Prep falls short in title game

BROCKTON ? After exploding for 20 runs on Wednesday, the St. John?s Prep Eagles didn?t have much left in their tank on Thursday night, falling to Braintree, 7-2, in the Super 8 championship game.
The Eagles finished their season 22-4, going 4-2 in the Super 8 bracket and ending up as the runners-up in the championship. They beat the Wamps, 20-4, Wednesday to force a winner-take-all title game.
?It was a great year, but it was a tough way to end it,” said St. John?s coach Dan LeTarte. “You see these guys out here upset and crying, they did everything they could. They left it all out on the field. It?s just how the ball rolls.”
St. John?s grabbed the lead in the top of the second. Ryan Spurr hit a leadoff single and scored on Dan Rose?s sacrifice fly. Braintree tied things up in the bottom of the inning, and added a run in the fourth and fifth to take a 3-1 lead.
Braintree starter Scott Creedon settled in, and held the Eagles to just one hit in frames two through five.
?He?s a tough kid, he battled and competed his butt off,” LeTarte said. “He was throwing the right pitches at the right times.”
An RBI double from Andrew Selima got the Eagles within one in the sixth, but the Wamps broke out in the later innings. A home run and RBI double in the seventh extended their lead to three, and a two-run homer in the eighth put them up five.
Prep starter Justin Kerhulas went 6 ? innings, allowing five runs on 12 hits and fanning five.
?I thought he had great stuff,” said LeTarte. “He competed, and that?s really all you can ask of him. It was just one of those nights, we made a couple mistakes in the field, and that?s just how the game goes.”
Nick Latham took over on the mound in the seventh, and allowed two runs on two hits.
St. John?s had runners on in the seventh and eighth innings, but were unable to string together hits to push across another run.
?That?s how it goes, you can score 20 runs one night, and the next, you?re struggling to scratch out a couple hits and string them together,” said LeTarte.
St. John?s may not have taken home the trophy, but it doesn?t take away from their strong spring. They went 18-2 in the regular season to earn the top seed in the Super 8. The Eagles will say goodbye to 12 seniors, including Kerhulas and Wednesday night?s starter Justin Foley, as well as captains Spurr, Latham, and Keith Leavitt.
Though they proved to be one of the best teams in the state in the regular season, LeTarte knows that records are irrelevant when it comes to tournament time.
?It?s not always the best team that wins, but the team that plays the best on a given night,” said LeTarte. “And I think Braintree did that tonight.”Katie Morrison can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @KatieMo61.