SHS Sachems Spring Sports Roundup

Sachems continue postseason push across Spring teams

By Dom Nicastro

With the regular season entering the home stretch, Saugus athletes continue battling for postseason positioning across multiple spring sports. The Saugus softball team remains alive in the tournament chase despite a difficult matchup with powerhouse Danvers. Same went for baseball against the Falcons, while Northeast Metro Tech boys tennis — featuring several Saugus players — continues grinding through a competitive Commonwealth Athletic Conference schedule with a string of close matches.

  Saugus softball splits week, eyes crucial stretch run

The Saugus softball team stayed afloat in the Division 3 postseason race by splitting its week to move to 7-7 before running into one of the area’s top teams in Danvers. Coach Steve Almquist said the upcoming week against Hamilton-Wenham, Salem and Gloucester could ultimately decide the Sachems’ postseason fate.

“We have to get at least one of these otherwise our chances of making the tournament go from slim to pretty much none,” Almquist said. “Would love to get two wins this week, but one is an absolute necessity.”

Saugus opened the week with an important 7-3 win over Winthrop behind strong pitching from Sofia McCarrier and clutch hitting throughout the lineup. Almquist praised the team’s effort in all three phases of the game.

The Sachems jumped ahead early when Ari Chianca reached base to start the game and later scored alongside Alannah Duong for a quick 2-0 lead. Layla Demonte delivered one of the biggest swings of the afternoon with a two-run single during a three-run second inning that stretched the advantage to 5-0.

Layla Demonte finished 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and a run scored, while Sydney Deleidi added an RBI single and later scored. McCarrier helped herself offensively with an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Angie Dow chipped in a hit.

McCarrier earned her seventh win of the season by going the distance, allowing three earned runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Almquist also highlighted strong defensive games from Aubrey Demonte at third base, Julia Strout at first base and Chianca in center field.

The momentum slowed Friday against Danvers, as the Falcons exploded for 16 runs across the second and third innings during a 17-3 victory. Almquist credited Danvers’ veteran lineup and disciplined approach at the plate.

“This was the best hitting team we have faced thus far this season, and they took it to us,” Almquist said.

Even in the loss, Saugus found some bright spots. Eighth-grader Jenna O’Donnell provided quality relief work in the circle, pitching 3 1/3 innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out three hitters. Layla Demonte continued her strong offensive week with a two-run single, while Aubrey Demonte added an RBI groundout.

Chianca, Deleidi, Aubrey Demonte, Layla Demonte and Alannah Duong all recorded hits for the Sachems. Almquist also praised Chianca’s continued development defensively in center field.

  Saugus baseball rallies before falling in wild battle with Danvers

The Saugus baseball team showed plenty of fight last Friday night, erasing an early four-run deficit and briefly grabbing the lead before Danvers walked off with a 9-8 victory in a back-and-forth Northeastern Conference matchup.

The Sachems exploded for five runs in the third inning after falling behind 4-0 early. Nathan Soroko homered in the loss and finished with three RBI, while Ethan Fialho added a key RBI hit. Trey Riley and Tyler Schaefer also drove in runs as Saugus managed to come back for an 8-8 tie entering the bottom of the seventh.

Brayden Crawford scored three runs and battled through 5 2/3 innings on the mound while also drawing three walks offensively. Jordan Rodriguez crossed the plate once and worked two walks, while Chris Mazin and David Perez each collected hits.

Fialho finished with a hit, RBI and run scored, while Riley contributed a hit, RBI and walk. Saugus also received strong contributions from Tyler Schaefer, who drove in a run.

Despite the loss, the Sachems showed resilience offensively by battling back multiple times against one of the conference’s stronger teams.

Northeast tennis battles through difficult schedule

The Northeast Metro Tech boys tennis team, which includes several Saugus players, continued to face difficult competition during a challenging week that featured a pair of close losses.

Northeast dropped a 6-1 decision to Greater Lowell despite a dominant performance from fourth singles player Gianna Berry of Northeast, who rolled to a 6-0 victory. Coach Al Turco said Berry “gave them something to think about” in an otherwise difficult matchup against strong competition.

Saugus native Ayden Kloppenburg teamed with Saugus’ Cornyn Meas at first doubles and battled to a competitive 3-6 loss, while Emanuelly Venancio of Malden paired with Chelsea’s Giselle Benitez at third doubles.

The following day, Northeast nearly pulled out a dramatic victory against Nashoba before falling 4-3 in another tightly contested match.

Kloppenburg earned one of the team’s biggest wins of the day at second singles, defeating Sarah Bartos, 8-5. Berry stayed hot at fourth singles with an 8-1 victory over Patrick Smith, improving to 4-2 overall on the season.

Turco noted that Northeast was shorthanded after a late scheduling change forced two Saugus co-op players to miss the match, but the team still nearly pulled off the win.

“We still won three of the seven matches and came within two games of winning three more,” Turco said.