May 28, 2025

Pope Francis Prep baseball wins first Western Mass Class A title

REGIONAL
By Stephen Kiltonic

HOLYOKE – For five innings, Pope Francis pitcher Jackson Petrin and Minnechaug pitcher Ethan  Purcell were locked in a scoreless pitching duel at Holyoke’s Mackenzie Stadium, Tuesday May 27. Each starter allowed only one hit entering the sixth. When the Falcons Bryce Barlow tripled with two outs to the gap in right-center field, Minnechaug was only 90 feet away from taking the lead. But, Petrin shut the door on the Falcons best scoring chance when he got Alexander Savlick to pop up to end the rally.

The score remained 0-0 entering the bottom of the sixth, but the No. 1 Cardinals had the top of the order coming up and they struck quickly as they have all season. Senior Ryan Vedovelli singled sharply to right followed by another single to left by senior Cole Miller. Junior Andrew Gagne then delivered the game’s biggest blow with the go-ahead double off Purcell to score Vedovelli with the game’s first run and eventual game winner. After back-to-back sacrifice flies, Miller and Gagne scored to make it 3-0 and Pope Francis was three outs away from their first ever western Massachusetts Class A sectional title. In the seventh, senior Petrin continued his mastery of the Falcons and induced three pop ups to end the game and the Cardinals’ bench stormed the field in celebration.

Entering the championship game, Pope Francis, with a 15-5 record, was on an eight game win-streak as the Cardinals shut out Chicopee, 10-0 and West Springfield, 14-0 in the two prior regional playoff games and had already beaten No. 6  and 12-8 Minnechaug earlier in the season, 11-1. During the past nine seasons, the Cardinals made it to the western Mass finals twice, in 2022 and 2018, but lost. But with Petrin on the mound, first-year manager Mike Tranghese knew his team would be tough to beat.

“Every time you give Jackson the ball, he gives you a chance to win. So, to have him on the mound, he just gives the team so much confidence behind him.” said Tranghese. 

Petrin, who was 9-1 during the season, allowed only two hits, one walk and stuck out seven in seven scoreless innings.

“Petrin was really our ace this year and he carried us and having him be the leader that he was, was tremendous for us,” added Tranghese.

Petrin was also backed up by some stellar fielding during the title game and it was the team’s defense throughout the season along with some young talent that Tranghese points to as being key factors in turning the season around from last year’s 9-13 record to a championship caliber team.

“We had about 22 errors in 20 games so that’s fantastic for the high school level and every day we came out and executed,” commented Tranghese.

“I feel like it’s just a team effort and I’m just doing my job. Guys around me picking me up all the time. It gives me the confidence I can go out there and throw,” said Petrin. “Center field (Garrett Piemonte) made a great play today to take away a hit. It’s all a team effort and that’s what I’ve been preaching as a captain of the team.”

Petrin also praised his catcher, senior tri-captain Nick Burns. “It’s brotherly love back there with your catcher and he’s been doing a great job this year with me.” 

For Vedovelli, this was the third title he has achieved his senior year having won western Mass championships in soccer and basketball. He was a freshman when Pope Francis last played for the western Mass crown in 2022, losing to West Springfield, 2-1. Vedovelli took a year off from baseball last year to focus on basketball.

“I was just ready to come in with a good attitude and play together as a team and hope to win as many games as we could and luckily we were able to win a championship,” said Vedovelli.

Senior tri-captain Cole Miller said Minnechaug wouldn’t go down easy even though they were the No. 6 seed.

“We knew that they were a great team. They had an unbelievable pitcher on the mound and we knew we had to play our game, and if we were, it would be pretty hard to beat us,” said senior tri-captain Cole Miller. He credits Pope’s success this season to its cohesiveness.

“We all were pulling in the right direction. Showing up every day giving 110 per cent each game. It didn’t matter and we just knew what we had to do to get the win,” said Miller. “It’s an incredible feeling. I honestly can’t describe it. We worked really hard and I’m really happy that we were able to pull through and finally get that win that we deserved.”

Pope Francis, 16-5, enters the MIAA state tournament this week on a nine-game winning streak outscoring its last three opponents, 27-0. The Cardinals are the No. 16 seed and will play No. 17 Natick at home this weekend in the Round of 32.   

A video version of this story will be on an upcoming edition of “Real to Reel” which airs Saturday evenings at 7 p.m. on WWLP-22 NEWS.