Crimson Tide girls take over first place after beating Lynn Classical in late comeback effort

With momentum on their side, Everett softball team gets ready to host non-league O’Bryant later today

  The Everett High School softball team (11-1 in the Greater Boston League, 13-1 overall) trailed Lynn Classical, 5-2, after four innings on May 3. But a six-run sixth inning gave the Crimson Tide the winning margin of difference, 8-5. Pitcher Kristi Skane pitched all seven innings to record another win. She allowed five hits, two walks and four earned runs, while fanning four.

  The Rams scored one in the top of the first, but it could have been more if it wasn’t for some clutch Everett defense. With the bases loaded, third baseman Alexa Uga handled a line drive cleanly to account for the first out, following an RBI single by Classical. Shortstop Gianna Masucci started a force play to Uga at third. Uga appropriately ended the frame with an unassisted force play.

  “Those defensive plays were huge, and could have changed the dynamic of the game if they were not made,” said coach Stacy Schiavo. “Limiting them to only one run was a key factor in keeping the girls in the game.”

  The Everett girls scored twice in the second to take the lead for the first time in the game. Uga was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Bryanna Mason then drew a walk. Longmore reached on an error to load the bases. With two outs, Skane singled home Uga and Mason to put her teammates in front.

  After the Rams scored four times in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead, the Crimson Tide refused to give up. They scored six times in the fateful sixth to win the game, 8-5. Arabella Cvitkusic led off the winning rally with a walk. Following an out, Jules Curran was hit by a pitch. Skane then came through again in the clutch with a two-run triple to trim the deficit to one, 5-4. Kayley Rossi followed with a walk before Ashley Seward singled in Skane with the tying run. Masucci kept the rally going with a walk. Uga then doubled home Rossi with what turned out to be the winning run. Mason tacked on some insurance runs with a double that scored Seward and Uga.

  Second baseman Emma Longmore assisted on the first two outs in the seventh, and then after an Everett error she closed out the game by tagging out the Classical runner. “Emma made some great plays in the last inning,” said Schiavo. “The balls were hit hard at her, but she calmly stopped them to make the outs.”

  “Overall, our defense was on fire to keep this game close, and also Skane’s pitching was nothing but amazing. The Classical coach even complimented her on her performance,” added Schiavo. “This was an amazing win. These girls played with a lot of emotion, and they knew they had to come back if they wanted a chance to win the GBL title. We got more good news when we found out Revere beat Medford. We lost to the Mustangs (on April 24, 7-5), which created a tie for first place. We still need to beat the rest of the GBL teams on the schedule, but we are just going to do this one game at a time.”

Tide silences the Bulldogs

  The Everett girls started this week off with a convincing win over Lynn English, the host team, 10-0. Skane once again pitched all seven innings, giving up just three hits and three walks to go along with 11 strikeouts. It was her fifth shutout this spring in the circle.

  The Tide scored its first run in the third. Longmore started it off with a single that turned into a two-base throwing error, putting her on third base. Babcock attempted a bunt, but was called out, because the ball hit her bat twice. Skane then reached on a throwing error, which scored Babcock from third to account for the run.

  The visitors tacked on six more runs in the fourth. Uga and Mason got it going with singles. Cvitkusic’s sacrifice bunt resulted in two runs via a throwing error past first base that then led to a two-run blast by Babcock, which scored Cvitkusic ahead of her. But Everett was not done scoring in the fourth. Skane and Rossi followed with singles, and a short time later they both came home on a hit by Ashley Seward.

  The Everett girls closed out the scoring in the sixth with three more runs. It all began with a Babcock single, and she soon came home on a double by Skane. Rossi then doubled home Skane. Seward maintained the trend to score Rossi.

  Skane struck out the first two batters in the seventh and then assisted on the putout to first to secure another win for her teammates.

  “The last time we played Lynn English, we beat them, 18-0,” said Schiavo. “We started slowly on offense in this game, but still got the hits when we needed them. The hitting is contagious, when one hits, they all hit, but we need to make sure that we are more consistent with our at-bats. Skane and Rossi make up a great battery, and with the defense behind them they were able to get another shutout.”

  Following the win over English, the Tide took on Somerville two days later at Glendale (after press deadline). They will head back to Glendale later today for a non-league encounter against O’Bryant, before Revere comes to town on Monday for Senior Day. Both games will begin at 4 p.m.