SHREWSBURY — Saint John’s (Shrewsbury) junior pitcher Brady Chenevert was fired up after his fifth-inning strikeout stranded a BC High runner on third.
It was the last batter Chenevert would face in Saint John’s 11-1 romp over the Eagles on Wednesday at Pioneer Field in his third consecutive start for the Catholic Conference power.
But there was so much more behind his celebratory shout as he pounded his glove to his crest. After falling in last season’s Division 1 state title game to BC High and coming up short at TD Garden with the hockey team this winter, Chenevert’s performance displayed a player who yearns for a ring.
“Losing to these guys, and just losing two state championships, I wanted it out there,” Chenevert said.
Behind five innings of one-run baseball from Chenevert, Saint John’s (14-2) proved its mettle as a premier threat in the Division 1 field to sweep the regular season series against BC High (10-7).
Chenevert said losing to the Eagles on the big stage last spring “definitely made it personal” on Wednesday.
After Gabe Terlato was thrown out at home in the first and Andrew Schmit was stranded on third in the second, the third time was the charm for the Pioneers to break the ice.
A third-inning rally that plated five runs came in response to BC High’s Tommy O’Donnell scoring on a passed ball in the top half of the frame to hold a short-lived 1-0 lead.
“That big inning was a great response,” said Saint John’s head coach Casey Cummins. “We talk about always responding when a team puts up one run. We always got to respond, and we obviously did in a big way today.”
Jackson Fournier notched a leadoff single to kickstart the offensive explosion and was eventually driven in on an RBI single off the bat of Parker Higgins. Conor Secrist added an RBI before Aiden LeBel’s two-run liner into right field provided the Pioneers with a commanding 5-1 cushion.
“That hit was massive,” Cummins said of LeBel’s hit. “And he’s not an every day starter, but he was given this opportunity and he made the most of it today.”
The Pioneer bats didn’t calm in the fourth. Terlato’s triple into the left field gap was the catalyst, scoring as a result of a screaming RBI single by Jack Forgues. Higgins and Forgues crossed home on wild pitches before an RBI double by Jackson Lucarelli increased the lead to 9-1.
Meanwhile, Chenevert protected the Pioneer lead on the hill. BC applied pressure throughout the contest — stranding a runner on third in the first, third and fifth frames — but Chenevert shut the door when it mattered. He scattered four hits and struck out three in five innings.
August Brock dumped a single into right field to score Forgues in the sixth to tack on an insurance run before a balk plated the Pioneers’ 11th run to trigger the run rule in the sixth.