BOSTON — Saturday’s game between the St. John’s Prep and Xaverian was about more than baseball. The Eagles and Hawks battled it out at Fenway Park in a contest that preceded Boston College’s 7th annual ALS Awareness Game.
St. John’s came away from Saturday’s game on the wrong end of a 3-2 final, as Xaverian strung together a three-run rally in the bottom of the second inning to grab the victory. Although the loss wasn’t the ideal outcome for the Eagles, Letarte and his players made the most of the once in a lifetime experience that comes with playing on the Fenway diamond.
“They brought us down to the concourse. When we started coming out (to the field) and it was like ‘wow’” Letarte said. “It really all hit us. I think the kids will always remember it. Yeah, they’ll remember that we lost 3-2 but they’ll also remember that a lot of them played. We had 23-24 guys play.
“It was a great experience for the kids, it’s just awesome,” Letarte added. “We got to feel like assistant coach Matt Antonelli for the day. Matt’s been in the Major Leagues. It’s a good experience. We don’t like to lose and everyone’s competitive but I’d give up a loss to play here any day.”
The Eagles wore red jerseys with the name “Frates” and No. 3 on their backs, in honor of Pete Frates, who played baseball at St. John’s and Boston College. Frates is a native of Beverly and wore No. 3 in his years playing for St. John’s and Boston College.
The school retired the No. 3 jersey and named its baseball diamond in Frates’ honor last year. Boston College retired Frates’ No. 3 jersey two years ago when the Eagles played the 5th ALS Awareness Game.
All proceeds from the two games benefited the Peter Frates Home Health Initiative. In fact, the cause was close to both schools as Brother Raymond Hoyt, a 1970 graduate of Xaverian who also taught and served as assistant principal at the school, died in October 2017 after a 15-month battle with ALS.
“It was really a great experience, and to have it all be for a great cause is truly an amazing thing,” Letarte said.
For Letarte, there was one moment in Saturday’s game that hit a little closer to home. During the bottom of the fourth inning, Letarte handed the ball to his son, Sean Letarte, who pitched two innings in relief.
Sean Letarte, a junior right-hander and UMass Lowell commit, kept the Hawks off the scoreboard in the bottom halves of the fourth and fifth innings. He came into the game in the top of the fourth with Xaverian runners on first and second and escaped the threat unscathed.
“He got out of a two-on, no out jam, which was huge for us I thought,” Letarte said. “I thought Sean pitched well. He pitched well, Kevin (Dewing) pitched well. The whole bullpen pitched well.”
