The Everett High softball team enjoyed a successful week, winning three of its four contests.
The Lady Crimson Tide defeated Marblehead 11-6 with a come from-behind-victory in which the Lady Crimson Tide erased a 6-3 deficit after four frames with four run rallies in each of the fifth and sixth innings.
EHS pitcher Franki Perreault tossed all seven innings, allowing just seven hits and four earned runs while striking out two and walking three.
Marblehead grabbed an early 2-0 lead with solo markers in the second and third innings in which Marblehead managed just one hit in the second frame with errors accounting for the tally in third.
The Everett offense finally got down to business in the fourth, pushing across three runs (all with two outs) to take a 3-2 advantage. Brianna Uga got things started by drawing a two out walk. After a base hit by Perrault (for whom Talia Mirra came in as a courtesy runner), Samantha Batres laced a double to bring in Uga. A single into the outfield by Jess Wade delivered Mirra and another safety by Kayla Lombardo sent Batres homeward.
Marblehead momentarily regained the momentum with four runs in the fourth, with bloopers, stolen bases, and some weak fielding on routine plays that Everett should have made accounting for the Marblehead runs. But the Lady Crimson Tide responded with four tallies in the fifth.
Alea Martinelli singled and Erin McLaughlin was hit by a pitch. Sierra then stepped and belted a home run over the fence to clear the bases. A base hit by Uga, a sacrifice bunt by Perrault, a pop fly base hit by Batres, and a ground out by Lombardo made it 7-6.
The Lady Crimson Tide opened up some breathing room with four more markers in the sixth. Tori Cyrus got the rally started with a single. Alea Martinelli then laid down a bunt on which she was safe at first and Cyrus advanced to second. A base hit by McLaughlin loaded the bases for Sierra, whose fly ball to right allowed Cyrus to tag up. Perrault then helped her own cause (again) with a hard base hit to the outfield that brought in Martinelli and McLaughlin. After Mirra (Perreault’s courtesy runner again) stole second, Batres doubled her home.
“After the rough patch in the fourth, Franki stayed strong over the final three innings,” said EHS head coach Stacy Poste. “She did not let up any hits and is getting stronger each game, which is great to see. Our offense has been getting better, but now we need to get our defense together.”
In a tight 2-1 win over Lowell, the Everett girls gave Perreault the defensive support that Poste has been seeking. Indeed, it was the opposition who threw the game away in the fifth. Everett was trailing 1-0 when Taylor Sweeney singled, moved to second on a base hit by Tori Cyrus, and then came home when she stole third and the throw went awry. Cyrus, who had reached third on the overthrow, then came home when Alea Martinelli’s grounder was misplayed.
Perreault went all seven frames, allowing just five hits.
A 6-2 victory over Whittier saw Perreault on fire again as she tossed a sterling three hitter. Janyne Sierra provided much of the offense for Everett, stroking an RBI triple (and then scoring herself on a misplay in the outfield) to key a three run rally in the third and then doubling and scoring in the sixth.
Tori Cyrus also delivered a big hit, a solo homer in the fifth inning.
The lone blemish in the Lady Crimson Tide’s week was a 10-0 loss to Greater Boston League archrival Malden. “I know my girls can hit the ball much better than what we saw in this game,” said Poste. “I know they were prepared mentally for this game. We had the pitching machine turned up and they were killing it. I think after the three runs in the first inning, they got down on themselves. I know our team is capable of beating Malden. The score is no indication of what this team can do on another day.”
Poste and her crew, who now are 7-1 on the season, have a busy week on tap, hosting Newburyport under the lights tonight (Wednesday) at 6:30 at Glendale; entertaining Somerville tomorrow; and then hosting Medford Friday.
Baseball team tops GBL foe Malden, 3-1
The Everett High baseball team remained perfect in the Greater Boston League with a key 3-1 win over Malden last Thursday.
Zerif Pajazetovic turned in yet another stellar performance on the mound for the Crimson Tide, spinning a brilliant three hitter and walking none over the full seven inning route.
“Zerif was great,” said EHS head coach Joe Marchese of Pajazetovic, who now sports a personal mark of 3-0 on the season. Pajazetovic also was a major player at the plate, helping his own cause with two hits, including an RBI double in the sixth when Everett broke open a 1-1 deadlock.
Matt Cafarella had a pair of hits on the day and stole a base. Chris DiNapoli drove in
the first Everett run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and then led off the sixth with a two bagger, eventually scoring when a sacrifice bunt by Jonathan DiBiaso was thrown away by the Malden pitcher. DiBiaso would score on Pajazetovic’s double.
