and score two runs — we knew we would keep them there.”��

Cumberland ��000 000 2 — 2 7 0��

South Kingstown ��001 001 1 — 3 13 1��

Ben Jahnz, Marcus Gomes (6), Liam Monahan (7) and Andy Ray. Nolan Urian, Quinn Matos (7) and Jordan Chaloux.����

bkoch@providencejournal.com��

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