PEABODY — Bishop Fenwick baseball coach Russ Steeves described the 2019 season as “a big jigsaw puzzle.” Fenwick lost four starting pitchers to injury in the early stages of the season and was forced to piece things together on the go as the spring progressed.
But now the Crusaders have all the right pieces in the right places. With Fenwick’s puzzle complete, the Crusaders find themselves two wins away from a state championship. They’ll play Medway Wednesday (4) at Lowell’s Alumni Field in the Division 3 state semifinal.
“I think we just couldn’t figure out the best defensive team that we could put out there,” Steeves, in his second season of his second stint coaching Fenwick, said. “Ethan Belt and Keegan O’Connor were splitting time behind the plate. We were trying to base it on where the kids played most of their careers. We had a strong outfield but it was kind of lopsided.
“I took the seniors out to lunch and said ‘we have to put the best talent for this team in the right spots,'” Steeves said. “Angelo McCullough said ‘I’ll play outfield.’ Ethan Belt said ‘I’ll play third base.’ Harrison Brickett said ‘I’m a second baseman.’ It was really just one of the more challenging coaching times because we used positional players to pitch. That caused movement everywhere. It’s been a big jigsaw puzzle to this point, getting everyone to their best and building one total unit.”
Fenwick’s pitching staff took four major hits right out of the gate. Nik Pignone suffered an injury during basketball season and missed the entire baseball season. His cousin, Richie Pignone, suffered an injury during a win over Georgetown in April. Alex Gonzalez, last year’s No. 2 starter, hasn’t pitched this season. Christian Loescher missed the majority of the regular season.
“It starts with pitching,” Steeves said. “We lost four pitchers. We knew from that point that it was going to be pitching by committee. We knew we were going to have to hit.”
Fenwick’s six seniors (co-captains Belt, Brickett, Cory Bright, Trey DeLoury, McCullough and O’Connor) have each played a role in keeping the team on the right track.
“It’s a senior-led team,” Steeves said. “They’re extremely motivated and they play well. I think they’ve played a big role in our culture. They’ve deserved it, they’ve earned it and I’m excited to watch them.”
It’s been an all-around total team effort through the tournament run. Richie Pignone knocked in four RBI in Fenwick’s 4-2 win over Stoneham in the Division 3 North first round. Loescher struck out nine over five relief innings.
DeLoury tossed five shutout innings of relief and hit a walk-off 2-run double in the 5-4 win over Saugus in the sectional quarterfinal.
Bright knocked in a 2-run double in the 3-2 win over Swampscott in the sectional semifinal. Brickett drove in the third run.
“We take a lot of time in our hitting strategy and our practice,” Steeves said. “We do a lot of different types of stations and work on different scenarios. I think we speak the same language around the plate. Guys have bought in and I think it has paid off.”
Jake Miano pitched six stellar innings in last Saturday’s 8-2 win over Lynnfield in the sectional final.
The common thread through all four tournament games is Fenwick has fallen behind in the early innings. Steeves said the early deficits haven’t changed his team’s approach.
“We’ve been through it so many times that it doesn’t faze the kids at this point,” Steeves said. “It becomes a comical to a point, we joke about it on the bench. Once we went down four starting pitchers we knew (the season) was going to be a battle. I think we just prepared for it.”
The past three days have been about gearing up for Medway. The Mustangs won Division 3 South and have allowed just one run through four tournament games. Their pitching staff’s led by submarine starter Eli Joyce-Vorce.
“They’ve played 28 innings and they’ve only allowed one run,” Steeves said. “Obviously they’ve got something good on the mound. Their pitchers are keeping batters off balance and they’re doing a good job, that’s for sure.”
But Fenwick’s sole focus is on playing its best.
“(Medway) doesn’t really know us, we don’t really know them,” Steeves said. “I think there will be a lot of in-game adjustments. But we told the kids, ‘you have to catch the ball, throw strikes and you have to hit.’ If we can do that, we’ll have a good shot. We’re not worried about what they’re doing, we’re focused on what we can do.”
