After facing Lynn Classical Wednesday, Everett will host non-league Mystic Valley later today at Glendale
By Joe McConnell
The Everett High School baseball team (2-6) was able to get that elusive second win of the year earlier this week (April 29) against host Chelsea, 18-5. The game against the Red Devils officially began the second half of the league schedule.
Junior Jevaun Berberena was making his varsity pitching debut. He returned to the sport after a two-year hiatus following his Little League career in Cambridge. He also plays on the Tide boys basketball team.
“We only pitched Jevaun one inning against Chelsea, because we just wanted him to get some experience in a varsity game,” said first-year head coach Malik Love. “This gave him a taste of what it’s like.”
Alex Lara then pitched the next five innings to record the win.
“It was good we got another chance to play these guys,” said Love after the Chelsea game. The Tide secured their only other win this year against them back on April 2 to begin the regular season schedule. They defeated the Red Devils at that time, 14-4.
The Everett boys banged out 18 hits the second time around against Chelsea. Senior Enrico Vega paced the offensive attack with a single, double and triple. He also ended the game with three RBI.
Lara helped his own cause with a double. Isaiah Goffigan chipped in with a triple. Armani Negron and Nordeivy Santana were credited with one double apiece, which helped their teammates pull away safely from the host Red Devils.
“We didn’t have a couple of our regulars against Chelsea, and so it was good to get another win without our full lineup intact,” said Love. “We limited our errors against Chelsea. We were averaging seven per game, but if we can continue to improve our defense like that it will give us a shot in our upcoming games.”
Love added that it’s all about the next game, and the record doesn’t justify how good this young team is, and will be in the future.
“This win over Chelsea just might give us the spark we need to carry us through the rest of the season,” said the first-year varsity coach.
The Everett boys have since taken on host Lynn Classical on May 1 after press deadline, before coming home to play host to non-league Mystic Valley Regional Charter School later today (May 3), starting at 4:30 p.m.