Saugus High School Sachems Spring Sports Roundup

By Dom Nicastro

Saugus girls shine at NECs, softball closes regular season with playoff momentum

It was a championship week for Saugus High School Spring sports, with the girls track team earning league titles in three events and the softball team clinching a postseason berth in dominant fashion.

Here’s how it all broke down.

Girls track earns three NEC titles, heads to Division 4 states

Saugus girls track coach Joe Alba had waited four years for this moment — and on Friday, May 23, his team delivered. Competing at the Northeastern Conference Championships, the Sachems crowned their first league champions under Alba’s tenure — not once, but three times.

Soraya Mathieu, a freshman, captured first in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, while Destiny Okoye, a sophomore, won the high jump and placed third in the 100-meter hurdles — an event she only recently added to her repertoire.

“I can’t express how happy I am for not only them but for all my girls who I brought to the meet,” Alba said. “They just work so incredibly hard all year long and this is a great example of ‘hard work pays off.’”

Saugus brought 11 athletes to the meet and saw contributions across the board:

• Mathieu: first in 100 and 200, seventh in long jump
• Okoye: first in high jump, third in 100 hurdles
• Peyton DiBiasio: fifth in javelin, 400
• Layla Manderson: eighth in shotput, 200
• Sarah Mudafort, Victoria Silva Santos: high jump
• Angie Lopez: 200 and shotput
• Kendall Hatch: discus
• Brianna Feldman: javelin
• Lindsay Mishol: 800
• Kylie Arwine: 400 hurdles

Alba also gave a heartfelt shoutout to the seniors: Lopez, Feldman, Manderson, Hatch and Avila. “Such an amazing group of individuals who are going to all go on to do fantastic things,” he said.

He credited his entire staff — assistants Alex Dicicco, Kevin Martin, Norma Waggett and co-head coach Steve Cummings — for the program’s growth.

“Sometimes assistant coaches don’t get the recognition they deserve meanwhile they work just as hard with the students every day… I’m so thankful for this incredible coaching staff,” he said.

Next up: the Division 4 State Championships at Merrimack College on May 31 and June 2.

Softball rolls into playoffs with big wins on Senior Day and finale

Senior Day brought a complete performance on both sides of the ball. Taylor Deleidi pitched a complete-game shutout in a 9-0 win over Swampscott, holding a red-hot Swampscott team to just three hits.

“This was by far her best performance of the season against a very explosive Swampscott team coming off three straight wins,” said head coach Steve Almquist. “Taylor kept the Swampscott hitters off balance all game long and I cannot stress enough how impressed I was with her performance, especially given the fact that this was our Senior Day.”

Deleidi’s line: 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K

Offensively, Saugus piled up 11 hits. Highlights included:

• Ari Chianca: 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
• Danica Schena: 2-for-3, RBI, run
• Layla DeMonte (8th grade): 2-for-3, double, 2 runs
• Sofia McCarrier (8th grade): 1-for-1, RBI, run
• Julia Strout (freshman): 1-for-1, RBI, run
• Deleidi: 2-for-4, RBI
• Alexa Morello: 1-for-4, RBI

The sixth inning sealed the deal, as the Sachems sent 13 batters to the plate, scoring seven runs on big hits from Chianca, Schena, Deleidi, McCarrier and Strout.

“This was a huge win for us especially given the fact that we had a few injuries,” Almquist said. “Our defense was flawless. I could not have scripted it any better.”

Saugus honored six seniors: Ventre, Schena, Morello, Taylor Deleidi, Hannah Duong and Maya Pina.

Saugus topped Northeast Regional Voke, 17-3.

In the regular-season finale, the Sachems exploded for 12 first inning runs, sending 17 batters to the plate. They added three more in the second and two in the third before closing out the mercy-rule win in five innings.

Key hits in the first:

• Chianca, Taylor Deleidi, Alannah Duong, Sydney Deleidi, Maria Silva: RBI singles
• Lily Ventre: bases-clearing double (three RBI)

Maya Pina added an RBI single in the second.

McCarrier, just an eighth grader, earned her seventh win of the season with a strong five-inning performance.

McCarrier’s line: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 6 K

Saugus tallied 15 hits. Contributors included:

• Taylor Deleidi: 3-for-3, RBI, 2 runs
• Pina: 2-for-2, RBI, run
• Morello: 2-for-3, run
• Ventre: 1-for-3, double, 3 RBI, 2 runs
• Silva: 1-for-2, RBI, 2 runs
• Chianca: 1-for-1, RBI, 2 runs
• Alannah Duong: 2-for-2, RBI, 3 runs
• Sydney Deleidi: 1-for-3, RBI
• DeMonte: 1-for-2, double, 2 RBI

The outfield shined on defense with standout catches from Schena in center and Chianca in right.

“This was a nice all-around team win with all 14 rostered players contributing,” said Almquist. “One of our primary goals is to be better at the end of the season than we were at the beginning and I can say without a doubt, this mission has been accomplished.”

Saugus at 10-8 awaits its tourney fate as of press time.