BROCKTON– It took a comeback effort but the No. 2 St. John’s Prep baseball team punched its ticket to the Division 1A “Super 8” final with a 7-6 win over No. 3 Walpole Sunday at Campanelli Stadium.
The Eagles fell behind 6-3 after allowing a 6-run Walpole rally in the top of the third. St. John’s tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and plated the winning run on DJ Brooks’ RBI single in the eighth.
“DJ was cut as a freshman,” Eagles coach Dan Letarte said. “He came out for JV and I’m looking at him at tryouts like ‘this kid can hit and he can play.’ He has a great skill set, he can run. This year he was the last take on the team. He was the last player we selected on the team.”
Eagles reliever Sean Letarte, Coach Letarter’s son, picked up the save with a scoreless ninth.
“Sean gets outs,” Letarte said. “He’s seen so many losses and heartbreak on this field. He’s been in our dugout since he was a little kid. He has that mentality where he goes in and he’s just attacking.”
St. John’s started on a good note through the early innings. Alex Lane (0-for-2, two runs) was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first and scored on Will Frain’s (1-for-3, RBI) 2-out RBI double to left-center.
The Eagles tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second. Jack Cairns (2-for-4, two runs) started the frame with a double and Brooks (1-for-3, two runs, RBI) followed with a walk. Noah Schott (1-for-4) reached on an infield single and Cairns scored via error, bumping St. John’s lead to 2-0. Brooks crossed home plate on a double steal, making it a 3-0 Eagles lead.
But things fell apart for St. John’s in the top of the third. A walk, an error and a single loaded the bases for the Rebels with no outs. The Rebels proceeded to score six runs on a culmination of three RBI singles, a bases-loaded hit by pitch and an Eagles error. When it was all said and done, the Rebels chased Eagles starter Zach Fortuna (2 2/3 innings, four strikeouts) out of the game and held a 6-3 lead.
St. John’s bats went quiet until the bottom of the sixth. Lane was hit by a pitch and Cairns laced a 2-out single. Brooks beat out an infield single, scoring Lane to close the gap at 6-4. In stepped Max Freedman (1-for-3, two RBI), who knotted the score at 6-6 with a crucial 2-run triple.
Eagles reliever Ryan Bradley, who took the ball with two outs and two runners on in the top of the third, calmed the storm through the middle innings. Bradley tossed 4 1/3 hitless innings with five strikeouts.
After reliever Kevin Dewing worked around a 2-out walk and single in the top of the eight, the Eagles pushed across the go-ahead run in the bottom half of the inning. Frain drew a walk to lead the rally and took second on Jake Miller’s sacrifice bunt. A pop-fly put the pressure on Brooks but the junior delivered a 2-out RBI double to put St. John’s up 7-6.
“DJ’s a tough out,” Letarte said. “In every intrasquad we did all year he came up with big hits. He had like six at-bats all year but when tournament time came we said ‘let’s go with him.'”
Sean Letarte sealed the deal with a 6-4-3 double-play and strikeout in the ninth.
The Eagles will play North Andover Tuesday (TBA) in the “Super 8” final at Haverhill Stadium. St. John’s emerged out of the 1-loss bracket, thus the Eagles must defeat North Andover twice to win the championship.
