Johnston finishes one game shy of World Series

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The Johnston Senior League all-stars went from the brink of elimination to the brink of the World Series. But on Wednesday afternoon, they ended up a few runs short.

Playing in the Senior League Eastern Regional in West Deptford, N.J., Johnston lost its second game in the double elimination tournament but came back with four straight wins to force a winner-take-all championship game on Wednesday. Edgewood Little League of Bristol, Conn., outlasted Johnston’s final push, though, winning 2-1 to capture the regional title and a spot in the World Series.

“The realization sets in when you’re standing out there after the game and the finality of it hits you,” said manager Joe Santilli. “It was emotional, but you know what? It’s been a great run with these kids.”

Johnston has had tremendous success at the Junior League and Senior League levels the last few years, including a Junior League World Series berth in 2011 from a team that included many of the current Senior Leaguers. Another World Series trip would have been a crowning achievement, and Johnston couldn’t help thinking that momentum would carry it right on in.

After an opening-round win over the host team, Johnston lost in extra innings to Cape Henlopen, Del., last Friday. That meant a long road, but that’s nothing new. Throughout its recent run of success, Johnston has lost early on at regionals.

“We’re like creatures of habit over here,” Santilli said. “We’ve got to lose our second game and then get our momentum back. That’s exactly what the kids said: ‘We’re used to it. We’ll be there in the end.’”

Johnston won three consecutive games to climb out of the loser’s bracket, capped by a 7-0 win over Pennsylvania that represented the team’s most complete performance yet.

“After that game, with the hitting display and the pitching performance by Matt Kennedy, we were feeling really good,” Santilli. “We put it all together. Lot of momentum.”

The championship round berth also marked the first time in Senior League Eastern Regional history that a Rhode Island squad has made it that far.

Needing to beat Connecticut twice, Johnston scratched a run across in the third inning of Wednesday morning’s game and rode the pitching of Korey Fijal, Jake Coro and Kevin Ciprian to a 1-0 shutout.

Johnston delivered the game’s only offense when Mike Caparco singled in the third, took second on a walk and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on Coro’s RBI groundout.

Fijal carried the shutout into the fourth, when Coro took over. Connecticut loaded the bases against Coro with nobody out in the fifth, but Ciprian came on in relief and pulled off an escape act. He struck out the first two batters he faced, then induced a fly-out to end the inning.

“That was just huge,” Santilli said. “I think Connecticut was stunned.”

After a scoreless sixth, Ciprian got the first out in the seventh before giving up a base hit. Fijal returned to the mound and induced a ground ball back to the mound, where he started a game-ending 1-6-3 double play.

“To be honest, we were feeling great after that,” Santilli said. “We had all the momentum. We beat their best. We thought we were going to come out in the next game and go right after them.”

It didn’t work out that way.

Connecticut pitcher Dylan Skrip scattered six hits and limited Johnston to one run in 6.1 innings. Coro and Jake Podmaska were almost as good for Johnston, but Connecticut pushed across two runs in the third on a two-out, two-run single by Evan McGinley.

Johnston got one run back in the sixth on an sacrifice fly by Fijal then made one final charge in the seventh. Kennedy led off with a base hit, and a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Gillheeney moved pinch runner Joe Michael to second.

Jackson Hines replaced Skrip on the mound and was greeted by a Coro base hit. Nick Raposo then walked to load the bases with one out and the middle of Johnston’s order due up.

“Three-four hitters coming up with bases load, we’re thinking we’re at least tying this game,” Santilli said.

But Hines got Ciprian to hit a weak ground ball back to the mound and he fired home for the out, keeping his team in front. Austin Conte came up next and put a charge into a fly ball, but it was right at the Connecticut center-fielder. He squeezed it for the final out.

“All game, it just didn’t materialize,” Santilli said. “We didn’t get that big hit.”

The end of the game marked the end of another run to remember for Johnston, which has made noise in three consecutive appearances at the Senior League regional.

Johnston opened the tournament last Thursday with a 12-6 comeback victory over the host team, West Deptford. Ciprian and Armani Henderson both homered as part of a sixth-inning rally that gave Johnston its first lead. After trailing 4-1 earlier in the game, Johnston was down 4-3 when Marc Conte scored the tying run on a wild pitch and Raposo singled in the go-ahead run. Ciprian then smashed a three-run homer, and after a base hit by Fijal, Henderson blasted a two-run shot to blow the game open. Henderson finished 4-for-5 with five RBI.

The next day, Johnston’s long road began when it lost 9-8 in nine innings to Cape Henlopen, Del. Johnston led 5-0 and carried a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh, when the Delaware squad scored three runs to force extra innings. Johnston looked to be in control again when it scored three in the top of the ninth, but Delaware struck for four in the bottom half, scoring the winning run on a throwing error. Ciprian finished with three hits while Austin Conte had three RBI in the loss.

On Sunday, Johnston never trailed in winning the first of its elimination games, 8-4 over Franklin Township, N.J. Coro went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead a 13-hit attack. Austin Conte, Gillheeney and Marc Conte added two hits apiece as Johnston scored in six of the seven innings. Four pitchers combined to limit New Jersey to four hits. Henderson allowed one earned run in 3.2 innings, while Coro tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Austin Conte recorded the final two outs.

That win made Johnston one of the last four teams standing, and it continued the march Monday with its best performance yet. Facing West Deptford again, Johnston pounded 17 hits and got strong performances by Fijal and Podmaska to win 14-2. Raposo went 4-for-4 with an RBI while Fijal went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Henderson and Gillheeney knocked in two runs each. On the mound, Fijal started and allowed one run in 3.1 innings. Podmaska gave up one run in three innings. Jake Pratte finished the game with .2 innings of scoreless baseball.

Johnston then moved into the loser’s bracket final, where it rode a brilliant performance by Kennedy to a 7-0 shutout of Great Valley, Penn. Kennedy – who was with his American Legion team during much of Johnston’s season – retired the first 11 batters of the game before allowing an infield single in the fourth. He ended up pitching 6.1 innings of one-hit ball, with five strikeouts. Coro came on to record the final two outs. Coro had three RBI and Conte had two to lead another strong offensive performance.

That win put Johnston into the finals before its run came to an end at the very last stop.

For many of the players, the last stop also means the end of Junior League and Senior League play, but they’ll leave with quite a resume – one World Series, four state championships and plenty of regional success.

“It’s tough because we’re all going out together,” Santilli said. “But it’s good to see the kids appreciate what they accomplished and appreciate the coaches. Jerry Coro and Gary Gillheeney did a great job. I think a lot of the kids will take what they’ve learned the last four years and they’ll be much better baseball players for it. It’s been a lot of fun.”

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