Softball Team Tops Medford To Move Into Tie for 1st in GBL
The Everett High softball team earned sweet revenge over Greater Boston League (GBL) archrival Medford with a 5-4 victory over the Lady Mustangs last Wednesday at Glendale Park.
The Lady Crimson Tide’s triumph avenged a 5-2 loss earlier in the season and moved Everett into a tie for first place with Medford in the GBL standings. Both teams have only one loss in the GBL.
EHS pitcher Peyton Warren turned in perhaps her best effort of the season, considering the high stakes, allowing only six hits and three earned runs, while fanning five and walking only one, against a Lady Mustang lineup that typically scores in double digits.
Medford grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first with base hits by three of the first four Lady Mustang batters, but Warren settled down and pitched shutout softball for the next four innings. Included in that shutout skein was a scary moment in the third when the Medford lead-off hitter singled and the next Lady Mustang lined one right back at Warren.
However, Peyton snagged the liner and tossed over to first for the double-play. “These plays back to the pitcher always scare me, especially since Peyton was hit earlier in the season,” said Poste-Schiavo. “But Peyton shows no fear when these hits occur.”
The Everett bats finally came alive in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs with a two-out rally. After the first two Lady Crimson Tide hitters struck out, Olivia Dresser singled into the outfield. Bryanna Mason, displaying patience at the plate, drew a walk. Alexa Uga then delivered a base hit into the outfield, scoring both runners. Two more walks and a Medford error loaded the bases for Emilia Maria-Babcock, who worked another base-on-balls, bringing Uga across the plate for a 3-2 Everett lead.
The Tide tacked on two more in the fourth. Emma Longmore beat out a grounder to shortstop to lead off and Dresser was hit by a pitch. Mason singled up the middle, knocking in Longmore. Alexa Uga then grounded a ball up the third base line, allowing Dresser to score to make it 5-2.
The Lady Mustangs made things interesting in the top of the sixth. A walk and a double (on an error) produced a run. After another error and a stolen base put runners at second and third with no outs, a base hit into short right field left runners at the corners, still with no outs.
Warren struck out the next Lady Mustang, but an infield error loaded the bases with one out and the top of the Medford order coming up.
The next Lady Mustang hit a grounder to short that was fielded by Gianna Massucci, who threw home for the force out. Left-fielder Arabella Cvitkusic then ended the threat by catching a fly ball for the third and final out, leaving Everett with a suddenly-precarious 5-4 lead.
After a 1-2-3 Everett sixth, the teams headed into the seventh with the GBL championship on the line.
“Before the girls went out on the field, we told them they had to make sure no one got on the bases,” said Poste-Schiavo as Warren and her defense prepared to face the heart of the Medford order.
After the first two hitters both grounded out to lead off the inning, the next batter reached second on an error. However, right fielder Ashley Seward secured a pop fly for the final out for the 5-4 victory.
“The girls and fans were hyped-up for this game,” said Poste-Schiavo. “We lost to them 5-2 in the first game, but we knew they were beatable. Their pitcher has decent speed which we prepared for in practice before by having our freshman coach, Bridgit Cifuni, live-pitch to the team, as well as last year’s pitcher, Kristi Skane. We had the pitching machine going as well, so they were more than ready to take on the Medford pitcher.
“Their first five batters are good hitters so we had to keep the bottom of their line-up off the bases,” the coach added. “Our defense was strong and we made the plays we needed to stop them from scoring more in that sixth inning. Peyton and Emilia were an amazing battery and worked well together to not give them good pitches. We, as coaches, tell them all the time that we can coach them to play, but we can’t coach them to play with heart. That comes from them and this game proved that.”
The Lady Crimson Tide last week turned in a pair of impressive victories, blanking non-league opponent O’Bryant, 13-0, on Friday, and topping GBL opponent Revere, 16-9, last Wednesday.
In the contest with O’Bryant, Warren tossed her fourth shutout of the season, allowing just four hits over five innings (the game was called in the fifth because of the mercy rule).
In the hitting department, the Lady Crimson Tide had a number of key contributors, including Jayla Davila, Emilia Maria-Babcock, Alex Uga, Arabella Cvitkusic, Ashley Seward, and Bryanna Mason.
In the slugfest with Revere, which is coached by former EHS player Megan O’Donnell, theTide overcame an early 3-1 deficit in a big way with a nine-run third, paced by freshman Olivia Dresser, who hit a home run to lead off, and Maria-Babcock, who legged out a two-run round-tripper.
“We kept telling the girls to be patient at the plate and to get on,” said Poste-Schiavo, whose squad drew a large number of bases-on-balls throughout the contest. “We know Revere is a great hitting team and I have witnessed them coming back and beating teams, so we tried to get as many runs in before their last at-bats. Peyton and Maria-Babcock did a great job working together and our offense helped out a lot with quality at bats when needed.”
