STONEHAM — The Division 3 North title once again belongs to the Bishop Fenwick baseball team.
The No. 18 Crusaders went on the road to No. 4 Stoneham Monday for the North final and walked away with a 6-0 win. The Crusaders have now won two straight Div. 3 North titles, having hoisted the trophy in 2019 as well.
Christian Loescher was phenomenal on the mound, tossing all seven shutout innings and allowing three hits, four walks and one hit batter while striking out nine.
“Christian really didn’t play a role the first few games,” Fenwick Coach Russ Steeves said. “We’ve been lucky, we mercy ruled a couple teams. He’s been sitting there patient and waiting and waiting. Finally (Sunday) I told him, ‘it’s your turn. You got 115 pitches and we’re not stopping you until it’s done.’ I’m very proud of him.”
This entire tournament run by the Crusaders came out of nowhere. Fenwick ended the season at 8-11 and struggled to hit the ball all spring.
“I was telling the kids, I think there have only been four teams in the history of Bishop Fenwick to play in this game,” Steeves said. “I was explaining to the boys how hard it is to get here back-to-back. We’re an 8-11 team. We were struggling, hitting under .200. We were not a hitting club. If we had regular rules we wouldn’t have even made this tournament.”
But over the last few weeks the Crusaders’ issues have vanished and, despite entering the tournament as a low seed, have looked more comfortable than ever. Fenwick hasn’t even allowed a run in four-straight games.
“I think once they realized it was a new season and nothing mattered they came together as a team,” Steeves said. “I also think that, missing a year (in 2020), I had one guy over there that actually saw a varsity game before this season. The chemistry wasn’t there and it took a long time. You have to have chemistry and you have to have senior leadership for this to happen.”
Scott Emerson (3-for-4) was on fire at the plate and added an RBI and scored two runs while Chris Faraca (1-for-3, sacrifice fly) had a pair of clutch RBI. Alex Gonzalez had an RBI and scored a run. Brandon Bloom, Gianni Mercurio and Tucker Destino all scored.
Most of the damage was done in a four-run third inning. Mercurio’s walk sandwiched between singles by Bloom and Destino loaded the bases for Gonzalez, who laced a sacrifice fly to bring in a run. Emerson followed with his RBI single and Bloom scored on an errant throw. Faraca finished off the rally with another sacrifice fly to put Fenwick up 4-0.
That was all the support Loescher needed and he was backed up by a Crusaders defense that was on point. Destino’s throw home after a runner tagged up on a fly ball to center in the sixth stood out on a day with plenty of big plays and was matched by a diving tag by his catcher, Faraca, to get the out.
Fenwick tacked on a few more runs in the fifth for good measure. Faraca plated Gonzalez and Emerson scored later on a passed ball.
Loescher ended the game fittingly with his ninth strikeout.
“At one point right before the first game I told the seniors I can only guarantee them five innings,” Steeves said. “It’s the seniors that took over. They’ve been out of school for six weeks. They absolutely just wanted this.”
Next up for the North champions is the Division 3 state semifinal round, where the Crusaders will face off against South champion Medfield at a date and time to be determined.
