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By Joe McConnell
Softball builds up momentum for the postseason with three straight wins
With the regular season winding down, the Everett High School softball team (13-5) can’t wait to get the state tournament underway. The Crimson Tide began last week with three straight wins on consecutive days against the likes of Somerville (9-4, May 12), Lynn English (14-2, May 13) and Revere (16-4, May 14). But they closed out the week by losing a wild and crazy game to Lynn Classical, 12-11 on May 16. They then began a new week at Medford on Monday, where the host Mustangs completely shut them down, 11-0.
As of the May 20 power rankings, the Everett girls are seeded 40th in Division 1. There are 55 teams overall in this division statewide. The Tide could move up maybe a few spots before the regular season comes to an end this week with still two games to go. They were scheduled to play non-league host Swampscott on May 21 after press deadline, and will complete the 2025 campaign tomorrow morning (May 24) against visiting Lowell at Glendale Park, beginning at 10 a.m. They will then have a few days off, before the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) playoff pairings are announced next Wednesday (May 28). The preliminary round games will begin on May 30.
Against visiting Somerville, Mia Allen pitched all seven innings, giving up five hits, seven walks and four earned runs. She was credited with 15 strikeouts.
Everett scored right away with four runs in the first. Hits came from Olivia Dresser (RBI double), Alexa Uga (RBI single) and Juliette Romboli (two-run double). They scored again in the fourth, coming up with three more runs to take a 7-1 lead. The Highlanders scored their run in the home half of that frame.
The Tide girls scored their final two runs of the game in the fifth. Graziella Foster led off with a single, followed by a walk to Kassidy Rivera. Mia Oliva then singled in Foster to account for the first run of the frame. Both Rivera and Oliva then advanced on a passed ball, before Rivera scored on a fielder’s choice with the team’s ninth and final run of the game.
The Highlanders scored one in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to account for the 9-4 final score.
“(Allen) pitched a great game against Somerville,” said coach Stacy Schiavo. “Even when (Somerville) started to hit, Allen stayed composed to give us her best effort.”
The next day, the Tide dominated Lynn English, the home team, to the tune of 14-2. In this five-inning mercy rule game, Peyton Warren (5 innings, 2 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs, 7 strikeouts) was in the circle.
Dresser doubled and scored on an error in the first to begin the onslaught. Everett then broke the game open in the second with six more runs. Foster started the uprising off with a walk. With one out, Jayla Davila also drew a free pass. They both scored on a two-run double by Arianna Osorio-Bonilla. Dresser followed with a single, before Ashley Seward walked to load the bases for Uga, who doubled in two more. Allen then singled in a run.
In the third, Davila singled, followed by a two-run shot by Rivera. They added three more in the fourth to go up by 10, 12-2. Allen tripled in a run, and Foster doubled her home. Warren kept up the trend with a run-producing double.
The Bulldogs got two back in the home half of the fourth. But the Tide picked them back up with two in the fifth. Allen was responsible for the runs with a triple.
“Peyton set the tone for us in this game from the circle, and the team responded with many hits on offense,” said Schiavo. “It was a complete team effort from start to finish.”
On Senior Night at Glendale, Everett tore into Revere. Warren (5 innings, 8 hits, 1 walk, 3 earned runs, 3 strikeouts) was once again in the circle to secure the mercy rule win.
Revere forced the home team to play catchup right away in the first inning, when it scored four times. But the Tide cut that lead in half with two in the bottom of the frame.
Uga doubled in Seward with the first run, before Allen followed with another double that plated Uga.
In the second, the Everett girls wiped out that small deficit by scoring 10 runs to take a commanding lead, 12-2. Warren, Davila and Rivera got the rally going quickly by getting on base without the benefit of a hit. Osorio-Bonilla then doubled all of them home. Dresser and Seward followed with walks to reload the bases, setting the stage for Uga, who singled another run home. Allen then walked to drive in the fifth run of the inning, before Foster singled home Seward. Davila and Rivera closed out the inning in style with a pair of two-run doubles.
After the Patriots scored another run in the third, the Tide added three more in the home half to lead, 15-3. A couple of innings later, Warren then singled home Uga to end this mercy rule game abruptly.
“On a night dedicated to our seniors, we knew we needed to get this win,” said Schiavo. “The girls showed a lot of heart to come right back after being down by three early on.”
After a day off, the Tide took off for Lynn, where they lost a high scoring game to the Rams last Friday afternoon, 12-11.
