Soper and his fellow young Tide baseball teammates come of age after dropping close decision to Malden

Everett heads to Charlestown later today (May 2) to go up against the non-league Townies

By Joe McConnell

The Everett High School baseball team (6-5) lost to the 11-1 Malden Golden Tornadoes Monday afternoon (April 28) at Glendale Park, 3-2, but, despite this heartbreaker, its young stars might be coming of age as they are starting to establish for themselves a sense of belonging on the varsity level. And second-year head coach Malik Love could not be any happier.

“This was a great game,” said Love. “We had some opportunities to win it, including loading the bases with one out in the seventh inning.”

Malden was able to wiggle out of that jam with a strikeout and a popup to secure the close win.

Everett sophomore pitcher Derek Soper went the distance on the mound, giving up eight hits, two walks and only two earned runs over seven innings. He was also credited with eight strikeouts.

“This was one of our best games this year,” said Love. “Malden made us play defense, and even though we made a couple of errors, it still showed just how much we have been growing as a program, where one critical mistake would have spiraled this game out of control.

“Offensively, we were able to get six hits, but Malden made some big plays on defense to get out of jams,” added Love. “We now have to find a way to finish off these close games with wins.”

The Everett boys have now lost their second one-run game this year. The other one was against Lynn Classical on April 8, 1-0. They will get another chance to redeem themselves against these same opponents sooner rather than later. The revenge tour actually begins next week on Monday, May 5, against the Rams at Glendale Park. They will then close out the week on Friday at Malden. Both games are slated to begin at 4 p.m.

“We know we have to make adjustments, because these teams are beatable,” said Love. “Our overall pitching has been great, especially Soper, who’s now 2-2, and both losses were against Lynn Classical and Malden that could have gone either way. He’s our ace on the mound. We are more confident with him out there. He already has 30 strikeouts in his four starts.”

Soper recorded two wins last year as a freshman, but for the most part had trouble finishing his starts, according to Love. “But he had a good off-season. He did a lot of lifting, which has helped him build up his velocity and stamina,” the coach added. “He really takes care of his body, and just loves being on the mound.”

When Soper is not on the mound, he can be seen in rightfield or at first base. Love claims his best position other than the mound is at first base. He is now committed to the sport after playing football in his freshman year.

Among the offensive leaders against Malden was Isaiah Goffigan, who doubled once to go along with a walk. It was the team’s lone extra base hit in this game. Freshman M.J. Guida picked up two singles. Captains Jevaun Berberena, Albert Santana (1 RBI) and Nordeivy Santana each singled once. Sophomore Tyler Freni led the team in walks with three, and also scored two runs.

After Monday’s Malden heartbreaker, the Tide took on Chelsea at home on Wednesday after press deadline, before heading to the Bunker Hill Community College baseball diamond to take on non-league Charlestown later today (May 2) at 4 p.m. They have already played the Townies once earlier this season on April 11, and defeated them, 10-7.

Besides the aforementioned games next week against Lynn Classical (May 5) and Malden (May 9), the Everett boys will also play host to Lynn English on May 7, beginning at 4:30 p.m.