EHS Baseball Falls Short in State Tourney; Trio Named GBL All-Stars
The Everett High baseball team, which made an exciting dash to qualify for the post-season by winning four of its last five games, came up short by a score of 9-3 at Braintree in an opening-round contest of the MIAA Division 1 state baseball tournament last Thursday.
Coach Joel Levine’s Crimson Tide, who entered the tourney as the 42nd seed in D-1 with a 10-10 record, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI base hit by Matt Turilli. However, that would prove to be the apogee for the Tide on the day.
Braintree, the 23rd seed in D-1 with a similar 10-10 mark, soon struck back. After a few defensive miscues by the Tide allowed the Wamps to load the bases with two outs, Braintree’s Jack Fitzgerald hit a laser grand slam to give the Wamps a lead they never would relinquish.
“Matt (Turilli) pitched extremely well,” said Levine of starting pitcher Turilli’s four Innings of work in which Matt allowed just three hits and one earned run, “but unfortunately, his only mistake was hit out of the ballpark.”
Braintree tacked on a few more runs later in the game. Everett scratched and clawed with an RBi single from Omar Marshall (2-4) and an RBI double from Alex Lara (1-3), but it proved too little, too late.
Nordelvy Santana also chipped nicely at the plate, going 2-for-3.
“I am extremely proud of what this team accomplished this season,” said Levine. “At the beginning of the year, we as a coaching staff thought it would be incredibly difficult to make the tournament with how our play was early-on in the season.
“However, these kids battled and won some really big games. It was a pleasure to coach such a great group of kids,” Levine added.
Three Crimson Tide were named to the Greater Boston League all-star team: Senior David Saia (.354, 15 RBI, 25 runs scored); senior Alex Velasco (.371, 10 RBI, 19 runs scored); and junior Alex Lara (.364, 22 RBI, 14 runs scored).
EHS Softball Drops Tourney Opener; Skane Is Named GBL MVP, Three Are All-Stars
The Everett High softball team came out on the short end of a 12-0 decision last Friday at Needham in the opening round of the MIAA Division 1 state softball tournament. The Lady Crimson Tide, the champions of the Greater Boston League, came into the tourney as the 34th seed in D-1 with an 18-2 record, while Needham was seeded 31st with an 8-10 mark.
Everett managed just two hits on the day, both by Ashley Seward. Other than a base-on-balls that was drawn by Gianna Masucci, Everett went down 1-2-3 in three of the five innings (the contest was called after five frames because of the mercy rule).
However, the big story of the game, at least from an Everett perspective, was the long delay (about 75 minutes) that occurred in the bottom of the first because of lightning.
After the lead-off Needham hitter reached on an error, EHS starting pitcher Kristi Skane appeared to be set to get out of the inning. She set down the next two Lady Rocket hitters, but that’s when the first flashes of lightning lit up the sky, forcing a mandatory delay of 30 minutes. However, then another bolt flashed, leading to another 30 minute delay.
When play resumed 75 minutes later at 6:00, the umps gave Skane and the team a short window to warm up. The next batter walked, followed by an Everett error and three Needham base hits, to produce a 4-0 Needham lead.
The Lady Rockets threatened to expand their advantage in the second inning when Skane allowed two hits with two outs, but Emiia Maria-Babock made an unbelievable grab of a deep fly ball at the fence in center field to end the inning.
Needham then doubled its margin in the fourth thanks in part to a disputed call. The Lady Rocket lead-off batter hit what appeared to be a ground rule double (per the rules stated at the start the game, if a fly ball landed in foul territory beyond the outfield fence, it would be deemed a ground-rule double) — but the umps awarded her a home run despite the protestations of EHS head coach Stacy Poste-Schiavo.
Needham then went on to add three more tallies to make it 8-0. When the Lady Rockets tallied four more runs in the bottom of the fifth, the mercy rule ended the contest.
“After that fourth inning, I think the girls were thinking too much about the play that I challenged,” said Poste-Schiavo, “and throwing the ball around did not help us.
“We faced faster pitching this season, but we just did not hit,” Poste-Schiavo continued. “Needham did make some good defensive plays, but we need to hit through the lineup to be successful. This should not have been a 12-0 game. Waiting around did not help us as well. We had a long bus ride and warmed up quickly, only to have to wait again.”
Despite the final outcome, Poste-Schiavo reflected positively on her team’s outstanding 2023 season in which her squad finished with an 18-3 record and won an outright GBL crown after sharing the title in 2022 with Lynn Classical.
“We had a great season and won the GBL title, which we need to embrace,” said Poste-Schiavo, who wrapped up her 25th season at the helm of the EHS softball program for which she herself was a star performer in her years at Everett High.
“I want to say thank you to parents for sacrificing any free time they may have had to support the team,” she continued. “They may not always have agreed with us, but we appreciate all of the parents for trusting us with their daughters. I would also like to thank the coaching staff for always being there for both the girls and me. We would not have been as successful without them.
“This team taught me how to be a better coach and person and made me realize that while it is fun to win, it was more important to see each of them become better players and people,” Poste-Schiavo added. “We had an amazing season and created memories that we can always look back at and be proud of our accomplishments. Thank you to our fans, families, friends, newspapers, and school administrators for always supporting us and recognizing our hard work.”
The Lady Crimson Tide’s post-season accolades were highlighted by the selection of senior captain Skane as the GBL’s Most Valuable Player. Joining Kristi on the GBL all-star team were catcher Kayley Rossi, her fellow senior captain and battery-mate; junior shortstop Gianna Masucci; and sophomore center fielder Emilia Maria-Babcock.