Warren (6 innings, 13 hits, 1 walk, 9 earned runs, 7 strikeouts) was again in the circle.
Coming up with the bases loaded in the top of the first, Allen doubled home two to give her teammates the early lead. They added another run a short time later. But the Rams trimmed the deficit to one with two in the home half.
The Rams took a 5-2 lead in the second after scoring three more times. But the Tide got closer in the third by scoring two more runs. Foster drove home Seward with a single to account for one of those runs. Classical, however, regained the two-run lead with a run, when they came up to the plate in the home half of the third.
Rivera then doubled and Dresser followed up with a single to tie up the proceedings at six in the fourth. But not to be outdone in this back-and-forth game, the Rams retook the lead with two in the bottom of the inning.
Allen supplied the hit in the sixth that knocked in Everett’s seventh run, only to see Classical score four times to take a 12-7 lead.
In the seventh, the Tide put a scare into the Rams. Warren, Davila and Rivera began the rally with singles to load the bases for Osorio-Bonilla, who doubled two of them home. Seward also doubled to account for the 10th run. Osorio-Bonilla then tagged up to score on a sacrifice fly by Uga. But unfortunately, the visitors couldn’t push the tying run across the plate to fall just short to their GBL (Greater Boston League) rivals.
“Despite a tough start and some costly defensive misplays, we almost pulled off a seventh inning comeback,” said Schiavo. “This one really hurts, because the girls fought their hearts out, especially in that last inning, but we just ran out of time. There were moments that we didn’t execute the way we needed to, but I still couldn’t be prouder of how well they battled back.”
Tide baseball drops four to end its postseason dreams
It was a tough week for the Everett High School baseball team (7-11), when they lost three in a row to Somerville (13-0, May 12), Revere (4-3, May 14) and Lynn Classical (10-0, May 16). To make matters worse, they then fell to visiting Medford to begin a brand-new week on Monday, May 19, 12-3.
Unfortunately, these setbacks cost coach Malik Love’s team a berth in the Division 1 state tournament. But there’s plenty of hope for the future with a bunch of talented underclassmen coming back to reverse many of these losses. “We had a very young team this year,” Love said.
The Tide still has two games left on the regular season schedule. They were tentatively scheduled to go up against host Malden yesterday (May 22), weather permitting, before wrapping up the home season at Glendale later today (May 23) versus non-league Greater Lawrence Regional, starting at 4:15 p.m.
“The losses this past week were not as bad as it looked,” said Love. “The Medford game, in particular, was close early on until they started to pull away. The score was tied at two after three, but the Mustangs scored nine runs over the next three innings. They scored one in the fourth, and four each in the fifth and sixth innings.”
The Everett boys were credited with seven hits against Medford. Jevaun Berberena led the way on offense with a run-producing triple, the team’s lone extra base hit in the game.
Freshman M.J. Guida chipped in with two singles. Sophomore Tyler Freni, Chris O’Neil, Jose Portillo and Nordeivy Santana each singled once.
The Revere game last week was close, but the visitors just had trouble catching up to the Patriots after they scored three in the second to take a 3-0 lead. The Tide got one back in the third, but the host team regained the lead for good, when it accounted for the game-winner in the fourth.
Everett kept on battling, however, scoring runs in the fifth and seventh innings to trim the deficit to one, before the offense eventually stalled to prevent it from at least getting that game-tying run. It was their fourth one-run loss this year.
The offense scratched out six hits, all singles by Charles Govostes, Nordeivy Santana, Freni, Berberena, Guida and O’Neil.
Isaiah Goffigan pitched the first four innings, allowing seven hits, two walks and four runs, but only three were earned. He fanned five. Armani Negron went the final two, issuing just one hit, while striking out two.
Love praised Negron after the Revere game, saying, “Armani has been pitching great for us.” But they might have beaten Revere, and three other opponents this spring if they were able to get that clutch hit, according to the second-year Everett coach. If those four games went in the other direction, his squad would have already qualified for the postseason.
Despite these heartbreakers, Love still likes what he sees regarding the future of the program. “We have seven varsity players coming back next year, but the biggest thing for us right now is to keep future Tide players in Everett.”
While making the postseason this year is beyond the team’s grasp, Love emphasizes that it was not the only goal this season. “I also wanted to see the players grow individually, which they did,” he said. “We definitely have a bright future, and we hope to continue to build up the overall depth, again by keeping Everett kids in Everett.”
