The Everett High baseball team clinched a share of the Greater Boston League title with a solid 7-2 victory over Cambridge Monday, marking the fourth straight season that the Crimson Tide have won either an outright or a co-GBL crown. Everett ended its GBL schedule with a 7-1 mark (13-5 overall) to tie for the championship with Medford. Both teams’ only GBL loss came against each other.
Lawrence Falter went all seven innings on the mound for Everett, tossing a superb four hitter in which he fanned seven enemy batters and walked only two. “Lawrence was outstanding for us and really came through in a clutch situation with a GBL title on the line,” said EHS head coach Joe Lento.
The Crimson Tide provided Falter with all of the offensive support he would need in the opening inning with a three run outburst. Shawn Doyle started the game off with a bang with a lead-off home run for a quick 1-0 Everett lead. Jamil Vilmont then drew a walk, Mac Singleton singled, and, after a passed ball moved both runners up a base, Matt Pothier delivered a two-RBI base hit.
Cambridge pushed across two runs in the second to close the gap to 3-2, a state of affairs that stood until the seventh frame when the Tide put the game away and assured themselves of a co-GBL title with a four run rally.
Zerif Pajazetovic singled and yielded to pinch runner Omar Graciano, who promptly stole second. Two passed balls allowed the fleet Graciano to scoot home with the first insurance run. Matt Pothier then singled and Justin Johnson drew a base on balls. A base hit by Steven Faia rescued Pothier and an errant pick-off attempt of Faia at first allowed Johnson to make it home.
Another walk to Mike Vitukevich was followed by a hit by Tommy Woodward that brought in Faia for the seventh Everett tally.
“I’ve been very proud of this team’s mental toughness,” said Lento. “We hit a rough stretch the week before against some of the best teams in the state, but we bounced back to win three straight and get a share of the GBL championship.
“We’ve had to play every game on the road with a lot of bus trips this season,” added Lento, “but the team ever let it get them down.”
Earlier this past week, the Tide had an easy time of it with wins of 10-5 over Somerville Friday and 15-0 over Northeastern Conference rival Marblehead Saturday.
A trio of Everett pitchers, Faia, Singleton, and Mike Rossi, handled the pitching duties in the Somerville contest. Johnson (3-for-4) and Pajazetovic (a home run) were the heavy hitters.
In the 15-0 romp over Marblehead, Pajazetovic tossed the shutout with a sterling five hitter in which he fanned seven and walked only two. Wielding the heavy lumber for the Tide were Doyle, who was 3- for-3 with a double and three RBI; Pajazetovic, who helped his own cause with a 3-for-5 day including a homer, a double, and four ribbies; Johnson, who was 2-for-4; and Singleton, who was 2-for-5.
Lento and his crew will conclude their 2013 regular season campaign with two stern tests. They will trek to Bishop Fenwick today (Wednesday) and then to Andover tomorrow. The Tide then will await word of their seeding and opening round pairing in the MIAA Division I North sectional of the state tournament which is expected to be announced in the middle of next week.
Softball team wins three of four contests
The Everett High softball team won three of its four contests this past week, including a rare doubleheader on Friday, defeating Whittier Tech, Somerville, and Swampscott,.
In a 16-8 win over Whittier last Tuesday, a victory that clinched a berth in the post season state tourney for the Lady Crimson Tide, Everett jumped out to a nice start with four runs in the third inning thanks to a two run triple by Janyne Sierra that scored Talia Riccioli and Sam Batres and then a two run homer by Talia Mirra.
Everett added two more in the fourth on a three bagger by Batres to score Riccioli (who had reached base with her second hit of the day) and then a steal of home by Batres.
Whittier got two back in its half of the fourth, but the Lady Crimson Tide responded with three markers in the fifth, the big hit being a triple by Alea Martinelli. Although Whittier closed the gap in the sixth to 9-6 with four runs thanks to some walks and Everett errors, the Lady Crimson Tide put the game away with a seven run seventh. Key hits were a homer by the hot-hitting Riccioli, her first roundtripper of the season, a double by Batres, and a base hit by Franki Perreault, who went all the way on the mound for the Lady Crimson Tide, striking out 10 and allowing only four hits.
“Franki pitched a great game, striking out 10 batters and holding the other team to just four hits,” said EHS had coach Stacy Poste. “Our bats were strong in our second time around facing the Whittier pitcher. This was a big win for us because it got us into the tournament.”
Friday saw the Lady Crimson Tide take the measure of two foes, Somerville and Swampscott, in an unusual twinbill. In the first contest, Everett cruised to a 20-0 win over Somerville that was called after five innings because of the mercy rule.
Mirra took over the pitching chores and tossed five shutout frames in which she allowed only two hits, fanned three, and walked just two.
The Lady Crimson Tide put the encounter away early with four runs in the first inning and then 11 in the second before adding four more in the third and a solo marker in the fourth for good measure.
