BASEBALL

St. John Paul's magical baseball season comes to an end in regional finals

Bryan Cooney
TC Palm

FORT PIERCE — St. John Paul II baseball had a chance, but the Eagles couldn't summon up enough magic to prolong their season.

St. John Paul stranded the tying run on second in the top of the seventh, falling 2-1 to Fort Pierce-John Carroll Catholic in a 3A regional final Tuesday night.

The Rams advance to state while the Eagles end the season with a 22-5 record.

Player rankings:Top 10 junior and sophomore high school baseball players in Palm Beach County

2A State:Youthful Trinity Christian baseball team makes it to state final four ahead of schedule

Last week:Palm Beach Gardens High baseball loses regional thriller to Stoneman Douglas on walk-off HR

John Carroll starting pitcher Braden Calise carried a shutout into the seventh but needed to work around two errors while watching a 2-0 lead cut in half when Eagles first baseman Kevin Freshcorn lined an RBI single to left with two outs.

With the tying run on second base, Calise induced a fly ball out to spark a wild celebration.

All night, neither Calise nor Eagles starting pitcher Gavin Adams made it easy for any hitter in the batters box, but in the sixth, Florida signee Jay Allen delivered the most important hit of his career.

St. John Paul II first baseman Kevin Freshcorn (9) drove in the Eagles' only run in a 2-1 regional final loss to John Carroll Catholic on Tuesday in Fort Pierce.

Leading 1-0, the Rams star scorched a triple to deep left center to lead off the inning, setting up a potential insurance run.

“Going up there, I just thought about being a good leadoff hitter for my team, so getting on anyway I can," Allen said. "He just left one middle third and I did something with it and it was a great moment.”

Against a drawn-in infield, Calise hit a ground ball to shortstop Ryan Shiflet, who threw low in the dirt to first and the ball bounced to the fence, allowing Allen to score to make it 2-0.

Brilliant pitching dominated the game as John Carroll mustered only three hits and St. John Paul had only two off Calise.

As it has for most of the season, the top of the Rams lineup rose to the occasion against a tough pitcher at the right time to score first.

In the third inning, leadoff hitter Matt Correa drew a walk and stole second with one out.

Calise, the team leader in RBIs entering the night, added to his tally as he bounced a ball into left field and Correa slid in safe on a close play at the plate to put John Carroll ahead 1-0.