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Sports

Panthers Score Two Wins In Week

JHS gets back on track after a tough loss to Woonsocket and rolls toward the postseason.

The varsity baseball team rebounded from a in Woonsocket May 6 to win back-to-back games at home this week and improve to 12-1 overall. After trouncing Davies, 11-3, on May 10, JHS walked past Scituate, 14-3 in five innings on May 12.

Junior Gian Bianchi picked up four hits and an RBI in the earlier contest, upping his average to .444 en route to the eight-run victory. The Panthers never trailed the Davies Patriots (0-15), pulling away with three runs in the fourth inning, one in the fifth and four more in the sixth.

Johnston head coach Steve DeMeo noted Bianchi's presence and contribution to the squad.

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“[Bianchi’s] our MVP. Not only on the mound, but at shortstop, he’s our anchor,” said DeMeo. “The kids just feel so comfortable when [Bianchi’s] there, because he throws strikes. I think he walked one batter today, and that’s usually what he does; he walks one batter a game, so the ball’s going to be in play — there’s no time to daydream when [Bianchi’s] pitching.”

JHS continued to score with regularity Thursday, piling up six runs in the fourth inning to cap the 14-run outburst. Six Panthers finished the game with two hits, including right-fielder Greg Doutre and center-fielder Chris Pistacchio.

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Doutre’s three-run bomb in the first inning plated Bianchi—Thursday’s winning pitcher—and Ryan Geraghty to give Johnston a 3-1 lead, and the Panthers tacked on one more with Pistacchio’s solo shot to left-center in the second.

After surrendering a home run to Scituate’s Shane Lynch in the first inning, Bianchi settled down to retire the Spartans, 1-2-3, in the second.

Second-baseman Bret Simas turned a double play to bring JHS to the plate with a 4-1 lead in the third inning, and first-baseman Nick Loffredo got the Panthers offense going again with a one-out triple to right-center field.

Steve Perfetto’s two-out double scored Loffredo and gave JHS a four-run advantage, and the Panthers took a 6-1 lead with singles from Stephen Almagno and Simas.

Then Pistacchio stepped to the plate with two men aboard, and his liner produced two runs after it bounced past Lynch in center field.

With Pistacchio still at third and two outs in the inning, Scituate’s Tim Brady came in from second base to replace sophomore right-hander Scott Iacobucci (2.66 IP, 0 K, 2 BB, 9 H, 8 R).

Brady stranded Pistacchio at third to end the inning, but the Panthers pounced on the senior in the fourth, scoring three runs with RBI-singles from Almagno, Bianchi and pinch-hitter Joseph Pecchia, and adding three more after two Spartan miscues and a bases-loaded walk, drawn by freshman Joe Bongiovanni.

The Spartans (10-4) scored a pair in the fifth inning on a two-out double from Kyle Pheland, but Bianchi stranded the Scituate shortstop at second, and the game ended after 4 and ½ innings in accordance with Interscholastic League Rule 4-2-2, the so-called mercy rule.

With the two victories, the Panthers improved their chances to take the Division II North crown. Prior to the May 12 contest, DeMeo said in a phone interview that a victory over Scituate would give Johnston the edge in a possible tiebreaker with the Spartans.

"It will give us a step up to win the division if we beat Scituate twice," the coach explained. "If we just keep winning, we'll be all right."

Johnston's closest competitor in D-II North is Woonsocket (12-3), who split two games against the Panthers — JHS took a 2-1 win in their first contest of the season, and fell to the Villa Novans for the Panthers' first loss of the year on May 6.

The Panthers return to the diamond for a meeting with Central Falls (6-9) on May 14 at 11:00 a.m., with back-to-back home games scheduled for May 16 and 17.

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