DANVERS – The St. John’s Prep baseball team kicked off its season opener Monday night with an error-plagued mess against a signature Catholic Conference foe.
It ended with what left fielder Gavin Gold called a “sneak preview” for what’s to come from the Eagles in a strong campaign.
Behind a five-run sixth inning that saw it finally figure out opposing starter Brady Shea amid an otherwise dominant performance, No. 7 St. John’s Prep (1-0) stormed back when the game mattered most to take down No. 5 St. John’s of Shrewsbury (1-1), 5-4.
Gold (2-for-2, triple, walk) and Jack DiFilippo each smacked two-run doubles to rally from a 4-0 deficit, setting the stage for junior pinch-hitter Tyler Spear to drive in the go-ahead run with a single to left field. It was Spear’s first career varsity at-bat.
The one-run cushion was all Braeden Hurley needed to finish off a noteworthy win in relief, striking out two in a 1-2-3 seventh to round off four shutout innings of three-hit ball.
“It was a great job from a lot of guys,” said Eagles head coach Dan Letarte. “We had a tough first inning with the errors. … When we strung those hits together in the last inning, it was fun.”
“This is a special team,” Gold added. “If that’s how we’ve got to win, that’s how we’ve got to win. … (The comeback) is just something special, and we’re not done yet.”
It was a bit of a baptism by fire for Spear, stepping up to the plate with pinch-runner Christian Rosa on second in a 4-4 game. DiFilippo had just knocked Shea out of the game with his game-tying double, and Spear looked to maintain the momentum.
After a high pitch from reliever Jack Roche helped Rosa advance to third base with one out, Spear dropped in the game-winning single a few feet inside fair territory in front of the left fielder. The count was full.
“I’ve got a runner on third base, I’ve just got to do my job – plain and simple,” Spear said. “I’m in my two-strike approach, wide stance, choke up on the bat. Simple, no load, just got to do a job, throw my hands out, and I’m just looking for that outside fast ball – which I did get and I was able to put into left field. … It’s an approach I’ve practiced a lot and thankfully translated into a game.”
The very first batter that St. John’s Prep starter Joe Williams faced reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw. St. John’s of Shrewsbury followed with a walk, a Jack Forgues (3-for-4, two runs) single, another walk and another error before the Eagles finally recorded the first out, which came on a Desmond Hayeck sacrifice fly to give the Pioneers an early, 3-0 lead.
Williams (three hits, three walks, four runs, two earned runs, four strikeouts) was otherwise solid over three innings, but a 4-0 deficit on Andrew Schmit’s RBI single in the third inning seemed like a mighty mountain to climb with how well Shea pitched opposite him.
It wasn’t until Aidan Driscoll’s single in the fourth inning that Shea allowed a hit. And after Gold laced a two-out triple later in the frame, the southpaw got out of the jam to eventually finish the first five innings with a five-strikeout shutout.
Cam LaGrassa started off the sixth with a single, though, and an error on a double-play bid two batters later put runners on first and second with one out. James Willett loaded the bases with a single. Gold and DiFilippo followed with their doubles to end Shea’s outing.
“That’s a good pitcher over there, they’re a good conference team,” Gold said. “We had a slow couple innings and then we finally found our rhythm. I mean, Brady Shea is good over there. He knew what he needed to do, just luckily, we got the better of him. He’s a really good pitcher so we’ll probably see him again.”
