Lineup tweaks spark St. John's offense as Pioneers get past Westborough in Greg Montalbano Classic

Rich Garven, Telegram & Gazette
·4 min read

WESTBOROUGH — After scoring three runs while losing its last three games, St. John’s baseball coach Charlie Eppinger opted to tweak his lineup.

So juniors Caleb Cormier and Jack Beauregard made their first starts and senior Andrew Gardner slid down a couple of spots.

“You don’t want to blow things up, but we tinkered a little bit … just to try to get the offense going,” Eppinger said.

It was mission accomplished as the Pioneers saw nine of 10 batters reach base with seven scoring and six driving in a run as they defeated Westborough, 11-3 on a chilly and windy Saturday afternoon in the 12th annual Greg Montalbano Classic.

St. John’s plated five runs in the first and led, 9-3, after three as it raised its record to 8-5 on the season and 10-2 in the Classic. The Rangers dropped to 7-4.

“It was awesome,” Gardner said. “Our lineup hasn’t really been hitting well the last three games, so it was a really good bounce-back game to put up 11 runs when our whole order is contributing. It felt really good as a team.”

The Pioneers collected nine hits and seven walks, with five of those free passes turning into runs.

Westborough first baseman Jack Pisciotti chases St. John's Chris Pompei towards second base during a pickoff play rundown, which allowed a runner to score from third base.
Westborough first baseman Jack Pisciotti chases St. John's Chris Pompei towards second base during a pickoff play rundown, which allowed a runner to score from third base.

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Gardner was 1 for 3 with a walk while driving in two runs and scoring twice. Seniors Nolan Puglisi and Pat McManus, juniors Jimmy Mitchell and Cormier, and sophomore Noah Basgaard each had an RBI while junior James Benestad had two hits and two runs.

The Pioneers also capitalized on errors – both physical and mental – along with miscues and misplays by the Rangers, who gave away a handful of outs.

“The first inning was tough,” longtime Westborough coach Scott Kittredge said. “It wasn’t necessarily bleeding errors, but there were makeable plays that we didn’t make and when you give them extra runners, they did some damage and put us in a hole.”

Westborough's Enzo Micucci gets back to second base safely, as the ball hits him on the leg, on an attempted pickoff throw from St. John's catcher Pat McManus to shortstop Andrew Gardner.
Westborough's Enzo Micucci gets back to second base safely, as the ball hits him on the leg, on an attempted pickoff throw from St. John's catcher Pat McManus to shortstop Andrew Gardner.

The Rangers, who are tied for first in Mid-Wach A with Leominster and Shrewsbury, plated two in the first and one in the second to cut the deficit to 6-3, but were shut out the rest of the way.

Junior Jake Dapolite and seniors Max Bacon and Enzo Micucci each had an RBI while sophomore Carter Bentley both had two hits.

Senior Elliot Seymour, who lives in Westborough, started for the Pioneers and struggled a bit through three innings before departing with an injury. Classmate Aaron Forgues came on in relief and was dominate while earning the win.

Westborough's Owen Tarasiak is forced out at second base by St. John's shortstop Andrew Gardner.
Westborough's Owen Tarasiak is forced out at second base by St. John's shortstop Andrew Gardner.

“Especially with a little bit of a lead out there, my mentality was to not do too much,” Forgues said. “Just locate, hit my spots and let the defense do their work.

“The fastball was definitely working today, locating, and the curveball was working, as well, which I was pleased with. So, just an overall good outing.”

The Hobart College-bound righthander retired the first nine batters he faced _ six by strikeout _ on 36 pitches before yielding two hits in the seventh, one of which would have been the game-ending out if not for an outfielder apparently losing track of the ball in the just-appeared sun, and hitting a batter.

St. John’s Elliott Seymour delivers to the plate, as Westborough’s Jake Leary takes his lead off first base.
St. John’s Elliott Seymour delivers to the plate, as Westborough’s Jake Leary takes his lead off first base.

A nifty 4-6-3 double play involving Mitchell, Gardner and Basgaard and a pop foul ended the two-hour contest.

“Aaron came in and really settled things down,” said Eppinger before pointing out Forgues, he of the 4.22 unweighted GPA, is class valedictorian. “Aaron did a great job. He’s had some really good outings this year and he didn’t give them a chance to come back.”

St. John’s Elliott Seymour delivers a pitch to Westborough’s Jake Ritacco during the Montalbano Classic game on Saturday.
St. John’s Elliott Seymour delivers a pitch to Westborough’s Jake Ritacco during the Montalbano Classic game on Saturday.

The game honors the memory of Montalbano, who grew up in Westborough and graduated from St. John’s in 1995 before going on to pitch for Northeastern and in the Red Sox organization. He passed away in 2009 at the age of 31 after battling cancer for 14 years.

“We try to keep his memory alive every year by playing Westborough,” Eppinger said. “They’re a great team and it’s been back and forth and a really great tradition.”

Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @RichGarvenTG

St. John’s base runner James Benestad (1) is congratulated by teammates after scoring versus Westborough on Saturday.
St. John’s base runner James Benestad (1) is congratulated by teammates after scoring versus Westborough on Saturday.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Lineup tweaks spark St. John's offense as Pioneers get past Westborough in Greg Montalbano Classic