EHS Boys Volleyball 3-2 Over Chelsea
The Everett High boys volleyball team won its second match of the season with an exciting 3-2 victory at Chelsea last week.
Head coach Mike Fineran’s squad took the first two sets, lost the next two, but left with a win after a 15-9 fifth set victory.
Everett’s outside hitters, senior Brandon Ho and freshman Enrique Franca, combined for five kills in the deciding set, and senior Derrick Sands served the final three points of the match.
“Our stars stepped up when they had to,” said Fineran, who also credited his team’s depth. “We had 11 players play in that set alone, which meant that people were playing out of their normal positions, but they made adjustments and did whatever was asked of them.”
The match did not seem to be headed for a fifth-set tiebreaker after Everett took the first two sets.
In the opening set, senior middle Marcilio Melo had two aces, a kill, and a block, and junior opposite hitter Dimitar Dimitrov served five in a row as Everett built an early lead.
Franca had two aces and co-captain Ho had three kills and five service points as the Tide cruised to a 25-18 victory.
In the second set, Everett got four straight aces from senior co-captain Caio Santos and four service points from Sands. Santos set up key kills from junior Jason Martinez, Tejada, Ho, and Franca, but six missed serves kept the game close, though Everett eked out a 25-23 win.
Chelsea used the momentum and confidence they gained in that set to propel them to an 11-0 lead in set three, but six service points (two aces) from sophomore Kalleb Miranda helped pull Everett closer, and two aces and a kill from Ho helped cut Chelsea’s lead to 19-14.
An ace from senior David Gutierrez Ospina brought Everett within striking distance, 23-19, but the Tide fell 25-20.
“We lost a bit of focus and created our own bad luck in the third set,” said Fineran.
But the bad luck continued in the fourth set, as Chelsea’s tough servers built a 14-3 lead and took the set easily, 25-9.
“We only had nine serves in the whole set, and we hit four of them out,” said Fineran.
Hoping to change the momentum, Fineran switched up the starting line up, inserting senior Seth Sylvain into the front row and junior Philip Fonseca into the back, sitting Franca, who struggled in set four.
It worked, as Everett jumped out to a 7-2 lead, and when Franca came back in, he had a big defensive stop to go with two kills.
“We just needed to relax and regroup,” said Fineran. “I didn’t tell them anything between sets except to relax and have fun. When the set started, they started hitting again, they stopped missing serves, and that’s why they won.”
Fineran and his crew are scheduled to host Medford today (Wednesday)
Skane Spins No-Hitter for EHS Softball Team
Kristi Skane spun no-hit softball for five innings to lead the Everett High softball team to a runaway victory at Chelsea that was called after five innings because of the mercy rule.
Kristi fanned 12 Red Devil opponents, while walking three and hitting three batters.
After a scoreless first inning, Skane provided herself with all the run support she would need when she tripled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the top of the second.
The Lady Crimson Tide’s bats came alive in the third frame, scoring five runs to move out to a 6-0 advantage.
After Julia Curran reached first on a dropped third strike and stole second, Jayla Davila singled, moving Curran to third. Bryanna Mason singled (Bryanna’s second hit of the game), knocking in Curran and then moved to second on an error on which Davila scored.
Emilia Maria-Babcock doubled to deliver Mason and Skane singled, moving Babcock to third.
Successive base hits by Alexa Uga, scoring Babcock, and Ashley Seward, bringing in Skane, completed the rally.
The Everett defense finally got to make a play in the bottom of the third when shortstop Emma Longmore nabbed a grounder and threw to Mason at first for the out, but Skane then fanned the next two hitters to end the inning.
The Lady Crimson Tide then put the game away with 11 runs in the fourth.
Davila doubled to lead off the inning, followed by a single into the outfield by Longmore on which Davila scored. Mason drew a walk and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Kayley Rossi then doubled, knocking in both Longmore and Mason.
Skane’s base hit into the outfield scored Rossi. After Uga drew a walk, Ashley Seward singled, delivering Skane. Curran drew a walk and Davila reached first on a fielder’s choice attempt on which Uga scored.
Longmore singled into the outfield, bringing in Ashley Seward, and Davila scored on an error. After Kaylin Seward reached first on a dropped third strike, Rossi doubled, knocking in Longmore.
Emilia Maria-Babcock then singled, delivering Ashley Seward across the plate for the final run of the inning.
Everett’s bats continued to sizzle in the fifth inning. Celeste Fuccillo singled, Davila walked, and Longmore doubled, knocking in Fuccillo.
Kaylin Seward was out at first on a grounder, but Davila scored on the play. After Rossi reached first, Babcock doubled, knocking in Longmore and Skane singled, scoring Kaylin Seward.
Arabela Cvitkusic doubled, moving Babcock to third, and Ashley Seward doubled, knocking in both Babcock and Skane to make it 23-0.
