The Everett High baseball team improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the Greater Boston League with a pair of victories this week over GBL rivals Medford and Somerville.
Last Friday’s encounter at Playstead Park with Medford saw ace Crimson Tide hurler Zerif Pajazetovic spin a brilliant one hitter over the full seven inning route, fanning seven Mustangs in the process.
” ‘Z’ was immense,” said EHS head coach Joe Lento. “We weren’t getting timely hits and left a lot of men on base, but Zerif just kept shutting them down.”
Everett got its one run in the fifth when, with Matt Pothier on third and Justin Johnson on first, the Tide sent Johnson to second on a steal attempt. The Medford catcher fired to third in an attempt to nab Pothier, but his throw went awry and Pothier scooted home with what prove to be the game’s one and only run.
“We played great defense in the field behind Zerif,” said Lento, who noted that his team committed just one error on the day. “Solid pitching and defense always will keep you in the game even if you aren’t getting the job done at the plate.”
In contrast to Friday’s tight contest, Monday’s encounter with Somerville was just the opposite sort of ballgame, as Everett cruised to a 9-0 victory. Lawrence Falter tossed the first four innings and Michael Rossi came on for the final three of the combined shutout.
Everett scored early and often to sew things up from the outset. Pothier went 2-for-2 with four RBI (two on a bases loaded single, one on a sacrifice fly, and another when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded) and Jamel Vilmont had three hits. Mike Vitukevich contributed a two run triple to the Crimson Tide offensive output.
Lento and his crew will travel to Cambridge today for a key GBL battle at St. Peter’s Field. The Crimson Tide will travel Saturday to Middleton to take on North Shore Tech in a non-league contest and then trek to Pine Banks on Monday to face GBL rival Malden.
Softball team wins two of three games
The Everett High softball team pounded non-league opponent Marblehead, 28-9, and split a pair of games with GBL rivals Malden and Medford this past week.
The Lady Crimson Tide gave an early indication of the fireworks to come against Marblehead when Alea Martinelli led off with a home run and was followed by another home run by Samantha Batres, both of which went over the fence. They were the first two of what would be six roundtrippers for the Lady Crimson Tide on the day.
The offensive onslaught continued when Janyne Sierra singled, Talia Mirra bunted Sierra over and was safe at first, and Franki Perreault doubled, knocking in Sierra. With Mirra at third and courtesy runner Alicia Cataldo (for the pitcher Perreault) at second, Jess Wade singled, knocking in Mirra.
Freshman Talia Riccioli then doubled, knocking in Cataldo. With runners at second and third, Martinelli slammed another home run over the fence. Not to be outdone, Batres unloaded another roundtripper. Sierra, Mirra, and Perreault kept things going with singles to load the bases. Two more hits by Wade and Kylie Jepson produced two more runs.
By the time the dust had settled and the smoke had cleared, the scoreboard showed the Lady Crimson Tide with a 12-0 advantage.
Martinelli was back at it again in the second, drawing a base on balls (no doubt a smart move by Marblehead given Alea’s two previous at-bats) and Batres doubled, bringing in Martinelli. A base hit by Sierra into the outfield moved Batres to third. Mirra doubled, knocking in Batres and moving Sierra to third. Perreault struck for another two-bagger, scoring both Sierra and Mirra. Yet another two base hit by Wade brought in courtesy runner Cataldo. After Jepson walked, Wade scored on a fielder’s choice by Sophia Marchant.
The six Everett tallies raised the count to 18-1. (Marblehead had scored on a lead-off homer in its half of the first inning.)
The third frame saw some more power from the Everett girls. Sierra sent one over the fence with Riccioli and Martinelli aboard (both had singled) and then Wade got in on the home run derby contest with the sixth Everett fence-buster with Mirra (who had singled) on base.
Marblehead struck back with eight markers in the bottom of the third to make it a 23-9, thanks to Everett errors on bunts, a few hits, a walk, and a hit-batter.
But the Lady Crimson Tide resumed their offensive outburst in the fourth. Riccioli singled, Martinelli singled, and Batres doubled to score Riccioli. Sierra doubled, knocking in Martinelli; Batres scored on a fielder’s choice; and Sierra scored on hit by Perreault to up the count to 27-9.
With the mercy rule imminent as the teams entered the fifth inning, Everett tacked on one more run for good measure when Riccioli singled, moved to third on a double by Martinelli (who had an amazing day at the plate with two homers, a double, two singles, a walk, six runs scored, and four RBI.), and scored on fielder’s choice for the 28-9 finale.
Perreault pitched all five innings, fanning six and walking four, while yielding six hits.
“It was an extremely raw day because of the rain and low temperature,” said EHS head coach Stacy Poste, ” but the girls played well in these awful conditions. This was the best we have hit the ball. We were very consistent with the bats throughout the entire game. Franki had total control of the ball pitching, which was not easy to do with the wet conditions.”
On Thursday the Lady Crimson Tide hosted Greater Boston League foe Malden, their archrival of the past few seasons, and came out on top, 6-3.
Perreault went all seven frames with a superb performance, fanning five and walking none while scattering seven hits and allowing just two earned runs.
Malden took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Everett came right back in its half of the frame to take the lead with a big inning. Jepson singled, stole second, and moved to third on a hit by designated player Marchant. Martinelli then doubled to bring in Jepson and moved Marchant to third. Sierra singled into the outfield, knocking in both Marchant and Martinelli. Mirra then laced a double down the left field line scoring Sierra and with two out, Wade slashed another two-bagger to rescue Mirra for a 5-1 Everett advantage.
