Tide softball rolls past four more opponents to remain on top in the GBL

Everett begins final week of the regular season at home against non-league Lowell Monday afternoon

By Joe McConnell

The Everett High School softball team (15-1) is keeping up the winning momentum with recent triumphs over Lynn English, Cambridge, O’Bryant and Revere.

The Everett girls first blanked the Bulldogs at home on May 6. Peyton Warren pitched six innings, giving up four walks and three hits, while fanning 11, before the game was called, because of the mercy rule. It was her third shutout of the year.

Warren’s teammates got on the scoreboard with a run in the first. Emma Longmore started the inning off with a walk, and then stole second, before Bryanna Mason drove her home with a hit to right.

The Tide scored two more in the second. Emilia Maria-Babcock led off with a hit, and came home on a one-out triple by Arabella Cvitkusic. Olivia Dresser then singled home Cvitkusic to account for the team’s third run of the game.

The home team pushed two more runs across the plate in the fourth. Longmore got it going with a triple. She ended up scoring on a passed ball. With two outs, Mason also tripled, and scored the second run of the inning on a single by Alexa Uga.

In the fifth, Everett was credited with two more runs to extend its lead to 7-0. Ashley Seward began this uprising with a double. Jayla Davila followed with another double, knocking in Seward. She then moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on a single by Dresser.

The Tide finally put the game away in the sixth with five more runs, thus invoking the mercy rule. Gianna Masucci and Seward got it going with one-out singles. Maria-Babcock then doubled home one. Davila followed with a two-run single to center. Longmore singled in the fourth run of the inning. She then stole second, and moved to third on a passed ball, where Dresser tripled her home to end the game.

“Peyton (Warren) was amazing (in the circle),” said coach Stacy Poste-Schiavo. “But when runners did get on base, our defense made all the plays they needed to make to keep the (Lynn English) runners from crossing the plate.

“The first inning was stressful, when (Lynn English) loaded the bases, but Warren was able to strikeout the last two batters to keep them off the scoreboard,” added Poste-Schiavo. “Emilia Maria-Babcock was solid behind the plate, stopping many passed balls, which could have allowed them to score. Our hitting started a little late, but I believe that was because we had to adjust to some faster pitching we had not seen before.”

On May 7, Everett defeated visiting Cambridge, 12-3. This time, Warren pitched seven innings, yielding five walks, four hits and three earned runs. She whiffed nine.

The Tide exploded for six runs right away in the first inning. Longmore led off with a single. Davila followed with a bunt single. Mason then doubled in Longmore with the first run, before Davila scored on a passed ball. Uga kept the inning going with a walk. Mason and Uga scored on another passed ball. Masucci continued the offensive surge with a single. She stole second, before Cvitkuisc drew a walk to set the stage for Alessandra Foster, whose single drove in Masucci. Longmore doubled home Cvitkusic with the sixth run.

Everett tacked on three more in the second. Masucci was safe on a fielder’s choice to start this threat. Seward then chipped in with a single. Both runners moved up into scoring position on a passed ball for Warren, whose sacrifice bunt brought home Masucci. Cvitkusic tripled home Seward, and she scored on a passed ball.

The locals added the 10^th run in the third. Masucci led off with a triple, and scored on an errant throw from the outfield.

Kassidy Rivera blasted a solo shot in the fifth for the team’s 11^th run. The Falcons then scored their three runs in the top of the sixth. The Tide accounted for their last run in the home half on a bases loaded walk.

“Warren had another shutout going into the sixth inning, but Cambridge caught up to her speed and started to hit her, but she came back strong in the seventh to shut them down again,” said Poste-Schiavo. “Alessandra Foster did a great job behind the plate, and also threw out two potential base stealers at second. Overall, it was a great effort against Cambridge.”

The Everett girls went on to shutout non-league O’Bryant, 13-0 last Friday, May 10, before beating host Revere Monday afternoon, 16-9. Check out the highlights of both games in next Friday’s Everett Advocate.

The Tide begins the last week of the regular season this coming Monday afternoon, May 20, against non-league Lowell at Glendale Park, starting at 4:30 p.m. They will be at Somerville’s Trum Field the next day to face the Highlanders at 4 p.m., before wrapping up the regular season campaign at Cambridge’s St. Peter’s Field, where they will be going up against the Falcons in a rematch on May 23 at 6 p.m.

The state tournament pairings will be announced a couple of days later on Memorial Day Weekend. As of May 14, the Tide is ranked 34^th out of 55 teams in the Division 1 power rankings.