Skane then ended the contest with a hitless fifth. Longmore handled a grounder to third with a throw to Kaylin Seward at first for one out and Skane struck out two opponents to end the inning.
“Kristi performed amazingly on the mound today, as well as our defense the few times the ball was put into play,” said EHS head coach Stacy Schiavo. “Offensively, we finally started waiting on the ball and made some hits. In the fourth and fifth innings, I tried to hold back on scoring since we were up so much. The Chelsea pitcher did a good job, but we just ended up hitting. I hope this continues all season.”
However, this past Monday, the Lady Crimson Tide dropped their first contest of the 2022 campaign by a score of 8-1 to Lynn Classical.
Celeste Fuccillo went the entire seven-inning route and deserved a better fate. Celeste struck out nine Lady Ram opponents, walked only one, and yielded just five hits. However, Everett’s fielding miscues (eight errors in the two innings when Classical scored most of its runs) undermined Fuccillo’s otherwise fine effort.
“We made terrible errors that cost us a lot of runs,” said Schiavo. “From the beginning, we made errors on routine plays that we always practice on. Celeste did great pitching, but we didn’t have the defense I know we are capable of.”
Everett’s lone tally came in the fifth when Kayley Rossi reached first on a base hit, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on a hit and error at first after a close play at the plate.
Schiavo and her crew are scheduled to play at Lynn English today (Wednesday) at 6:00 at Breed Park.
They will host Rockport on Friday, Somerville on Monday, and Revere on Wednesday during the vacation week. All three of those contests are set to start at 10:00 in the morning at Glendale Park.
Gibbs, Guevara Take First in Meet With Revere
First-place performances by Syeed Gibbs and Hector Guevara highlighted the recent meet for the Everett High boys outdoor track and field team in their contest with Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Revere last week.
Syeed captured the 100 meter dash with a sprint of 10.9, handily defeating his closest Patriot rival by 0.4 of a second. Hector took top spot in the shot-put with a toss of 35’-9.25”, a throw that was six inches further than the second-place Revere foe. Guevara also scored three points with a second-place effort in the discus with a spin of 82’-5”.
Adding three points to the Everett side of the scoresheet with second-place performances were: junior Shinay Aristhene in both the 400 hurdles in 1:07.9 and in the 110 high hurdles in 19.9; senior Wensley Mompremier in the two-mile in 12:12; and sophomore Khang Nguyen in the long jump with a leap of 16’-5”.
Contributing a point to the Crimson Tide cause with third-place finishes were: junior Adam Penaflor in the 400 hurdles in 1:09; senior Moses Seide in the 100 dash in 12.3; junior Samuel Desir-Mafouana in the mile in 5:50; junior Fludjy Moise in the 400 dash in 60.1; and senior Lilian Pochot in the 200 dash in 25.0.
Coach Jehu Cimea and his crew were scheduled to face GBL foe Medford yesterday (Tuesday) and will travel to Malden next Tuesday.
EHS Girls Track Takes on Revere
Although the Revere High girls outdoor track and field team came out on the short end of an 86-39 decision to Revere last week, a number of Lady Crimson Tide team members turned in fine performances.
Senior Rejeana Guillaume took first place in the 200 meter dash with a clocking of 28.8 seconds. Rejeana also grabbed second spot in the long jump with a leap of 14’-.5”.
Sophomore Layla Betancur-Cardona also earned a first-place ribbon with a shot-put throw of 25’-5.5”.
A number of Lady Crimson Tide added three points to the Everett side of the scoresheet with second-place efforts: sophomore Alyssa Hurley in the javelin with a toss of 59’-7” and the shot-put with a throw of 25’-4.25”; sophomore Darrynn Desrameaux in the discus with a spin of 58’; senior Lakisha Kirnon in the 110 high hurdles in a time of 20.4; senior Gigi Boyce in the 100 meter dash with a sprint of 14.2; and sophomore Malaica Guillaume in the 400 hurdles in 1:29.2 and the triple jump with a final landing of 27’-1.25”.
Scoring third-place points for Everett were: sophomore Suzanne Maharjan in the two-mile in 18:32; senior Nataly Anaya in the 800 in 3:07.5; sophomore Nicole Brandao with a high jump of 4’-2”; Kirnon in the long jump with her leap of 13’-8.5”; and sophomore Tiana Allen with a javelin throw of 56’-10”.
Coach Jehu Cimea and his team were scheduled to face GBL foe Medford yesterday (Tuesday) and will travel to Malden next Wednesday.
EHS Boys Tennis Working Hard
The Everett High boys tennis team has a busy week ahead. The Crimson Tide were scheduled to play at Revere yesterday (Tuesday) and will host Lynn English today (Wednesday). They will entertain Revere next Wednesday.
In their only match of the past week, the boys dropped a decision to Malden.
“Some young players got their first experience and we continue to compete really hard,” said EHS head coach Greg Bluestein.