The win was sandwiched between a pair of losses to non league rival St. John’s Prep on Tuesday and Saturday, both of which were wooden bat games. Tuesday’s contest saw freshman Lawrence Falter turn in a tremendous effort on the mound in which he allowed just one run (which came in the bottom of the seventh with two outs) and five hits while fanning five.
“Lawrence was spectacular,” said Marchese. “He threw strikes and his cut fastball was on target all game.”
Everett outhit the Prep, six to five, but a lack of timely hitting left eight Crimson Tide runners on base. Matt Cafarella had two hits and stole a base and Shawn Doyle doubled with one out in the top of the seventh. The Tide played solid defense in support of Falter, with shortstop Cafarella in particular making some nifty plays in the field.
The return match at Everett on Saturday saw the Crimson Tide receive yet another strong, route going effort from their starting pitcher, Matt Pothier. Matt went all seven innings and gave up just four hits and one earned run. However, he was victimized by an uncharacteristically poor defensive performance by his teammates, who committed seven errors which allowed five unearned Prep runs to cross the plate for a 6-3 loss.
Everett once again had more hits than St. John’s (five to four) and once again left eight runners stranded. Pothier himself had a nice offensive day with a hit and two runs scored, while DiNapoli socked a double and scored a run. Jamel Vilmont, playing in his first varsity game, accounted for two RBI with a ground out and a walk.
Marchese and his crew will be without the services of their all-star catcher and leading hitter, Chris McCarthy, who reinjured an ankle that had been originally injured in the football season.
“Chris’s loss is huge for us,” said Marchese. “He was a real leader for our team on the field behind the plate and he was our number three hitter in the lineup. It’s a tough break for Chris and for the entire team.”
Marchese and crew, who now are 4-4 overall, were scheduled to play yesterday (Tuesday) at Medford and travel to Somerville tomorrow. They host North Shore Tech Saturday at 3:00 ad trek to Cambridge next Tuesday.
Boys, girls squads compete at State Relays
A contingent of Everett High girls and boys track team members competed in the Division 1 State Relay Meet Saturday at Franklin High School.
The top performance on the boys’ side came from the quartet of Soufiane Fdal, Jonathan Mendez, Andres Tejada, and Jaylen McCrae in the 4 x 100 relay. The foursome sped around the track in a time of 45.85 seconds, a clocking that qualifies them for the State Meet and which was good for 17th place overall at the relays.
“Jaylen McCrae had an injured left knee for the past week and a half, so he didn’t have the chance to train a lot and get many handoffs in,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “That was the only exchange that could use just a little bit of work. However, with that said, they still qualified for states with a fast time and their time will drop once the handoff is perfected, and I know they’ll get it.”
Another Everett quartet, Jose Portillo, Kenny Phan, Gustavo DaSilva, and Edswaner Ambroise, also ran in the 4 x 100 and finished in a time of 49.86. “I was also impressed with our ‘B’ team athletes as well,” added Irish. “They ran exceptionally well. All of the boys ran really hard and they looked great Saturday.”
The 4 x 200 team consisted of the same top quartet who competed in the 4 x 100, Fdal, Mendez, Tejada, and McCrae. They raced to 12th place in the 4 x 200 in a time of 1:35.88. Another Everett foursome, Lorentz Etienne, Phan, Portillo, and Gustavo DaSilva, also ran in the 4 x 200 and clocked a time of 1:48.36.
Everett sent a team of javelin throwers, consisting of senior captain Daniel Plunkett, Steven Ho, and Justin Gabriel. Their combined throws added up to 100.98 meters. “Gabriel is the newest addition to the throwing group,” said Irish. “Dan and Steven are our top javelin throwers this year and continue to do well for us.”
The girls competed in the Sprint Medley Relay which consisted of an 800 leg (Maeve Kernan), two 200 legs (Katelyn Steeves and Serina Welch-Shull), and the 400 (Emila Ponikiewski).
“Maeve got us off to a good start and Katie and Serina ran terrific in their 200’s,” said Irish. “Emila had an outstanding 400 leg and moved us up two places.” Their time of 14:53.01 placed into the 18th spot in the standings.
The Everett girls also competed in the Distance Medley Relay, which consisted of a 1200 leg (Jessica Mangan), a 400 leg (Katelyn Steeves), an 800 leg (Emila Ponikiewski), and a 1600 leg (Maeve Kernan).
“Senior captains Jessica Mangan and Katelyn Steeves led our group of girls at this meet,” noted Irish. “I really stressed to the girls running in the relays that each of them really had to run hard and that’s what they did. Jess got us a good start. She did awesome. From there they all held their own and positioned us really well at each exchange.”
Irish and her crew will meet Medford Wednesday at 3:45 p.m.