St. John’s outslugs Gloucester in extra innings

GLOUCESTER ? A short fence, plus metal bats, plus the wind blowing out equals Slugfest.The Gloucester High and St. John’s Prep baseball teams combined for eight home runs, including a solo blast by Sawyer Billings when the Eagles were down to their last out, as St. John’s rallied to defeat the Fishermen, 11-9, in eight innings, Friday, at Nate Ross Field.After Billings’ homer tied the game with two outs in the top of the seventh, centerfielder Mark Etherington and catcher Mike Gealsen each hit their second homers of the game in the eighth to provide the Eagles (15-1) with their winning margin.”I was getting ready to do my losing speech, and then (Billings) tied the game with that home run, and then we get two more home runs in the eighth,” St. John’s Prep coach Dan Letarte said. “It’s amazing how quickly a game can change in 15 minutes.”The Fishermen (15-2) clubbed three home runs – a 2-run bomb by Jordan Pallazola and solo shots from Peter Clark and Bart Margiotta – and led the game 9-4 with two outs and no one on base in the sixth.”It’s a tough one to lose, but I’m proud of the way we battled the No. 1 team in the state,” Gloucester coach Bryan Lafata said. “I’m proud of the way my kids competed, the way they played, and the way they conducted themselves.”The Eagles’ 4-run rally in the sixth started with a double by Billings, who went to third on a single by Jacob Yish (three hits, two runs, RBI) and then scored on another single by Etherington, who also had three hits, and a game-high four RBI.Pinch-hitter Andrew Attar then smacked a 3-2 pitch for a double to the gap in right-center to score both Yish and Etherington to make the score 9-7, and chase Clark, Gloucester’s ace. Gealsen then dropped a single into left field off Gloucester reliever Tyler Favaloro to score Attar to close the gap to one.Favaloro quickly got the first two outs in the top of the seventh, but Billings got some lift on a 2-1 pitch to clear the fence in left to tie the game, as the St. John’s Prep dugout erupted.After Prep lefty Evan Roberts recorded his second successive 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, Etherington led off the eighth with a home run to left and one out later Gealsen followed with another home run to left field.The Fishermen put runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth, but Gealsen blocked a low pitch from Roberts and caught Devon Murray too far off the bag at second for the second out. Pallazola just got under an offering from Roberts and flied out to Etherington in center to end the game.Roberts worked three scoreless innings to pick up the win. Favaloro absorbed the loss.”This is the third time we’ve done this (comeback win) this season,” Letarte said. “These kids never give up. And we got two home runs each from the seventh and ninth place hitters in our lineup.”Clark’s solo homer in the first – the longest of the day – to left field off Eagles starter Dan Trulli gave Gloucester an early lead.St. John’s came back with four runs in the second on doubles from Rosario Missiti and Yish, and homers from Etherington and Gealsen.The Fishermen got two back right away in the bottom of the second on a 2-run double to left by Curtis Quinn, and then sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs in the third in an inning highlighted by Pallazola’s 2-run homer to center.Gloucester added two more runs in the fourth on a walk to Pallazola and a home run to left by Margiotta.