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Monday’s baseball roundup: St. John’s Prep eliminates St. John’s (Shrewsbury)

BROCKTON — The No. 3 St. John’s Prep baseball team continues to win after losing its first-round game to begin the Super 8 tournament.

On Monday night at Campanelli Stadium, the Eagles took care of No. 2 St. John’s (Shrewsbury), 4-2, eliminating the Pioneers from the Super 8 behind a committee of pitchers and some timely hitting.

St. John’s Prep will play Xaverian on Wednesday in Brockton at 7 p.m. for a chance to face Braintree on Thursday for the championship.

After the Pioneers got out to a 2-0 lead with RBI singles from senior Derek Lefebvre and Sean Burke in the second and third innings, the Eagles came back to tie the game against St. John’s (Shrewsbury) lefthanded senior starter, Jared Wetherbee, on an Andrew Selima moonshot double to center.

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Wetherbee continued to struggle with his command, going 4⅔ innings with 11 strikeouts but also having six walks and one hit batter.

Senior outfielder Jacob Yish knocked Wetherbee out of the game in the fifth on a single to center that scored two runs after Yish got himself into a rundown.

Senior righthanders Brendan Powicki and Chris Murphy combined for the first four innings for St. John’s Prep (17-7), striking out five and allowing only two runs.

Righthanded seniors Colin Nye and Nolan Webb combined to pitch a scoreless five innings to close out the game.

“I have four senior pitchers who have battled,” St. John’s Prep coach Dan Letarte said. “If we are going to walk off losing this, I want those kids throwing. They have given their hearts for four years and it’s fun to see them go out there and get outs.”

The Pioneers (20-6) had beaten the Eagles twice this season, including an 11-0 decision that was Prep’s largest defeat in more than three years.

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“We knew we would have another crack and we did,” Letarte said. “I’m happy for these kids. All that hard work just pays off.”

Division 2 South

Dighton-Rehoboth 10, Sandwich 4 — For the first time in school history, Dighton-Rehoboth was crowned sectional champion after defeating 11th-seeded Sandwich at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.

The loss ended a magical run for Sandwich, also vying for its first sectional championship. The top-seeded Falcons found redemption Monday after falling in the sectional final four years ago.

The victory for coach Bill Cuthbertson’s squad was very much a team effort as the Falcons were able to put up 10 runs against a Sandwich team that had shut out opponents through the first three rounds of the tournament.

The Falcons had five players with two or more hits, and junior starting pitcher Arthur Correia went the distance.

“The clutch hits and the fact that our order was productive from top to bottom was important,” said Cuthbertson, now in his 37th year with the program.

Coming into the matchup, the teams had given up a combined two runs throughout the postseason, and thus a pitcher’s duel was expected.

The game played out as advertised in the early going, with Dighton-Rehoboth up, 3-2, heading into the bottom of the fifth inning. The Falcons tacked on two runs in the frame against Blue Knights ace Will Crowther, extending their lead to 5-2 heading into the sixth.

Sandwich used an RBI triple from senior Joe Sullivan to get a run back in the top of the sixth, and freshman Tyler Wudyka made it a one-run game later in the inning.

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The relentless bats of Dighton-Rehoboth put up five runs in the bottom half. To do that against a pitcher of Crowther’s caliber is no small feat.

“He’s outstanding,” Cuthbertson said of Crowther. “We knew that he was going to come right at us, and it was going to be a matter of finding a way to hit him — and it’s not easy. I’m really proud of what we were able to do against a quality pitcher today, and a quality team.”

The bottom half of the order was key for the Falcons, with junior catcher and No. 6 hitter Dallas Noons going 2 for 3 with three RBIs.

The Falcons will face Danvers at Fraser Field in Lynn Wednesday for the Division 2 state championship.