Johnston Baseball Squad Clinches No. 1 Seed

Senior first baseman Nick Loffredo delivered a one-out, RBI-single in the top of the eighth inning to propel past Burrillville, 4-2, May 22 at Johnston Memorial Park.

With the victory, the first-place Panthers improve to 16-1 overall.

“We’re where we want to be. We won our division outright. We’re the number one seed. You can’t get better than that,” said Johnston head coach Stephen DeMeo.

With Sunday’s setback, the Broncos slip to 4-14 in league play, seventh in the eight-team sub-division. Senior Zach Smith took the loss for Burrillville, surrendering six hits and four runs in eight innings.

The right-hander also allowed six walks, including three in the eighth inning. After Vincent O'Rourke hit a game-tying home run in the seventh for BHS, Johnston’s Ryan Geraghty took a free pass from Smith and moved to third with two stolen bases.

“He had the green light to steal third if he had a good jump,” DeMeo said. “He had a good jump, and it was nice to see.”

Loffredo then ripped a 1-2 pitch into center field for the go-ahead run, and, after two more walks, Stephen Almagno plated another Panther with a base hit to left.

Junior Gian Bianchi pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the win for Johnston, and the Panthers helped him to secure the victory with some fine defense.

“These are the kinds of games you play in the playoffs,” DeMeo said. “We didn’t make mistakes in the field. We didn’t make an error.”

The Broncos’ only miscue led to a first-inning run for Johnston Sunday, but Burillville responded with back-to-back doubles in the third, and the Panthers struggled into the latter innings with Smith’s impressive fastball.

Johnston finally regained the lead in the sixth after Greg Doutre walked, stole second, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored with a ground ball to the BHS shortstop. Michael Pennachia picked up the RBI, but, according to DeMeo, “Loffredo’s bunt was the big play of the game for us — I think that’s the first time he’s been called to sacrifice all year, and we executed it."

Left-hander Dylan Pingitore pitched the fifth and sixth innings for Johnston, relieving Dan De Simone (4 IP, 1 K, 3 BB, 2 H, 1 R) and preserving the one-run advantage, before Bianchi lost the lead to O'Rourke and BHS in the bottom of the seventh.

Bianchi is scheduled to return to the mound for postseason play Wednesday, May 25, after the Panthers host Central May 23. Johnston will ride a six-game winning streak into Monday’s meeting with the Knights.