The Tide were scheduled to meet Somerville yesterday (Tuesday) in their last GBL contest of the season, with a victory assuring Everett of a share of the 2024 GBL title.
They will wrap up their season tomorrow (Thursday) at non-league opponent Cambridge and then will await word of their final seeding and first-round opponent in the upcoming Division 1 state tournament.
Volleyball Team Within One Win of State Tourney
The Everett High boys volleyball team snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within one victory of punching their ticket for a Journey to the Tourney with a 3-1 victory at Greater Boston League (GBL) rival Medford last Wednesday.
Coach Michael Fineran’s Crimson Tide squad, which stands at 9-8 on the season, now has three chances to guarantee the .500 record necessary to qualify for the tourney, starting this past Monday with GBL foe Malden; today (Wednesday) hosting non-league opponent Wakefield; and then concluding their season this Friday with a match vs. non-league foe Pioneer Charter.
The Tide defeated both Wakefield and Pioneer in their first meeting earlier this season.
Everett opened its week with a 3-0 loss to Revere last Monday and then a 3-1 setback to Somerville on Tuesday before rebounding for the key win vs. Medford on Wednesday.
“Our match against Revere at home was a lot more competitive than our first match with them in April,” said Fineran. “We took their punches and delivered some of our own before falling in the first set 26-24. We were tied 18-18 in both the second and third sets, but fell to a more poised team, 25-19 and 25-23.
“We had a quick turnaround, playing in Somerville the next day against a team we defeated 3-0 less than two weeks earlier,” Fineran continued. “But we knew they’d be fired up for the rematch, and every set seems to come down to a handful of plays that make the difference. For instance, in the opening set, we missed a serve leading 22-20, and wound up losing 25-23, having missed five serves in that set, which squandered a strong set from junior outside hitter Jefferson Umana, who had six kills, five service points, and a block.”
Captain Henrique Franca, another junior outside hitter, had two aces and four of his game-high 18 kills in the set. The Tide only missed one serve in the second set and got a combined seven kills from juniors Bryan Soares Gomes and Steve Flores en route to a 26-16 win.
In the crucial third set, Everett was up, 24-22, but missed their fifth serve of the set and lost 26-24. In the fourth set, junior Sidney Valentim nailed four serves in a row to bring Everett back to within one, 15-14, and Franca had four kills and a block. Sophomore libero Christian Ramirez, returning from an ankle sprain that had kept him on the sidelines for a week, served to tie the match, 24-24, but two attacks that went long sealed the Tide’s fate.
“We lost yet another set by two points, 26-24. We know we need to earn everything on the court, and we have had as a mantra all season to take nothing for granted, but losing three games in less than a week to teams we beat earlier was a harsh reminder to work extra hard and to focus even more on doing the little things correctly,” Fineran said.
“But I’m as guilty as any of the players at pressing a little too much when the pressure mounts. Our margin for error is so small, no one wants to be the one to mess up and cost the team. We try to remind each other to not worry about the score and just play, but that’s easier said than done,” the coach continued. “That’s why Wednesday’s win over Medford was so important for our confidence.”
However, the match didn’t start off promisingly for the Tide, who fell behind 8-1 at the start.
“But one thing about our team: no lead is ever safe, for better or worse,” Fineran said. “We can’t let up when we’re ahead, but we never panic when we’re down.”
Indeed, Everett soon began to chip away at the deficit and an ace by sophomore setter Noel Lopez Ardon helped cut the Mustang lead to 19-17.
Senior Nischal Tamang then served four in a row to make it 24-21, but that would be as close as Everett would get, despite five kills from junior Matheus Queiroz.
In the second set, Queiroz and Umana each had a block and a kill in a tight set, until five serves from Tamang pushed Everett’s advantage to 20-15. Franca had three kills and two serves to give Everett a 23-17 lead and the Tide won the set, 25-21, to level the match at 1-1.
The Tide continued to maintain their momentum, dominating the third set, with Lopez Ardon and Tamang going on consecutive, long serving runs to build a 17-3 lead which led to a 25-13 win.
“We expected Medford to roar back in set four, though we maintained a lead for much of it, with Umana serving us to an 8-2 lead, and Tamang putting us up 20-14,” said Fineran. “Queiroz had another kill and Franca had four more, but as the game tightened, the ghosts of the three-game losing streak started messing with us, and we found ourselves tied 24-24. Finally, Soares Gomes got a kill and Lopez Ardon served the match-winner, 26-24.”
Everett will host non-league opponent Wakefield today (Wednesday) for Senior Night before finishing the regular season on Friday against Pioneer.
Everett Girls Sweep Throwing Events vs. Somerville
Although the Everett High girls outdoor track and field team came up short by a score of 71-54 in their final dual meet of the season against Greater Boston League rival Somerville last week, there were a number of fine performances turned in by the Lady Crimson Tide.
