by Trevor Dugan
Jack Affenita wins it for St. John the Baptist with a two-run walkoff single!
FINAL: St. John the Baptist 7 – St. Anthony’s 6 pic.twitter.com/qxL5OanBRe
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) April 7, 2026
Jack Affenita hit a walk-off single Tuesday to lift St. John the Baptist over St. Anthony’s 7-6 in a bizarre game that saw eight bases loaded walks and six hit-by-pitches.
Two college-bound pitchers squared off as West Virginia-commit Luke Coats started the game for St. Anthony’s, while Mount Saint Mary’s-commit Gino Milone got the nod for St. John the Baptist. Milone got off to a hot start, sitting down the first six batters he faced, but Coats had some uncharacteristic control issues in the bottom of the first.
St. John the Baptist jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as the St. Anthony’s ace Coats struggled to find the strike zone. An error to begin the inning and back-to-back singles by Keegan McElligott and Milone loaded the bases with just one out, before Coats surrendered four consecutive bases loaded walks. On just two hits the Cougars were able to bat around and take a four-run lead before Coats escaped the inning.
Coats settled down after his shaky first, pitching a scoreless bottom of the second and a 1-2-3 bottom of the third. His counterpart Milone cruised through the first two innings, but surrendered his first run of the game to St. Anthony’s in the top of the third.
With runners on first and second and two outs, Milone hit two straight batters, one with the bases loaded, to give St. Anthony’s their first run of the game and shrink the Cougars’ lead to 4-1. He would finish the half inning off with a strikeout.
St. Anthony’s removed Coats after he gave up two singles in the bottom of the fourth and replaced him with junior LHP Aidan Ging. The southpaw stranded both runners to keep the score at 4-1 and would pitch the remainder of the game for the Friars. Both Milone and Ging allowed just one baserunner in their respective scoreless halves of the fifth inning.
Milone pitched six strong innings for St. John the Baptist, allowing only one run on one hit while striking out four batters. He finished his quality start with a scoreless top of the sixth.
The Cougars added one more run to their lead in the top of the sixth after a leadoff popup by Lucas Christman dropped in between the St. Anthony’s infielders, allowing Christman to reach second base. The St. John the Baptist outfielder would then steal third base, and when Keegan McElligott was intentionally walked to put runners on the corners, the Cougars executed a perfect first and third play, with McElligott stealing second base and Christman breaking for the plate on the throw down to second to give the Cougars a 5-1 lead heading into the seventh inning.
St. John the Baptist replaced Milone with RHP Dom Witt to begin the seventh inning, against whom the Friars found much more success. An error, a walk, and a single by Alex Pagano loaded the bases with one out for Michael Carr, who dropped a bloop single into center field to score the Friars’ first run since the first inning and trim the Cougars’ lead to 5-2.
Following Carr’s RBI single, the Friars drew four consecutive bases loaded walks, exactly how St. John the Baptist did in the first inning, to take a 6-5 lead. Two of the walks were surrendered by Witt before he was replaced by Nick Bivetto, who would walk in two more runs before finally ending the disastrous half inning. Despite recording just two hits in the seventh, St. Anthony’s scored five runs and seemed poised to break the Cougars’ hearts heading into the final half inning.
Despite leading the entire game, St. John the Baptist found themselves trailing by one in the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars did not show an ounce of dejection however as they staged a perfect rally to set up a stunning finish. CJ Everett was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, then Ed Schmutz and Patrick Dolan laid down two perfect bunts in back-to-back plate appearances to load the bases. Schmutz’ bunt stopped perfectly on the third base line as three St. Anthony’s fielders crowded around the ball waiting for it to roll foul, drawing rabid cheers from the home crowd.
Next to the plate was junior catcher Jack Affenita, who found himself in a situation every baseball player dreams of. Trailing 6-5 with the bases loaded and one out in the final inning, Affenita ripped a sinking liner into left-center field, easily scoring both Everett and Schmutz and giving St. John the Baptist a 7-6 victory. Pandemonium ensued as the Cougar’s dugout emptied onto the field and mobbed the hero Affenita as he rounded first base, celebrating their fifth straight victory and most exciting moment of 2026 so far.
After the game, Affenita told Axcess how it felt to come through for his team when they needed him most.
“It feels pretty good, really got the boys hyped up,” the walkoff hero told Axcess. “We just gotta keep it rolling.”
Affenita also spoke on what he believes has been the key to the Cougars’ five game winning streak after an 0-2 start, and how the cold early season weather affects their play.
“Our practices are really hard,” Affenita explained. “We really harp on all the small things, I think that’s the main thing. The cold really won’t change anything for us as a team, we talk about it a lot.”
The dramatic victory improves St. John the Baptist’s record to 5-2 on the season, while St. Anthony’s falls to 3-1.
St. John the Baptist and St. Anthony’s will face off twice more this week. Their next matchup is Wednesday April 8 at Buddy Corr Field.