Rochester, N.H. — Waterford took all the drama out of its game early at the New England Babe Ruth 13-year-old baseball tournament on Sunday.

Waterford scored four runs in the first inning and six more in the third en route to a 12-2 win over Rhode Island champion Cranston. Waterford improved to 2-0 in pool play and clinched a spot in Wednesday's semifinals. And Cranston is the team which knocked Waterford out of last year's Little League New England Regional.

"To be up 4-0 after one inning was big,'' said Waterford coach Dave Laffey. "The kids were a little tight before the game. I sensed they were a little intimidated by Cranston because of last year. 

Waterford finishes play in Pool A against Vermont champion St. Johnsbury, which is 0-2, Monday at 4 p.m. After a bye on Tuesday, Waterford will play the Pool B runnerup Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Ryan O'Connell's two-run single was the big hit in the first inning and Luke Sokolski's three-run double highlighted the third inning outburst. Sokolski went 2-for-2 and reached base four times.

On the receiving end of the offense was Ryan Bakken, who allowed two hits and a pair of unearned runs over five innings for the win.

"It's nice that we're able to relax in Game 3 and get some kids in who haven't played as much,'' said Laffey. "But we want to win and leave no doubt that we're the best team in our bracket.''

Schooners lose

• The Plymouth Pilgrims led 7-0 after six innings and went on to beat the Mystic Schooners 13-4 in a New England Collegiate Baseball League game. Richard Slenker (Yale) and Chase Lunceford (Louisiana Tech) had RBI doubles in the seventh and Nick Mascelli (Wagner) and Lunceford had run-scoring singles in the seventh for the Schooners (22-14).

SEC 16-18 Babe Ruth

• East Lyme Black opened the playoffs with a 14-11 win over Tri-County. Alex Jones scored twice and Andrew Brown and Brett Bragaw doubled for East Lyme. Bryan Carambot was the winning pitcher. Jason Walls (homer) had four hits and Brad Ashton (triple) had three hits for Tri-County.     

State LL baseball (10-11)

• Waterford opened play in the double-elimination tournament with a 7-5 win over Ellington on Saturday. Anthony Sharples was the winning pitcher and Sean Salvador earned a save. Matt Uguccioni homered, Evan Piotrowski was 3-for-4 and Evan McCue and Jackson Long had doubles for Waterford.

Section 3 LL softball (9-10)

• Waterford advanced to the four-team state tournament by beating Newington 5-4 on Saturday. Marina Colonis was 2-for-3 and Lucy D'Amico doubled for Waterford.

Section 3 LL baseball (9-10)

• Mystic beat Middletown 9-4 on Saturday to advance to the the four-team state tournament. Donte Valentine was the winning pitcher and Jackson Lalima had a bases-loaded triple to Mystic.

Senior League softball (15-16)

• Waterford lost a pair of games to drop to 0-3 at the East Region in Worcester, Mass. Waterford lost to Rhode Island champion Providence 8-7 and to host Worcester 14-3. Waterford, which lost to Maine champion Scarborough 8-7 on Saturday, finishes pool play on Monday at 12:30 p.m. against Massachusetts champion Peabody.

New London-Waterford Speedbowl

• Waterford's Rob Janovic Jr. won his first race in over two years, driving to victory in the 35-lap SK Modified race on Saturday night. Janovic Jr., a former track champion in the division, won his first race since Aug. 16, 2014. It was his 23rd career win at the Speedbowl. Salem's Joey Gada was second and Todd Owens of Somers finished third.

Other winners included Ray Christian III of Uncasville (Late Model), Al Stone III of Durham (Limited Sportsman), Wayne Burroughs Jr. of Oakdale (Mini Stock) and Dana DiMatteo of Farmington (Legends).

Christian's win was his third of the season and Jeff Smith of Old Lyme finished second with Keith Rocco of Wallingford third. Josh Galvin of Oakdale was second to Stone, who won for the fourth time this season, with Norwich's Chris Meyer third. Ken Cassidy Jr. of Lisbon was second in the Mini Stock race and Jacob Perry of Pawcatuck was third. Burroughs won for the third time in the last four races. Cameron Morga of Albuquerque, N.M. was second in the Legends race and John O'Sullivan III of Salem finished third. 

Sutera tournament (11-12)

• Frank Sablone homered as Lyme/Old Lyme beat Waterford 8-3. Riley Warecke was the winning pitcher and struck out seven. Liam Fallon doubled and Mika Guillet had two hits for Lyme/Old Lyme. Anthony Sandora and Colby Arnold had two hits each for Waterford.

Tigers rained out

• The New York-Penn League game between the Connecticut Tigers and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers was postponed by rain in Niles, Ohio. They will play a doubleheader on Monday, beginning at 6 p.m.