Sports
Johnston Captures JV Baseball Crown
The Panthers roll to a Division II-North title in Woonsocket.
Woonsocket scored 180 runs during the regular season and piled up 15 more in a , but Johnston’s Joseph Bongiovanni stymied the hard-hitting Villa Novanson May 28 , and the Panthers rolled to a 10-0 road win at Barry Field.
out-hit the Villa Novans, 8-2, en route to taking the Division II North title. The Panthers are now 18-2 overall, and Woonsocket is 14-5.
“That pitcher, that lefty, shut us down. He’s a good pitcher, and we were flat,” said Woonsocket head coach Josh Zielinski.
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Bongiovanni overwhelmed the ‘Novans with a good fastball and an effective breaking ball, and he also helped the Panthers offensively with a two-run triple in the third inning.
“Joe had a great game, as usual. He’s been my horse for the last couple of years,” said Johnston head coach Edward Bedrosian. “We hit right through the lineup, but Joe’s hit today was big. It really opened up the game.”
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The Panthers led, 1-0, before Bongiovanni plated Rubens Grullon and Ryan McKeon with his three-bagger, and they proceeded to tack on six more runs in the fourth inning.
Jared Podmaska chipped in with an RBI-triple for JHS, and Justin Simao capped the 10-run outburst with a two-run single to left field.
Joseph Santilli and Grullon added RBI-singles, and Bongiovanni scored twice to help JHS establish its 10-run advantage.
After rallying to beat the Panthers, 10-8, on April 26, Woonsocket fell to JHS in five innings Saturday. The game ended in accordance with Interscholastic League Rule 4-2-2, directing umpires to stop play “when the visiting team is behind 10 or more runs after 4 ½ innings, or after the fifth inning, if either team is behind and both teams have had an equal number of times at bat.”
“I was expecting a war, but we just put it all together in one day. I’m proud of them,” Bedrosian said.
The Panthers also defeated Woonsocket, 6-5, on April 7 in Johnston. The Villa Novans bounced back with nine consecutive wins in league play to capture the Division II-North regular-season championship.
“They’re great kids. They come to practice every day, willing to do anything, willing to learn,” Zielinski said. “The future’s very bright for Woonsocket baseball.”
