'It’s about believing, right?': St. John's baseball ties it in 7th, edges St. John's Prep in 9th to advance to D1 Final Four

SHREWSBURY — Conor Secrist stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with a chance to end the game and extend the season for the St. John’s High baseball team.

The sophomore saw five pitches, fouling off the last two, before flying out to right field to strand two runners and send a state tournament roller-coaster ride with Catholic Conference rival St. John’s Prep to extra innings.

“So I knew when I came up there in the ninth, I had to do something with the bases loaded.” Secrist said, the score still deadlocked at 6-all.

Secrist quickly found himself down two strikes, but he was more confident than concerned in the two-out situation.

“I was just excited, and I knew I was on the pitcher,” he said.

Secrist then hit a sharp single up the middle, driving in junior Brayden Mercier, who doubled with one out and advanced to third on a wild pitch, to deliver a 7-6, walk-off win Friday for the second-seeded Pioneers in a Division 1 quarterfinal.

It was the second walk-off hit this season for Secrist and the second straight for the Pioneers, who defeated Franklin here Tuesday in the second round on Mercier’s eighth-inning single.

“Every game we’ve played with them this year has been an absolute battle,” first-year coach Casey Cummins said of the No. 7 Eagles, who finished 15-8 after going 1-2 versus the Pioneers.

“It’s about believing, right? Our guys didn’t want this magical run to end. We said the same thing the other day against Franklin.”

The Pioneers (19-4) are back in the state semifinals for the second straight season, where they’ll meet either No. 3 Xaverian — with whom they shared the conference championship — or No. 11 Durfee on Tuesday at a time and place to be determined.

And all that after a game in which they faced quite a bit of adversity, some of it due to unfortunate circumstances and some a result of their own doing.

Sophomore leadoff hitter Jamie Herlihy suffered a right wrist injury and didn’t return after being tagged out at home while attempting to score from third on a ball in the dirt in the first. That was one of four inning-ending outs the Pioneers ran into.

They also committed two errors that led to three unearned runs, and senior slugger Noah Baadsgaard departed midway through the game with a leg injury.

“We talk about picking each other up and moving to the next guy,” said Cummins, who shouldered the blame for some of those base-running miscues. “And, hey, my guys picked me up today. I can’t say enough about this group.

“Once again, just like against Franklin the other day, against a very good team, they were able to execute, get it to the next guy. Just belief. It’s been special; it’s been special.”

The Pioneers led, 2-0, after three and tied it in the fifth after the Eagles scored four in the top of the inning. The visitors got a two-out, two-run homer from junior Nic Lembo off senior ace Brady Shea (6⅔ innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts) to regain the lead in the seventh.

The Pioneers were down on the scoreboard, but their enthusiasm and optimism remained up as they prepared for what might be their final at-bats of the season.

“They didn’t want it to end, and they didn’t want it to end on this field,” Cummins said. “I can’t say enough about the compete level of all these guys.”

Forgues made sure the game continued with his double to deep center that drove in junior Desmond Hayeck, who ran for Jack Pasenello after the senior walked with one out, and Mercier, who walked with two out, to craft a 6-6 tie.

The large, mostly partisan crowd was jumping for joy and in amazement (disbelief?) at what they had witnessed at Pioneer Field.

“I was just thinking, ‘Don’t end it,’ ” Forgues said. “I just wanted to get a good pitch that I could drive and treat it as any other at-bat in a full season.

“In between the lines, same game I’ve been playing since I was a kid. So just tried to keep it within myself and simplify everything, catch the ball with the bat.”

Forgues finished with three hits, four RBIs, a walk (intentional) and a run. He earned the win in relief after needing just 24 pitches to retire all seven batters he faced over 2⅓ innings.

While Forgues threw strikes, his big hit came on a hook.

“It was a hanging curveball,” Forgues said. “I kind of picked it up out of his hands, sat back and just tried to put it back at him. It was definitely a good swing.”

Mercier had three hits — he’s now 10 for 13 in the tournament — drove in a run, scored three times, and walked once, while junior Parker Higgins came off the bench to deliver an RBI single and reach via two intentional walks.

And Shea, who never bats, singled and scored in the second.

—Contact Rich Garven at rgarven@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @RichGarvenTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: 'It’s about believing, right?': St. John's baseball ties it in 7th, edges St. John's Prep in 9th to advance to D1 Final Four