Prep advances to D1 North final with win over Peabody

LYNN – If Peabody had a couple of pitches, or a couple of circumstances, end up with different results Thursday, we might still be watching the Tanners play St. John’s Prep at Fraser Field.But, as Tanner coach Mark Bettencourt said, “we didn’t get any breaks.”As a result, the Eagles will be playing Sunday (4) at LeLacheur Field in Lowell for the Division 1 North baseball title against a yet-to-be-determined team after their 5-0 win over Peabody Thursday night at Fraser.View Photo GallerySt. John’s, the top seed, hasn’t lost since its opener in April. Bettencourt was hoping to put a little pressure on the Eagles and see how they responded to being behind. Instead, it was the other way around as the Eagles put three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning.”That was huge,” said Prep coach Pat Yanchus. “It’s always good to get up early.”It was especially good because it took a lot of starch not only out of the Tanners but out of Bettencourt as well.”That’s not what we needed to happen,” he said.What made it worse, from Bettencourt’s point of view, is that the two-run single by Paul Crehan wasn’t hit hard at all.”Like I said,” Bettencourt said. “We didn’t get many breaks.”Bettencourt started Andrew McLaughlin in hopes of getting four or five innings out of him before turning it over to Pat Ruotolo, the Peabody ace who has been bothered by arm issues. McLaughlin walked the first two Prep hitters in the bottom of the first (after St. John’s Brandon Bingel retired Peabody in order in the top of the inning).”That was nerves, I’m sure,” said Bettencourt.Bingel hit a fly ball to center that moved both runners up, and McLaughlin came back to strike out Keith Leavitt. However, Crehan managed to get his bat on the ball and flare it into no-man’s-land behind shortstop, too far for centerfielder Maynard Wheeler to catch.”Who knows,” Bettencourt said, “he gets a better piece of that ball and maybe Wheeler catches it and we’re out of the inning.”David Bornstein’s double knocked in Crehan for the third run. And that was all the Bryant University-bound Bingel needed. He coasted through the game, never really in trouble. In the eight innings he pitched, he struck out 11 batters and gave up only five hits before giving way in the ninth to Justin Snyder.”He started us out with a lot of curves,” said Bettencourt, “and they were late-breaking. You could see that some of our better hitters were having trouble with them.”St. John’s other two runs came in the fourth inning on Nick Latham’s two-run homer.”I have to give him credit on that one,” said Bettencourt. “He turned on it.”Thursday’s game was 10 years to the night that Peabody beat St. John’s in the D1 North semifinal when Jeff Allison stole home. It was the last game for Peter Frates of The Prep, who is battling ALS. Frates recently was married and is on his honeymoon. Still, he sent an email from “the beach,” telling this year’s Eagles about the circumstances of that game.”The last line of the letter,” Yanchus said, “was ‘play as if your hair was on fire.’ The kids responded to that very well.”Steve Krause can be reached at [email protected].