St. John the Baptist posts 18-1 rout on their new turf field

In what was more than an ordinary home opener, St. John the Baptist baseball made sure to do a good job breaking in its new turf.

The Cougars unveiled their new turf infield on Saturday morning, a project completed in the offseason. The name of the late Monsignor James Kissane is painted in blue cursive writing on the turf in front of the third base dugout, Kissane, who died in 2009 of cancer at 44, starred in baseball and graduated from SJB in 1983. 

 SJB's players and coaches worked to raise funds, and families, friends and alumni assisted with donations to make the commemorative turf affordable.

“It’s nice that we’ve had a lot of people chip in,” SJB coach Ryan Dalton said. “A lot of families of the team, a lot of alumni . . . a lot of people put in a lot of time and effort and made some very nice donations to get this thing going.”

Father Kissane’s turf is officially game-used after SJB stomped on St. Edmund Prep of Brooklyn, 18-1, Saturday.

In the top of the first inning, junior starting pitcher Jayden Nappi found himself in a jam with runners on first and second base and nobody out, but a three-pitch strikeout and a heads-up play by junior shortstop Keegan McElligott ended the trouble. McElligott made a backhanded pickup on a ground ball to the left side and saw the runner round third, so he threw behind him to create a rundown. After executing the rundown perfectly, McElligott tagged out the runner.   And with the trail runner approaching third base, McElligott chased him down and tagged him to end the inning.

SJB (4-0) rode that momentum into the bottom of the first, where just two batters in, junior centerfielder Lucas Christman crushed a 1-0 pitch over the scoreboard in left-centerfield for a solo home run. It was the second homer of his varsity career.

“This one felt better,” Christman said. “I felt like I hit it way better. Perfect spot, just starting off the year hot and helping the team.”

In the bottom of the second, with the game tied 1-1, freshman second baseman Mike Garcia ripped a first-pitch RBI double into the right-centerfield gap to give SJB a 2-1 lead. Garcia got another at-bat in the frame and ripped a two-run single through the middle to make it 7-1. The Cougars sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning, scoring eight runs.

Garcia finished his first career varsity home game 3-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored.  So much for freshman nerves. 

“All the pressure’s off,” Garcia said. “Everything feels better now. I don’t have to worry.”