Baseball: Prep subdues Danvers with 17-hit attack

It might be hard to convince NEC South champion Danvers High that hitting hasn’t been a strong suit for this year’s St. John’s Prep baseball team after the Catholic Conference co-champion Eagles unleashed a 17-hit attack in a 14-7 win Saturday night at Twi Field.”I don’t know where that came from – we were hitting .237 as a team going in. Hopefully we can continue it in the tournament,” said St. John’s coach Pat Yanchus, whose club heads into the tournament with a 15-5 slate. Danvers finishes up at 16-4.Junior catcher Jake Barosin, playing in place of injured senior captain Tyler Coppola (thumb), powered the offense as he belted three doubles and drove in three runs. Brandon Bingel contributed a double and triple and drove in two runs while Andrew Donahue had two hits and three RBI. Sean Patrikas, Dillon Gonzalez and Brandon Coppola added two hits and an RBI each. Rob DeFranco picked up the win.”It’s the game for yearly bragging rights. It’s always well-attended and it’s a lot of fun. It’s not quite a tournament atmosphere, but it’s close,” said Yanchus.Sunday morning the Eagles needed only one inning to complete an 8-5 non-league win against Central Catholic of Lawrence. The game was suspended last Thursday night after nine innings, tied at 5-5.Gonzalez struck the key blow, a two-run double in the top of the 10th. Mike Driscoll struck out the side in the bottom of the inning for the win after Rob Woodward recorded the hold with five stellar innings of relief on Thursday. Pat Connaughton drilled a two-run homer, Andrew Capuano had three hits and two RBI and Bingel added two hits and an RBI.Yanchus said the Eagles’ postseason chances are dependent upon whether they continue to swing the bats as well as they have recently.”If we can hit, I like our chances. We have a number of kids doing a good job on the mound and we’ve been playing good defense all year,” he said.S’scott 3, Saugus 2At Saugus, Jimmy Lowe had the game-winning RBI for the Big Blue (13-7) when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Nick Meninno picked up the win (6.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 2 ER) and Sean O’Brien got the save.The Big Blue had defeated Pentucket 4-2 on Saturday. Robert Faia got the win (7 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 K, 2 R, 1 ER) and Meninno went 2-for-3 with three RBI.Bp. Fenwick 18, Austin Prep 3At Reading, the Crusaders rolled, wrapping up their third consecutive Catholic Central League championship, which has never been done in school history, coach Russ Steeves noted.Shortstop Dave Ruggiero led the Crusaders (15-5), going 5-for-6 with two runs scored and five RBI. Mike Cipriani went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.Kevin Church got the win with five innings of scoreless relief (2 H, 1 BB, 3 K).Andover 9, Peabody 4At Peabody, the Tanners (16-6 overall) mustered only four hits and had an eight-game winning streak halted by surging Andover in the Tanner City Tournament title game. The Golden Warriors (11-9) qualified for postseason play by upsetting Everett in Saturday’s semifinal round and rapped out 13 hits against Peabody. The Tanners handled Masconomet in Saturday’s semifinals, 5-1.Lynnfield 20, Winchester 4At Winchester, the tourney-bound Pioneers (13-7) pounded the hosts in the consolation round of the Brendan Grant Tournament.Ben Kendrew pitched a complete game (8 H, 3 K, 2 ER) for his fourth win of the season. The offense recorded 23 hits and those who helped out included: Rick Berardino (2-2, BB, 3-R HR, single, 3 RBI); Pete Franchi (2-R HR); Chris Klotzbier (4-4, 3 singles, double, 3 RBI); Dylan Costa (1-3, RBI); Craig Anderson (2-3, RBI); Carmine DiCesare (2-3, RBI); B.J. Neil (1-3, RBI); Chris Davis (2-2, RBI); Connor Lordan (2-3, RBI); Chris Lang (2-3); Evan Gard (1-2); Sean Gard (1-2); and Tony Baglieri (1-2).Salem 3, Malden 1At Salem State, the Witches capped a 7-11 campaign with a non-league win Monday. Sophomore Ben Kapnis worked into the seventh inning for the win, striking out three and allowing three hi