Sports 04-22-2015

EHS Roundup

EHS softball team opens with two victories

The Everett High softball team got its season underway in fine fashion with a pair of victories in its long-delayed opening week. The Lady Crimson Tide easily handled Somerville, 15-0, last Wednesday and then defeated Cambridge, 4-2, Friday.

Although the Somerville contest was the first game for the Lady Crimson Tide, who had only practiced for the first time on an actual field two days before, coach Stacy Poste’s squad appeared to be in mid-season form from the outset.

Everett jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening inning when lead-off hitter Samantha Uga walked, stole second and third, and came home on a ground-out. After Nicole Sylvester tripled, Sydnee Bessler socked a home run to make it 3-0. A pair of Somerville errors allowed Hailey Powers to reach base and score, and then Erica Ginepra, who had reached on the second error, came across on a base hit by Mariana McCarthy.

The Lady Crimson Tide tacked on three more tallies in the second frame. Sophia Marchant got Everett going with a walk and stolen base. A base hit by Mirra delivered Sophia and a hit by Sylvester brought in Talia. Nicole then scored when Somerville errored a ball hit by Bessler.

Sylvester delivered two more RBI in the third with a double that scored Marchant and Mirra and Everett closed out the scoring in the fourth on the strength of RBI-producing  base hits by Sylvester and Bessler.

Bessler served notice that she will be one of the top pitchers in the area, tossing a no-hitter in her five innings of work before the mercy rule ended matters after four and one-half innings. Sydnee fanned 10 Somerville opponents (of their 15 outs) and walked only one.

“We didn’t get a chance to make that many plays — the ball was only put into play five times — but we did make them cleanly,” said Poste. “It was a nice win to start off our season.”

Two days later the Crimson Tide edged Cambridge in a closely-fought contest. Bessler once again was immense in the pitcher’s circle, yielding just five hits while fanning 12. After Cambridge grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first frame, the Lady Crimson Tide bounced back with two markers in the second. Bessler tripled and scored on a perfectly-executed squeeze bunt by Powers. After McCarthy delivered a two-out single and moved to second on a passed ball, Talia Riccioli came through with a big base hit to rescue McCarthy.

Marchant scored in the third inning when she reached first on a dropped third strike, stole second and moved to third on an overthrow into the outfield, and then came home on a bad throw to the plate.

Everett produced another marker in the fifth before a Cambridge solo homer in the sixth closed out the scoring. The Lady Crimson had a chance to break the game wide open in the top of the seventh when they loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to score.

“It’s frustrating to see that situation,” said Poste. “I know this group is hitting better this year and I hope we can produce hits when we need them most. Cambridge played very disciplined and they get better with each year.

We always need to make sure that we play one level above everyone else. Sometimes it’s easy to play at a lower level when teams we are playing don’t have the pitching we see in some of the better teams we face. Our batters need to time the pitching right and wait on the ball.”

The Lady Crimson Tide travel to Tewksbury Friday and to Billerica Saturday for a pair of non-league contests.

EHS baseball team wins two contests

The Everett High baseball team broke into the winning column with a  pair of victories this past week

to improve to 2-1 on the season.

Senior captain Lawrence Falter, the co-MVP of the Greater Boston League last season, turned in one of his typical masterful efforts Saturday to lead the Crimson Tide to a 5-1 win over non-league rival Marblehead. Lawrence tossed a complete game in which he struck out nine enemy hitters, walked none, and allowed just three base hits. The lone Marblehead run was unearned.

“Lawrence was superb,” said EHS head coach Joe Lento. “He only threw 81 pitches and was in control all game.”

His teammates provided Falter with all of the offense he would need with two runs in the opening inning without the benefit of a base hit. A slow roller by John Uga with two outs was thrown away by the Marblehead shortstop, allowing Justin Johnson and Bryan Bessler, both of whom had walked previously and advanced to second and third respectively, to score.

Uga scored in the fourth when he tripled to right and came home on a base hit by Brian Lombardo through the hole at short. After Marblehead scored its run in the fifth, the Crimson Tide gave Falter some extra insurance markers with a pair of runs in the sixth. R.J. Fialli singled, moved to second on a hit by Johnson, and scored on a hit by Evan Reynolds. Johnson himself would score on a double steal.

The Crimson Tide opened its Greater Boston League season last Wednesday with a 7-0 triumph over Somerville. Falter tossed the opening two innings and shared the shutout with senior teammates P.J. Mulligan, who went four frames, and Michael Scarpetti, who came in for the seventh inning to wrap up the victory.

Lento and his crew were set to travel to Bishop Fenwick yesterday (Tuesday) and then will entertain the Bishops Thursday. They will meet cross-town rival Pope John at Glendale Friday. All games are at 10:00 in the morning.

Next Wednesday the Crimson Tide will trek to Medford for a key GBL matchup.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *