Sports 04-30-2015

WhS sports Roundup

WHS boys tennis  team wins pair

The Winthrop High boys tennis team broke into the win column with a pair of shutout victories this past week over Northeastern Conference rivals Peabody and Lynn Classical.

The Vikings’ top player, Noah Hodgkins, led the way for Winthrop at the number one spot with straight set victories over his Peabody (6-0, 6-1) and Classical (6-4, 6-3) counterparts. The Vikings’ second singles player, Mike Norris, defeated his Peabody foe 6-4, 6-0 and his Classical opponent 6-2, 3-6, 6-0. At third singles, Sean Gillis blitzed his opponents, 6-0, 6-1 (Peabody) and 6-1, 6-0 (Classical).

Winthrop’s first doubles tandem of Matt Sennott and Jake LaFratta won their matches in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0 vs. Peabody and 6-3, 6-2 vs. Classical. In the Peabody match, the second doubles duo of Pat Todisco and Ryan Duyon were 6-0, 6-0 victors. In the Classical match, Duyon teamed with eighth grader Corey Cherico for a 6-1, 6-2 triumph.

The Vikings next took on Danvers and dropped a hard-fought match, 3-2, marking the third match this season that Winthrop has dropped a contest by a 3-2 score. The doubles teams of Gillis & Sennott (6-2, 6-4) and LaFratta & Todisco (6-2, 6-2) earned Winthrop’s points on the day. Hodgkins fell in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 0-6 in the first singles slot; Norris lost in straight sets at second singles, 0-6, 1-6; and Robbie Miles came up short at third singles, 6-7 (4-7), 3-6.

“The team has been working hard and everybody is improving,” said WHS head coach Marie Finn, whose squad is 2-3 on the season. “We’ve been so close in the matches we’ve lost and I feel that if we continue to get better, we should do very well by season’s end.”

The Vikings will host Malden Catholic today (Thursday) and then become road warriors next week with matches at Lynn English Monday, at Marblehead Tuesday, at Revere Wednesday, and at Malden Catholic next Thursday.

Tough week for WHS softball team

The Winthrop High softball team hit a few bumps in the road this past week, dropping all three of its contests.

After winning its opening round game of the Nantucket Tournament last Tuesday with an 8-4 victory over the host team, the Lady Vikings appeared set to claim the tournament title when they moved out to a 9-1 lead over Marblehead Wednesday. Maddie Finga’a smacked a two-run homer in a three-run opening inning for Winthrop and Maura Lanza cracked a grand slam in the fourth, which was followed immediately by another roundtripper off the bat of Gabby Kenniston. Taylor Thomas added a solo blast in the fifth for good measure to make it a 9-1 contest.

But that’s when the proverbial roof fell in on the Lady Vikings. Marblehead struck for eight runs in its half of the fifth to tie matters at 9-9 and then scored the game-winner in the seventh to come away with an improbable victory. Seven Winthrop errors in the game aided the Marblehead cause.

The Lady Vikings returned to the mainland and came out on the short end of a 7-4 defeat at Lynn Classical Friday. Winthrop pitcher Maura Lanza turned in a  credible effort (two earned runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts and a walk), but six errors by the Lady Viking defense proved fatal.

Christine Haskell and Lanza both had two hits with a double and a run scored; Kenniston had a double and two RBI; Regina Garufo and Finga’a both singled and scored a run; and Thomas doubled for an RBI.

A 12-4 defeat to Beverly Monday saw some improvement in the Winthrop defense (three errors), but Beverly took advantage of its opportunities. The Lady Vikings on the other hand, loaded the bases in almost every inning, but could only push across four runs. Finga’a had two hits; Lanza had a single and a run scored; Kenniston reached base three times on a hit, an error, and a walk; and Thomas walked three times and scored a run.

“It was a very frustrating week,” said WHS head coach Dave Guffey. “We’re still trying to find ourselves as a team. We have a lot to work on.”

The Lady Vikings were set to be back in action yesterday (Wednesday) at Salem and then will entertain three opponents: Lynn English tomorrow (Friday), Revere Monday, and Marblehead Wednesday.

Vikings receive superb

pitching efforts from

Wallace, Disciscio

The Winthrop High baseball team received two fine pitching performances from Jack Wallace and Nick Disciscio this past week, though the Vikings came up short in both contests.

Wallace tossed a gem against Lynn Classical, which is ranked 22nd in the state, allowing just three hits and fanning five in six innings. Although the Vikings outhit the Rams, with Dylan Driscoll leading the way with three hits, Winthrop was unable to come through with timely hitting and the result was a 1-0 loss.

“Jack throws hard and he throws strikes,” said WHS head coach Frank DeMarco of Wallace, who now sports a sterling 1.75 ERA in three starts this season.

In a contest with Beverly, a lack of offense from the Viking bats — Winthrop mustered only one hit — resulted in Disciscio’s fine effort also going for naught. Nick went the full, seven-inning distance against the Panthers, allowing just two earned runs in a 3-0 loss and dropping his ERA to 2.65.

“We continue to get good pitching across the board,” said DeMarco. “David Kirby has thrown eight innings in four games and has an ERA of 0.00.  Chris Zufanti pitched one game and threw six scoreless innings.  Other than the Peabody game, we have not given up more than four runs in a game.  We are playing good defense, but can’t seem to get the hits at the right time.  We also have hit balls right at people.  Hopefully we can continue with our pitching and defense and find a way to get some timely hitting.”

Lady Viking tennis

team working hard

The Winthrop High girls tennis team engaged in a tough battle with Peabody this week, but came up short by a close score of 3-2 in which the fifth and deciding match at second doubles went to three sets.

Winthrop’s third singles player, Jackie Boulay, defeated her Peabody counterpart in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2. The first doubles tandem of Juanita Saenz & Haley Holden also were straight-set winners, 6-1, 7-5.

Meg Dolan, playing at first singles, fell 0-6, 1-6, as did Xena Herbert at second singles, 0-6, 0-6.

That set the stage for the deciding match at second doubles. The Winthrop tandem of Brooke Bacigalupo & Kailyn Ferreira dropped the first set, 3-6, but battled back to take the second set, 6-2. However, they fell short to their Peabody opponents in the third and deciding set, 1-6.

In a 5-0 loss to Danvers, Victoria Cursino dropped her match at first singles, 0-6, 0-6. Herbert fought hard at second singles, 5-7, 1-6, and Boulay fell at third singles, 2-6, 2-6. In the doubles contests, Juanita Saenz & Haley Holden lost in a match that went to three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, at first doubles and Courtney McSwiney & Shannon Mahoney came up short at second doubles, 0-6, 1-6.

Lady Viking lax team

hosts Swampscott today

The Winthrop High girls lacrosse team will host its first home game of the season when the Lady Vikings meet Swampscott at Miller Field at 4:30.

The Winthrop girls dropped two contests this past week, falling to Haverhill, 13-4, and to Gloucester, 15-10. Flora English scored three goals and Abby Carleton added one for Winthrop in the Haverhill encounter.

A slow start bedeviled the Lady Vikings in the Gloucester game, as Winthrop trailed 15-3 at the half. However, the Lady Vikings came out firing after the intermission and scored seven unanswered goals to leave matters at 15-10 at the final whistle.

Kristina Favaloro notched a hat trick for Winthrop. Captain Caroline McKinnon and English both reached the back of the Gloucester net twice. Single goals came from the sticks of captain Caitlin Page, Holly Benson, and Carleton.

“We came out flat at the start, allowing Gloucester to take a quick lead with consecutive goals,” said WHS coach Angelina Favaloro, who is sharing the head coaching duties with Andrea Martucci. “We played much better during the second half and made a nice comeback, but ran short of time. We seem to be a better second half team, so we need to work on coming out strong at the start.”

WHS Sports through the years

10 years ago

April 28, 2005

Jarrett Herdt slugged a two run homer and earned the win on the mound to lead the WHS baseball team to a 10-4 win over Matignon. In a rematch between the teams two days later, Herdt socked another two run homer,  Anthony Fucillo hit a three run homer, and Cory Silk pitched five innings to earn the victory in a 16-3 Viking triumph.

Danielle Doherty and Andrea Bruno scored 15 points each to lead the WHS girls track team to a 101-21 win over Salem. The Lady Vikings dropped a 78-54 contest to Beverly later in the week.

Three-sport Lady Viking star Rachele DeLeo has announced she will be attending the University of New Hampshire in the fall where she will join former teammate Colleen Lally on the Lady Wildcat track team.

Alex Montone hit two doubles and five RBI in a 9-4 victory for the WHS softball team over Salem. Montone also came through with a game-winning double in the eighth inning in a 2-1 Winthrop win over Gloucester. The Gloucester contest featured a pitching duel between Winthrop freshman Kristen Finn and Gloucester’s Atlee Cahill. Finn allowed just four hits and fanned six.

Brian Breau won the shot-put with a toss of 41’-3” and also won the discus, but the WHS boys track team lost a close 66-59 decision to Beverly. Shane Mulkerrin won the triple jump in 40’-6” and Travis Kratman took the 100 dash in 11.8.

20 years ago

May 18, 1995

Erica Towlson was a triple winner for the WHS girls track team in an 82-42 romp over Swampscott. She won the high jump with a leap of 4’-9”, the triple jump with a distance of 33’-1/4’, and the 100 high hurdles in 18.1.

The WHS boys track team improved to 7-1 with an 86-40 triumph over Swampscott. Todd Doherty earned 15 points for the Vikings with wins in the 100, 200, and triple jump. Robbie Crowell won the 300 intermediate hurdles and the 400 dash. Chris Butler was a double winner in the shot-put and discus.

30 years ago

May 15, 1985

The WHS girls track team clinched an undisputed NEC title with a 64-45 win over Beverly in a battle of unbeaten teams. Winthrop’s field events competitors got the Lady Vikings off to a 26-10 lead to start the meet. Kim Krovitz, Diane Gallo, Barbie Briggs, and Barbie Vecchio were the winners in the running events.

40 years ago

May 14, 1975

Winthrop’s Chris Tsiotis received the award for being the top scorer on the Suffolk University basketball team this past season at the team’s breakup banquet. Tsiotis averaged 21.7 points per game to lead Suffolk to a 19-7 record, the best in the school’s history.

50 years ago

May 13, 1965

WHS head football coach Ed MacFarland has been named to coach the North Shore All-Stars in the annual Harry Agganis Memorial football game that will be played at the Manning Bowl in Lynn August 21.

60 years ago

May 12, 1955

The WHS track team rolled to a 61-16 romp over Amesbury. First-place finishers for Winthrop included Tom Lawton, Dennis Tutten, Fred Sheldon, Larry Reed, and captain David Davis.

The WHS tennis team defeated Rindge Tech, 5-0. Twin brothers Bob and Rich McBournie and teammate Mike Risman were the winners at singles.