Malden got one back in the fourth, but the Lady Crimson Tide responded in the bottom of the fourth when, with two outs, the Martinelli-Batres combo struck when Alea singled, stole second, and scored on a double by Samantha.
Malden chipped away with another solo marker in the fifth to close the gap to 6-3, but Perreault shut the door the rest of the way to earn the big victory.
“This was a huge game for us,” said Poste. “You could see the girls wanted to beat them from the moment they got to the field. This rivalry has been going on for over four years now and some of the girls play together in the summer, so it was a very competitive game. We had a great inning hitting the ball. We made some errors that could have cost us in the end, but overall defensively we made the important plays to keep their runners from scoring.”
On Friday the Lady Crimson Tide dropped a tough 10-8 decision at Medford. Everett took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Batres and Sierra singled and both advanced on a passed ball. Batres scored on bunt base hit by Mirra and when Sierra moved to third on an error, Mirra stole second. A passed ball allowed Sierra to score and Mirra, who had moved to third, came home on a sac fly by Perreault.
However, Medford struck back with a run in the first and seven in the second, thanks primarily to errors and walks. “They only had three solid hits, but scored seven runs in that inning,” said Poste. “We fell apart. It was one mistake after another.”
The third frame saw Medford enlarge its lead to 9-3 thanks to an Everett error, but the Lady Crimson Tide began to battle back in the fourth and fifth with single runs to slice the margin to 9-5. Perreault delivered a key blow, a triple in the fifth, to bring in Mirra, who had singled.
Everett got two more back in the sixth, the big hit coming from the bat of Sierra, who belted a two-run triple, t make it 9-7.
Malden scored a solo tally in the bottom of the sixth, but Everett could muster only one of its own in the seventh for the 10-8 finale.
“This was a heartbreaking loss for us,” commented Poste. “We worked so hard against Malden to get the win and then we lost our edge against Medford. If we took out that second inning and the mistakes we made, this game was ours. We know we are going to have to fight harder if we want the GBL title.”
Poste and her crew have a busy week with four games in six days on tap: The Lady Crimson Tide were set to take on Somerville Monday; trek to Cambridge today (Wednesday); host Whittier Tech tomorrow; and journey to Westford Academy Saturday.
Hieu Vo-Tran sets EHS high jump mark
Everett High track star Hieu Vo-Tran set a new school record in the high jump, clearing the bar at six feet even in last week’s meet with Malden. Hieu broke the previous mark of 5-10 set a few years ago by Alan Dancewicz.
“This is a well-deserved achievement,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “Hieu has been working hard since the indoor season and set a goal of qualifying for the State Meet, which he also has accomplished with this jump.”
Vo-Tran also scored a point for Everett with a third place effort in the 400 low hurdles in a time of 1:11.3.
Justin Gabriel was the top point scorer on the day for Everett, taking the javelin with a throw of 120-8 and the discus with a toss of 106-5, to contribute 10 points to the Crimson Tide side of the scoresheet.
Lorentz Etienne was a first place finisher for Everett, out-jumping all rivals in the long jump with a leap of 19-2. Lorentz also took a third place in the 200 meter dash in 25.7.
Jason Hansen placed in two events, taking second with a triple jump of 32-0 and third in the 400 in 60.4.
Felipe Andrade added three points to the Everett cause with a second in the shotput with a heave of 37-2.
Third place finishers for Everett were: Jamaal Genty in the shotput with a throw of 22-3.5; Trevor Freeman with a triple jump of 30-3.5; Tuan Vo in the 800 meter run in 2:14.3; Kenny Phan in the 100 dash in 12.3; and Jefrey Perez in the two mile in 12:56.9.
A group of the Crimson Tide competed in the State Relay Meet Sunday. EHS head coach Shelanda Irish noted the effort of her 1600 meter sprint relay foursome of Tuan Vo (800 meters), Jason Hansen (200), Trevor Freeman (200), and Hieu Vo-Tran (400) for their fine performance.
The boys will be competing in the Twilight Meet at New Bedford Regional High Saturday. Their last dual meet of the season is next Wednesday against Medford.
Pham, Lorjuste win for EHS girls track
Kathy Pham won two events and Djenny Lorjuste took first place in another to lead the way for the Everett High girls outdoor track team in their meet last week with Malden.
Kathy won the high jump with a leap of 4-4 and took the long jump with a distance of 14-0. Lorjuste outdashed all rivals in the 200 meter event in 29.3, which was a personal record.
Elspeth Colson enjoyed a fine meet, taking second place in two events, the triple jump with a hop, skip, and jump of 27-2 and the 100 meter high hurdles with a clocking of 18.8. Megan Eugene likewise added six points to the Everett cause with a pair of second place finishes in the 200 in 30.1 and the long jump with a leap of 13-4.
Yarina Pineda-Ramirez also grabbed a second place for Everett with her shotput throw of 22-11.75.
Adding single points to the Everett scoresheet for their third place finishes were: Lena Nguyen in the 400 low hurdles in 1:23.7; Sheryl Steeves in the 100 dash in 14.7; and Melissa D’Haiti with a discus toss of 49-3.
A contingent of Everett girls competed in the State Relay Meet held Sunday. The sprint relay teams of Lorjuste, Pham, Steeves, and Eugene in the 4 x 100 (56.12) and Lorjuste, Pham, Steeves, and Nguyen in the 4 x 200 (2:01.91) did well in their competitions. “These were the girls’ fastest times this season,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “Our hand-offs were better, but we can improve to make them even smoother.’
The girls will be competing in the Twilight Meet at New Bedford Regional High Saturday. Their last dual meet of the season is next Wednesday against Medford.