Everett took first place in all three of the throwing events. Senior captain Layla Betancur-Cardona won the shot-put with a throw of 32′-1.25″. Fellow senior captain Darrynn Desrameaux won the discus with a spin of 89′-4″ and took second in the shot with her toss of 32′-0″. Senior Kaesta Sandy completed the Tide trifecta with a win in the javelin with her throw of 88′-11.5″.
In addition, junior Fahema Coudo took third in the javelin, giving the Lady Crimson Tide 19 of the possible 27 points in the throwing events.
Senior captain Malaica Guillaume also shone in the meet, taking first place in the triple jump with a final landing of 29′-4″, second in the 400 hurdles, and third in the long jump to score nine points on the day.
Junior speedster Zyelle Cannon-Mathis won the 100 dash with a sprint of 14.3 and also ran a leg of the winning 4 x 100 relay quartet with teammates Yelsa Garcia, Isabella Pimenta, and Kaesta Sandy, who defeated their Lady Highlander rivals by 1.4 second with a PR time of 53.9.
Pimenta won her individual event, the 200 dash, with a clocking of 28.8.
Adding three points to the Everett total with second-place finishes were sophomore Ariana Rouse in the 100 in 14.5; sophomore Casey Martinez in the 1-mile with a time of 7:20.3; and junior Sonia Flores in the 400 dash in 1:17.2.
Scoring single points with third-place efforts were senior captain Suzanne Maharjan in the 2-mile in 17:00 and junior Milena Antonio in the 800 in 3:05.
Eveillard, Germain Take Firsts vs. Somerville
Senior captain Dawens Germain and sophomore Kayshaun Eveillard took first place in their respective events in last week’s dual meet for the Everett High boys outdoor track and field team with Somerville.
Dawens captured the high jump with a personal record (PR) leap of 5.-8″ and Kayshaun won the long jump with a flight of 19′-3.5″. Kayshaun also took second place in the 400 meter dash with a clocking of 52.5, which was just 0.6 behind the first-place Somervlle runner, to finish with eight points on the day.
Adding three points for the Crimson Tide with second-place performances were: sophomore Anthony Whitlow in the 2-mile run in 11:55; junior Fabrice Michaud in the shot-put with a throw of 39′-10″; sophomore Jonathan Goes in the discus with a PR toss of 87′-1″; and junior Kawan Medeiros in the javelin with a throw of 104′-2.5″.
Contributing one point to the EHS scoresheet with third place efforts were: junior David Huezo-Erazo in the 2-mile with a PR clocking of 12:54.6; Luvens Hector in the 400 hurdles; sophomore Adrien Reyes in the 800 in 2:22.6; junior JN Baptiste Orleus in the 200 dash in 25.5; senior captain Jalen Jones in the high jump with a leap of 5′-2″ and the triple jump with a final landing of 37′-2″; Medeiros in the long jump with a flight of 16′-9″; junior Trevon Carrington in the shot with a PR toss of 31′-11.75″; Michaud in the discus with a spin of 88′-6″; and junior David Roseme in the javelin with a throw of 93′-3.5″.
Girls Tennis in Running for Tourney
The Everett High girls tennis team turned in a hard-fought effort, but came up just short to Greater Boston League rival Somerville last week by a score of 3-2.
The Lady Crimson Tide’s top player, Yasmine Laabadla, won her match at first singles, 6-4, 6-4. Tracy Pham continued her stellar season at second singles, edging her Somerville counterpart in three sets. In the other singles match, Simran Tamang fell short at third singles.
In the second doubles match, the EHS tandem of Rosena Pun and Alanna O’Brien fell short, 2-6, 3-6, leaving the score tied at 2-2 with the outcome of the first doubles contest remaining.
Nga Ho and Jessica Du accepted the challenge at first doubles for the Lady Tide and engaged in an epic battle with their Lady Highlander opponents.
They took the first set to a tie breaker, falling short in that one, 7-5, but then battled back to win the second set, forcing a third set, in which they came up short.
“This 2-plus hour match came down to the third set and I am so proud of how they fought all the way to the end, especially not having played together this season,” said EHS head coach Courtney Meninger. “Once again I am so impressed with the way we have been playing this season and how all of the girls have really stepped up all around, willing to play wherever they may be needed, supporting each other as a team and always fighting to the end.
“We still are trying to make a playoff run, needing to win two of our final matches this week,” Meninger added. “We look forward to celebrating our seniors on Senior Night and hope to close out the season as well as we have been playing all season long.”
Meninger and her crew were scheduled to host GBL foe Lynn English yesterday (Tuesday) for Senior Day and will entertain GBL rival Revere tomorrow (Thursday) at the Rossetti courts. They also have a make-up match to be scheduled with Lynn Classical.
Boys Tennis Comes Up Short
The Everett High boys tennis team dropped a pair of matches this past week to GBL opponents Malden and Somerville.
The major highlight for coach Greg Bluestein’s Crimson Tide came in the contest with Someville in which the duo of Tam Tran and Anthony Fontes won their first doubles match.