Falta Spins One-hitter in Win over Cambridge

Although the Everett High baseball team stands at just under-.500 with a 3-4 record, EHS head coach Joe Lento is optimistic that his squad can make a run to get into the thick of the hunt for the Greater Boston League title  as the Crimson Tide embark on the middle part of their 2014 campaign.

“Three of our losses have come when we took leads into the sixth or seventh inning,” said Lento, noting last week’s 4-3 loss to Bishop Fenwick in which Fenwick rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. “Our pitching and defense have been fine. If our bats can start to come around, we should do very well.”

An immense bright spot for the Crimson Tide has been the pitching of junior ace Lawrence Falta, who has been the winning hurler in all three of the Tide’s triumphs. Falta’s best outing of the season came against GBL rival Cambridge in which Lawrence spun a one-hitter and needed only 79 pitches over the seven-inning route to get the job done. “Lawrence has been superb,” said Lento.

In  addition, senior captain Michael Rossi has shone in the pitching department, but has been a victim of a lack of run support.

Lento and his crew took on Malden this past Monday and will play at Lynn English today (Wednesday) at Fraser Field. They will travel to Medford Monday and will host Somerville next Wednesday.

Softball team nips Westford Academy, 2-1

The Everett High softball team received a superb pitching performance from Sydnee Bessler and played stout defense behind her to earn a well-played 2-1 victory over Westford Academy last Tuesday.

Bessler went all seven innings, striking out five and walking only one. Sydnee brought a no-hitter into the sixth and lost her shutout in the seventh when a double, a fielder’s choice, and an Everett error accounted for the lone Westford run of the contest.

Her teammates gave Bessler all of the run support she would need in the opening inning thanks to a bases-loaded double by Samantha Uga. The table had been set for Samantha when Talia Riccioli singled into left field, Sophia Marchant drew a walk, and Bessler bunted everyone safely.

“Sydnee pitched a great game,” said EHS head coach Stacy Poste. “Her defense got a workout. Westford made contact, but we made the plays when we needed to. The coaches were very happy with our defense.

“However, we still need to be more consistent with our hitting,” said Poste, who noted that of her team’s six hits on the day, five came in the opening two innings.

What was especially impressive about Bessler’s pitching performance against Westford was that it came on the heels of a tough 2-1 loss the day before at Cambridge in which Sydnee tossed all six frames, striking out nine and walking only one.

Everett grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the first inning when Bessler walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by  Marchant, and then took third when she noticed that no one was covering the third base bag. Sydnee’s head-up base-running paid off when she subsequently came home on a sac fly by Talia Mirra.

Everett clung to its 1-0 edge until the sixth when a series of Lady Crimson Tide miscues allowed Cambridge to push across two markers in the sixth.   Bessler’s lone walk of the day to the Cambridge lead-off hitter, a pair of errors, a dropped third strike, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly all combined to produce Cambridge’s wholly unearned runs.

The Everett bats meanwhile, were silent, as the Cambridge pitcher recorded a no-hitter.

“Their pitcher was good,” said Poste. “We could not put the ball in play. We swung at pitches over our head, helping their pitcher, so if we did meet the ball, we hit pop-ups.”

Poste and her crew were set to play at Malden this past Monday and then travel to Latin Academy today (Wednesday) and to Winthrop tomorrow.

EHS track competes at GBL Fr/Soph. Meet

The freshman and sophomore members of the Everett High track team competed in the Greater Boston League’s annual Freshman/Sophomore Meet during the vacation week with many of the Crimson Tide turning in outstanding performances.

On the girls’ side, Deborah Mattias took the first place ribbon in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:25.5. Deborah also medaled in the shotput event with a fourth place finish with a throw of 19′-9″.

Djenny Lorjuste enjoyed an outstanding meet. Djenny outdistanced the field in the long jump with a leap of 13’7″ to take first place honors. She also grabbed third in the 200 dash with a sprint of 28.4 and was part of the 4 x 100 relay quartet that came across in second place in a time of 57.1.

Rose Kendy Antoine was another GBL champion for the Lady Crimson Tide, grabbing first place in the triple jump with a a hop, skip, and jump of 20′-10″.

Sabrina Moreta won medals in two events, taking second in the 200 dash in 28.3 and running a leg of the second place 4 x 100 relay team.

Jalissa Harding earned points for the Everett cause in three events with a fifth place effort in the 100 dash in 14.3, a fourth in the high jump with a leap of 4′-2″, and running a leg of the 4 x 400 quartet that finished in fourth spot in 5:16.2.

Jasmine Harding was a double point-scorer for Everett with a fifth-place high jump of 4′-2″ and a leg of the 4 x 400 relay.

Annie Pierreville brought home a second-place ribbon in the shotput with a throw of 72′-2″. Teammate Stephanica Janvier claimed the third place medal in the 400 hurdles race with a clocking of 1:29.9 and also was a part of the 4 x 100 relay. Josseline Alvarado took sixth in the 200 dash in 32.7 and Taarah Duc finished fifth in the shotput with a heave of 18′-1.5″.

The full 4 x 100 team that finished second in 57.1 consisted of Djenny Lorjuste, Stephanica Janvier, Josseline Alvarado and Sabrina Moreta. The girls in the 4 x 400 relay who finished fourth in 5:16.2 were Jalissa Harding, Vanessa Cazeau, Jasmine Harding, and Brianna Gutierrez.

For the boys, the top finisher of the day was Caleb Woods with a third place performance in the 400 dash in a time of 1:06.7. Shea Kernan took fourth in the mile in 5:44.5. Denny Le scored for Everett in three events: sixth place in the mile in a clocking of 5:56.9; fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 5:56.9; and as a member of the 4 x 400 relay team that took fifth spot in 4:35.4. Other members of the relay quartet were Jason Vo, Chadwick Jean-Marie, and Leandro Soto. Soto also took sixth place in the 100 dash in 12.3.

Members of the team will be competing at the Sunset Invitational in New Bedford Saturday, May 3rd.  The next regular season meet for Coach Shelanda Irish’s squad will be next Wednesday vs. Medford.