When the Pioneers and Eagles marched into the fourth iteration of the Super 8 baseball final, it ensured that for the first time in three years Massachusetts would crown a new Division 1A champion.
St. John’s Prep emerged out of the loser’s bracket for the third consecutive season needing a win to force a do-or-die final, as it had in each of the prior two tournaments before ultimately succumbing to Braintree each time.
St. John’s of Shrewsbury was making its first finals appearance in its third trip to the Super 8, having been eliminated last season by the Prep.
Three games into the double-elimination tournament, these two sides met in a scrappy battle that tilted in the favor of St. John’s of Shrewsbury, 4-3, sending the Pioneers to the final and the Prep to the loser’s bracket, all while setting the stage for an epic final.
