DANVERS— If the St. John’s Prep Eagles needed an indication as to what they might see in the “Super 8” tournament, Walpole gave them a preview Friday at Pete Frates Diamond.
In a back-and-forth clash between two of the state’s top teams, the Eagles were pushed to the brink in a 6-5 win.
“Walpole’s a very good team,” Eagles coach Dan Letarte said. “I saw them the other day against Braintree and they had a five-run inning. Same thing here, they just find ways. They have a lot of speed. They put the ball in play, they run the bases well, their outfield’s tremendous, their fielders are tremendous. They’re a good team. Coach (Chris) Costello does a good job with them.”
Alex Lane plated Brady O’Brien with the game-winning run on a sharply-hit grouball in the bottom of the sixth. Lane carried St. John’s offense, going 4-for-4 with an RBI. He homered twice in Thursday’s win at Gloucester.
“Alex’s hitting the ball very well now,” Letarte said. “He’s seeing the ball well, putting it in play. A couple home runs Thursday helped. The ball seems like a softball to him right now, which is good for him because it’s a good time of the year to have Alex start hitting. It’s coming off the bat well and fast so I’m moving back a little bit in the coach’s box.”
Kevin Dewing got the start and went four innings. Dewing struck out two and allowed one run on one hit. Lynn’s Max Gieg pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Gieg escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth before striking out the side in the seventh.
“Max came in and I think he had some trouble finding the plate,” Letarte said. “Then he settled down against some very good hitters. It’s good to see him throw that curveball for strikes and work his pitches. That was a strong inning at the end. It was good to see that.”
Will Potdevin (2-for-4, RBI) put the Eagles on the board with a solo home run in the bottom of the first. Max Freedman (2-for-3, three RBI) plated Lane with a 2-out RBI single in the bottom of the third, pushing the Eagles lead to 2-0.
Walpole got one back in the top of the fourth. Leadoff hitter Jack Magane (1-for-3, RBI) singled, advanced to third on a St. John’s error and came home on Chris MaClean’s sacrifice fly. St. John’s answered in the bottom half of the inning on leadoff batter Brady O’Brien’s (2-for-4, RBI) RBI single, scoring courtesy-runner Noah Schott.
The Rebels capitalized on St. John’s mistakes in the top of the fifth to grab their first lead of the afternoon. Back-to-back walks and a 1-out single loaded the bases. All three Walpole runners came home on a St. John’s throwing error, giving Walpole a 4-3 edge. Magane tacked on one more with a sacrifice fly.
Freedman’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the fifth knotted the score at 5-5. Lane brought home O’Brien with the eventual game-winning run on a RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
Gieg’s 1-2-3 seventh sealed the 6-5 win.
The MIAA will release the “Super 8” pairings Sunday night. Letarte feels there’s a chance his Eagles will meet with Walpole again.
“My gut tells me we’ll see them if we both go 2-0,” Letarte said. “That would be a massive game and that’s when you see their best pitching. Their No. 1 and No. 2 didn’t throw (Friday) and I’m fully aware of that. We didn’t see Cam Schlittler and he’s their best pitcher. Their best pitchers didn’t throw but to their credit the kids that threw did an outstanding job.”
St. John’s (16-4) travels to Peabody Saturday. St. John’s celebrated its senior day Friday, honoring the 15 seniors on its roster.
“Most coaches might think about retiring when you lose 15 seniors,” Letarte said. “They’re just great kids. They won the Catholic Conference title. They come in every day and they work hard. There aren’t any headaches. They’re never an attitude, never a problem. They’re great kids and I love them.”
