Johnston 9/10’s finish New England Regional with loss

Posted

The Johnston 9/10’s had the chance to play spoiler on Thursday night, but could not get much going against a strong Concord, N.H., team in a 10-0 defeat at Michael P. Varrato Field in Cranston.

The loss brought to an end a remarkable run for Johnston (1-3 in regional play). The team lost its first district tournament game before pulling off nine straight wins to capture the state title and reach the Eastern Regional.

“It’s difficult to put into words,” Johnston manager Bob Giudici said about his team’s run through the state tournament. “They’re fighters. They came back in many games we were down, many games we were losing by four or five runs and they came back and they tied the game and went ahead. Same thing here, they gave it their all. Great competition here, great tournament, a lot of talent.”

Concord, which would have been eliminated with a loss, was a tough out for the Rhode Island representatives. Concord would go on to win the New England Regional with a 1-0 victory over Maine before winning the East with a 6-5 win against New Jersey.

The New Hampshire representatives proved to be too much for Johnston, as Concord pitcher Ryan Philbrick tossed a four-inning perfect game in the win. He struck out three batters and allowed just two balls to leave the infield.

Isaiah Robles gave Concord all the runs it would need in the first inning. Robles crushed a one-out double into the right-centerfield gap that scored Cam McGonigle and Brooks Craigue. Johnston starter Joe Domenico got two outs to escape the jam, but his offense couldn’t find any rhythm.

Concord would pull away in the third inning with eight of nine batters scoring once. However, Concord didn’t do its damage with base hits. Three Johnston pitchers combined to walk five batters and hit three more in the frame. Miscues in the field helped Concord with its big inning as well.

Despite the 10-0 score at the end of the third, the Johnston faithful remained in the stands to support their team. Joining them in the bleachers was the team out of Fairfield, Conn., which would have advanced to the New England final with a Rhode Island win.

“We have the greatest fan base around,” Giudici said. “Every single game we played the stands were full. It was standing room only. They came here to cheer us. Some of my ex-players from 10 years ago came to watch us play. It was great. Great support and it made the difference getting this far.”

Giudici is confident that his squad will be right back in the thick of it next season.

“We’re coming back,” Giudici said. “We had a really good 12-year-old all-star team and we had some 11’s play on our team, [so] we’ll be pushing some guys up next year but we should have a really good team coming back.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here