Martinelli (3-for-3), Riccioli (4-for-4), and Perreault (3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI) wielded the big bats for the Everett offensive attack.
“This was Talia’s (Mirra) first full game and first shutout of the season,” noted Poste. “I was very happy with her performance on the mound. Our offense had great at bats this game.”
The nightcap against Swampscott was the Franki Perreault Show. Franki went all seven innings, yielding just five hits and one earned run against the Lady Big Blue who hail from the Northeastern Conference.
Perreault also helped her own cause at the plate with a base hit in the first inning that drove in Martinelli, who had punched a lead-off single.
Mirra delivered Batres with a base hit in the third to make it 2-0, but Swampscott sliced the margin in half with a solo homer in the fourth.
However, the Everett bats got to work in the home half of that inning. Kylie Jepson got things going with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Riccioli. Mariana Miranda then squeezed home Jepson with another bunt and made it safely to first on the play. After Martinelli laced a double, Batres came through with a three run homer to increase the Everett lead to 6-1.
Swampscott scored a marker in the fifth on an error and a hit, but a two run homer by Martinelli with Riccioli, who had singled, aboard made it an 8-2 affair. A solo marker by Everett in the sixth accounted for the 9-2 finale.
Sunday’s contest with Marblehead is one that hopefully will best be forgotten by the Lady Crimson Tide. Everett easily had handled Marblehead in their previous encounter this season (by a football-like score of 28-9) and held a 6-0 lead in the rematch going into the seventh and final inning.
However, in Poste’s words, “We just had a bad inning,” in which Marblehead pushed across eight runs to hand the Lady Crimson Tide an 8-6 defeat.
“This was a hard loss to take,” noted Poste afterwards. “Our offense was on, but our defense fell apart in the seventh.”
The Lady Crimson Tide, who now stand at 12-5, were set to close out their regular season this week, starting Monday against Cambridge, yesterday (Tuesday) vs. Lexington, and tomorrow at Swampscott.
Vo-Tran is GBL high jump champ
Everett’s Hieu Vo-Tran claimed the high jump crown at Saturday’s Greater Boston League Meet held at Dilboy stadium in Someville. Vo-Tran cleared the bar at 6’-0”, outleaping the rest of the field with the next competitor at 5-10.
“Hieu once again came through for the boys’ team,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “When the pressure is on, he performs. I figured he was going to be in the top three in terms of placing and it was going to come down to who consistently could clear the bar as it got higher and he outperformed his competition.”
Vo-Tran also earned two points for the Crimson Tide cause with a fifth place finish in the 400 intermediate hurdles in a personal record (PR) time of 69.28. “He had another outstanding meet,” noted Irish.
Justin Gabriel was another outstanding performer for the Crimson Tide, taking a third in the javelin with a toss of 133-1 and a fourth in the discus with a toss of 97-5.
Jason Hansen raced across the line in fourth place in the 400 meter dash in 57.69, which was a PR for him. “Jason had a great 400 race and he set a personal record as well,” noted Irish.
Trevor Freeman warned a ribbon with a sixth place effort in the 110 high hurdles in 19.56 and Lorentz Etienne did likewise in the 200 meter dash in 25.54.
Irish also lauded the effort of Tony Tran in the 100 dash. “Tony was a nice surprise getting into the final in the 100 dash and he ran a PR (12.39) as well,” said Irish.
Vo-Tran will represent Everett at the upcoming State Meet in the high jump.
Lorjuste top scorer for girls at GBL meet
Djenny Lorjuste brought home a pair of third place finishes for the Everett High girls track team at Saturday’s Greater Boston League Meet. Djenny took third in the 200 meter dash in a time of 28.70 and leapt to a third place in the long jump with a distance of 13-10.5.
“Djenny ran another personal record (PR) in the 200 dash,” said EHS head coach Shelanda Irish. “She also had a nice jump in the long jump. She’s only a freshman and I anticipate her improving a lot in these next few years.”
Elspeth Colson also brought home a third place ribbon in the 100 high hurdles in a time of 18.95.
“Elsbeth had a great day in the 100 hurdles as well as the triple jump,” said Irish. “She had a PR triple jump of 27-3. The school record is 27-4 and I’m sure she’ll look to break that next year during her senior year.”
Kathy Pham high jumped 13-9.5 for a fourth place ribbon and Vesna Imsirovic took fifth in the 4090 hurdles in 1:21.6. Megan Eugene added a point to the Everett cause in the 100 dash with a clocking of 14.94.
The Lady Crimson Tide 4 x 400 and 4 x 100 relay quartets both took third place ribbons. The 4 x 400 team of Lauryns Joseph, Chrystal Ducheine, Sharyn Gladstone, and Colson finished in 5:09.45 and the 4 x 100 squad of Lorjuste, Pham, Sheryl Steeves, and Eugene sprinted around the oval in 55.3.
The 4 x 100 girls will be competing in the upcoming State Meet.