Everett Crimson Tide baseball team wins three straight games to remain alive for the postseason

Local nine needs just one more win to clinch berth in state tourney, which begins late next week

  The Everett High School baseball team (7-9 in the Greater Boston League, 9-9 overall) began last week needing to win four out of its final five regular-season games to qualify for the Division 1 state tournament. They have already won three of those games – all played at Glendale – against Medford (8-3), Charlestown (5-4, eight innings) and Greater Lawrence (11-3). The Tide was 60^th in the Division 1 power rankings as of May 23, and if they win one out of their next two games – a rematch against host Greater Lawrence on May 24 or Mystic Valley Charter later today (May 26) at Glendale – they will be eligible to participate in a play-in game to see which teams move on to the tournament.

  The Everett boys jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after two innings against Medford on May 16, and they never looked back to begin their march to the postseason on a satisfying note. Nordeivy Santana (2-3), who ended up with two hits against the Mustangs, knocked in two runs with one of those hits in the top of the first to get his teammates on the scoreboard. Omar Marshall (1-4), Alex Velasco (2-4) and David Saia (2-4) all had RBI singles in the second inning to extend the lead to 6-1. Alex Lara (2-3, 2 RBI) and Isaiah Goffigan (2-2) also had multi-hit games. Turilli (1-3) and Tyler Wedge (1-3) did their part on offense, as well. Pitcher Matt Turilli turned in a complete game seven-inning masterpiece, when it was needed the most, with time running out on the regular season. He gave up just three earned runs.

  “Everyone in the lineup contributed against Medford,” said coach Joel Levine. “We got some big hits with guys in scoring position all game long.

  “Matt threw the ball really well, while we also played sound defense,” added Levine. “It was a nice way to end our league season.”

Tide edge the Townies

  Against Charlestown, Everett was trailing 2-0 going into the home half of the third inning, when it was able to tie the game up on an RBI single by Lara before he scored the equalizer on an error a short time later. In the fourth inning, the Tide capitalized again on another Charlestown miscue to take a 3-2 lead. But after the Townies tied it again in the fifth, Albert Santana executed a perfect suicide squeeze that scored Nordeivy Santana from third to regain the lead, 5-4.

  However, Charlestown, refusing to give up, tripled in the game-tying run in the top half of the seventh, but senior pitcher Omar Marshall was able to strand the go-ahead run on third. The game eventually went into extra innings before the home team won it in the eighth. Tyler Wedge got the winning rally started with a walk before stealing second after two outs, and he eventually scored on Velasco’s game-winning walk-off single.

  Nordeivy Santana (2-4), Saia (1-4), Lara (1-4), Turilli (1-4), Goffigan (1-1), Wedge (1-3) and Velasco (2-4) all chipped in offensively to seal the deal on this close win. Marshall went seven innings, giving up two earned runs. Enrico Vega, who pitched the eighth, threw a scoreless frame to get the victory.

  “Half of our wins this season have come in our last at bat, and this was the second walk-off win of the season,” said Levine. “There is no better feeling as a coach than to see our kids so excited after a thrilling win. Even though we didn’t play perfect baseball, it was good enough to win, and it was sure fun to watch.”

  The Crimson Tide took that winning momentum to Monday’s win over visiting Greater Lawrence. More on that triumph, along with highlights from the Greater Lawrence rematch and the Mystic Valley contest, will be in next Friday’s Everett Advocate with, hopefully, positive results from the play-in game. The Division 1 state tournament pairings are scheduled to be announced on May 31 on the miaa.net website.