By Hannah Eastwood

Greg Montalbano was no different from any of the players who took the field on that sunny Saturday afternoon.  Montalbano loved baseball.  He was a resident of Westborough, MA and played baseball at St. John’s.  Montalbano graduated from St. John’s in 1995 and continued to play the game he loved at Northeastern University the following year.  In 1999 Montalbano’s dream came true: he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox.  The talented pitcher worked his way through the Sox minor league system for five years, playing for the Lowell Spinners, Sarasota Red Sox, Trenton Thunder, and Portland Sea Dogs.

Montalbano was first diagnosed with testicular cancer during his freshman year of college.  After a long battle Montalbano passed away on August 21 at the age of 31.

“It’s nice to commemorate a guy that was a big part of Central Mass baseball.”  Says Mr.Kittredge.  “I think it’s a good life lesson for these guys also just about don’t take anything for granted.”

The game began with a touching ceremony where Montalbano’s parents were greeted by a standing ovation from the large crowd as they made their way to home plate where they were honored by both teams.  In addition, four Westborough little league players threw out the first pitch.

The Rangers were coming off a loss to Groton-Dunstable, which ended their three game win streak.  Entering the game the Rangers’ previous five games had been decided by two runs or less.  This drop off in offensive production reached new highs in Saturday’s 9-0 loss.

St. John’s Ian Seymour and Shane Combs combined to shutout the host Rangers.

“We just need to make contact first and foremost.  We didn’t put any pressure on them,” said Kittredge.  “We’ve been a good contact team all year.  That can’t be a problem.  We got to get the turnaround quickly.”

With the loss the Rangers are still searching for their tenth win of the season to send them to the playoffs for the first time in over four years.