DANVERS — Things looked pretty bleak for St. John’s Prep through the first four innings of Monday’s 8-3 Division I state tournament Round of 32 win over Needham.
Through the first four innings, the Eagles had only two baserunners — and one of them was on a Needham error with two outs in the fourth.
But the Prep bats woke up in the fifth inning, as the Eagles scored four runs. Then they added another four in the sixth to put the game away.
The No. 7 Eagles (14-7) are back in action on Tuesday at home against Catholic Conference rival and 10th-ranked Catholic Memorial at 4 p.m.
“It’s hard to get anything going when you don’t have baserunners,” Prep coach Danny Letarte said regarding the first four innings. “That’s our game. We like to run, put pressure on the defense, and you can’t do any of that when you’re not getting on base.”
The problem, Letarte said, was that the Eagles were a bit too impatient against Needham pitcher Tom Buckley in the early innings, swinging at a lot of balls that appeared to be too high.
“Pop-up, pop-up, pop-up, fly ball, pop-up,” said Letarte. “I guess they were a little anxious.”
Needham scored an unearned run in the first inning, and then made it 2-0 in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Oliver Gannon.
Between innings, Letarte tried to light a fire under his players, it worked. The Eagles began by answering Letarte’s prayers for offense. Christian Rosa hit an infield single and after reaching second on a passed ball, came home on Christian McCarthy’s booming triple to right field.
Catcher Jack Growney followed with a double that brought home McCarthy and the score was tied.
“You need that type of contagious hitting,” said Letarte.
Then after a perfectly-executed sacrifice bunt from John Tighe that moved Gowney over to third, Gowney scored on Gavin Gold’s base hit to give St. John’s its first lead of the game.
Cam LaGrassa RBI to first, scoring the Eagles’ fourth run.
Meanwhile, after running into trouble in the first inning. St. John’s starter Braeden Hurley settled down. He got through the Needham lineup through the next three innings, striking out five, before Needham took a 2-0 lead in the fifth. It could have been worse in the fifth, but Letarte ordered an intentional walk to Needham’s Bill O’Donnell to load the bases. Hurley then caught Adam Hess looking.
“That was a big momentum shift,” Letarte said. “I didn’t want us to pitch to (O’Donnell). He’s their best hitter.”
The Eagles were back with four more runs in the sixth to put the game away, with Rosa, Growley, Tighe, and LaGrassa all knocking in runs.
