JHS Beats Westerly, 16-0, In 5 Innings

's varsity baseball team scored six runs in the first inning and continued to pour it on, rolling past Westerly, 16-0 on April 29.

Catcher Ryan Geraghty led the Panthers (10-0) with three hits, including a fourth-inning grand slam, and senior Dylan Pingitore went the distance to pick up the win.

In 10 games, Johnston has racked up 116 runs and given up just 26 while compiling a team batting average of .415.

The lefty struck out one and surrendered just three singles, keeping the Bulldogs off-balance and off-base with an effective fastball, a good breaking ball and a bit of help from his friends.

Senior shortstop Gian Bianchi got things going for Johnston with a diving grab in the first inning.

“Gian’s play up the middle was just super. That was a major league play,” said Steve DeMeo, head coach of the Panthers.

Bianchi and his teammates did not commit an error en route to their 10^th victory in league play. Westerly made four, and slipped to 6-2 with the loss.

The Bulldogs struggled from the get-go Friday, mishandling a pair of balls during the first inning to give Geraghty a chance with two men on. The Panthers’ captain ripped a single to right, grabbing his first RBI and giving Johnston a 1-0 lead.

Nick Loffredo doubled the advantage with a base hit past Westerly’s third baseman, Al Greenstein, and another Bulldogs miscue produced Johnston’s third run. The Panthers scored again on a wild pitch from Westerly’s Austin Trombino (3.0 IP, 1 K, 3 BB, 8 H, 12 R), and tacked on another with Stephen Almagno’s line drive up the middle.

Johnston led, 6-0, after Almagno and Michael Pennachia executed a double-steal, capping the first-inning outburst.

“Offensively, we set the tone, and we forced them to make a few errors in the field,” DeMeo said. “Against a quality team, you want to force them to make mistakes.”

Gregory Doutre’s groundout and Pennachia’s RBI-double brought in two more runs for the Panthers in the second inning before Daniel De Simone and Pingitore came around to make it 10-0 in the third. Johnston took a 12-0 lead into the fourth after Loffredo chipped in with his second hit, a two-run double.

Westerly’s right-handed reliever, Zachary Newell, surrendered four more unearned runs before the game ended in accordance with Interscholastic League Rule 4-2-2, the so-called mercy rule.

With two outs in the fourth, Bianchi hit a ground ball to short, but he was not retired, and Geraghty stepped in with the bases load. The senior followed up his April 27 with a grand slam that cleared the right-field fence at Johnston Memorial Park on April 29.

The Panthers return to Johnston Memorial on May 4 to host Central (9-1) before traveling to Woonsocket’s Barry Field for a showdown with the Villa Novans (7-2) on May 6. In Johnston's home opener, the Panthers beat Woonsocket 2-1.

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