HIGH SCHOOL

High school baseball: Top-ranked Wachusett gets best of No. 2 St. John's

Chris Kyne, Correspondent

HOLDEN — It was the type of back-and-forth baseball battle you would expect between two teams with Super 8 aspirations.

In the end, Francis Ferguson's sixth inning two-run double was the difference, as the top-ranked Mountaineers rallied to hold off the No. 2 Pioneers, 5-3, at Wachusett Regional High on Tuesday afternoon.

Wachusett coach Mark Peters said he liked how his team kept fighting throughout the game.

“I just thought we grinded today,” he said. “That is what these games are all about. In Central Mass., we have competitive teams that go at it every day and that is how these games go. I give our kids credit for grinding back and not putting their heads down and coming back and winning the game.”

Wachusett (5-0) pushed the first run across in the second inning, when Johnny Flynn scored on a throwing error. The Mountaineers loaded the bases later in the inning, but St. John's starter Sean Burke struck out Cole Durkan to minimize the damage.

Burke was effective, striking out nine while not allowing a hit in five innings of work.

The Pioneers (3-3) responded right away in the top of the third, however, as Tyler Mudd scored on a Burke double to make it 1-1.

The Pioneers took their first lead in the fifth, when Nick Carelli drew another leadoff walk and stole second. Bailey Mikule then laced a double down the left field line that just stayed fair, plating Carelli for a 2-1 edge.

Wachusett struck back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to some heads-up base-running.

Mike Maher greeted St. John's reliever Nick Gleason with a single, but was promptly picked off first base. Gleason fanned Ferguson, but Durkan singled and Barry Walsh doubled for runners on second and third. During Eddy Beauregard’s at-bat, Durkan scurried home on a passed ball and Walsh scored on a wild pitch for a 3-2 Mountaineers lead.

“That was opportunistic and big to say the least,” Peters said. “But it was all with two outs which I liked.”

In the sixth, Ferguson ripped a first-pitch two-run double to extend the Mountaineers' lead, 5-2.

“I was going up there swinging first pitch,” Ferguson said. “I knew in my head I was going to go up and swing first pitch and hopefully something will happen and it ended up happening in our favor.”

Those two runs proved to be critical too, because Burke’s solo homer to left with two out in the seventh cut the Wachusett lead to 5-3.

Walsh entered in relief and settled down to get the final out. Wachusett starter Jake Gigliotti went five innings, allowing just one run on one hit while striking out eight.

“I had a good defense behind me, I didn’t think I had my best stuff coming out,” Gigliotti said. “I just stay with myself. It’s fun playing a good pitcher like that and getting after it. It was a good time.”

St. John’s coach Charlie Eppinger said his team simply didn’t do enough.

“We’re a talented team, but we’re not good enough to make the mistakes we made and expect to beat a very good team here in Central Massachusetts in Wachusett,” he said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. Francis Ferguson did a nice job of hitting in the bottom of the sixth to get the insurance runs which ended up being huge. Definitely give credit to Wachusett.”

—Contact Chris Kyne at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @tgsports.