WHS Boys Lacrosse Looking Forward to Another Big Year
The Winthrop High boys lacrosse team will open its 2024 season with a contest at non-league rival Malden Catholic next Tuesday (April 2).
“We are very excited about the upcoming season and hope to continue to build on the success of last year and improve in areas that we know we can build on,” said WHS head coach Brian Donnelly, whose squad compiled a 14-4 record in the regular season, winning the South Division of the Northeastern Conference (NEC), earning the #13 ranking in Division 4, and winning their opening-round game in the D-4 state tourney.
“We have the majority of our starters returning — we lost the trio of attackman Jack Hayes, midfielder Alex Daignault, and defenseman Welvis Acosta to graduation — and are looking forward to having a bunch of new players join the ranks,” said Donnelly. “We have goalie Hunter Fife and Robert Rich as returning captains and senior defenseman Donovan Cassidy also is joining the ranks of captain. They have started off the year strong, leading by example, and we hope they continue to find their voice as leaders.
“Our pre-season has been good so far, as we are really trying to focus on getting fundamentals down and tightening up our defensive and offensive systems,” Donnelly added. “We are very excited to see how much players like Ace Daignault, Colin Cifuni, Seth Sacco, and Michael Holgerson have progressed in the off-season, as well as to see what some new players are going to add to the mix.”
After Tuesday’s match with Division 1 Malden Catholic, the Vikings will play their home opener next Thursday (April 4) against NEC South rival Saugus at 4:30 on the turf at Miller Field.
Winthrop will meet its four NEC South foes (Saugus, Salem, Gloucester, and Swampscott) twice each and its five NEC North opponents (Danvers, Masconomet, Marblehead, Beverly, and Peabody) once each. Five non-conference opponents (Malden Catholic, Manchester-Essex, Tyngsborough, Hamilton-Wenham, and Lynnfield) round out their 18 game schedule.
The members of the 2024 varsity and JV teams are as follows:
Varsity:
Robert Rich (C), Colin Cifuni, Hunter Fife (C), Dan Thomai, Ace Daigneault, Sean Dolan, Colin O’Leary, Seth Sacco, Donovan Cassidy (C), Glenn Calla, Michael Holgerson, Andrew Faretra, Nick Romano, Stephen Lindinger, Jackson Andy, Thomas Babine, Dylan Sykes, Declan Howard, Chris Beshere, Chase Cifuni, Paul Ferrara, and Charlie Ferrara.
Junior Varsity:
Bryan Guerra Duarte, Michael Harrison, Gianluca Talluto, Edward Leal, Evan DeMayo, Jeremy Pena, Riley Moccio, Matt Maddallone, and Owen Pumphret
WHS Baseball Team Has High Hopes
The Winthrop High baseball team will open its 2024 season at non-league opponent Cardinal Spellman this coming Monday (April 1).
“It is exciting to get started for my third year as the head coach,” said WHS head coach Mark DeGregorio. “We are returning a young group of players who made contributions over the last few years. We are a team with a lot of positional flexibility and some positional battles leading up to the season after we graduated four seniors.
“The four seniors who graduated leave behind some areas that we need to fill,” DeGregorio continued. “Colin Kinsella was a two-time captain and catcher. He batted close to .500, so that is something that is always difficult to replace. Zach Bogusz was a great pitcher and hitter for us last year. He batted .350 and led the teams in wins. Nick Marchese was an absolute rock at second base. He made all the plays over there and he contributed in more ways that we can count. Finally, we graduated Ryan Gagnon, who was a very good outfielder and got on base a ton for us. So the positional battles going into the first game are going to be very interesting as we have a lot of young guys who will be filling those holes.
“We are returning two captains in Petey Silverman and Matthew DeCarney,” DeGregorio said. “Petey was a league all-star last year, our leadoff hitter, and played a phenomenal shortstop. Matt DeCarney will be depended on a lot this year to pitch and go deep into games. Rounding out the captaincy spots this year are senior Evan Rockefeller and senior Billy Hayes. These two contributed a lot last year and will be looked at to take a step forward as well to assist the younger players. Evan Rockefeller became a huge part of our offense down the stretch last year. He has a lot of power and is fearless at the plate. Billy Hayes played outfield for us last year and continued to improve as the season wore on. We are looking for our seniors to contribute to the team’s success just like last year’s seniors.
“Positionally, Phillip Boncore is being asked to step in as the new catcher for the team,” DeGregorio noted. “Thus far he has been very good behind the plate in the preseason and our first scrimmage. He looks very comfortable back there. It has been a few years since he last played catcher because he is a lefty. It is very unconventional to have a left-handed catcher, but when you have a player that can do everything that a right-handed catcher can do, then it does not come across as a disadvantage at all at the high school level.
“Also returning is Spencer Parco, another player who started the majority of games for us. Spencer played a great third base for us last year and really took his defense to a new level last year over there,” DeGregorio said. “He is a natural shortstop, but stepped into third base and played great. Jay Fotiades is a pitcher and second baseman/third baseman. He is someone who has been very dependable for the team ever since his freshman year. He will be a three-year varsity player as a junior this upcoming season.
“We also are returning Will Murphy, Matthew Noonan, Matthew Reardon, and Timmy Vargus,” the coach added. “They all contributed last year at various points in the season. The coaching staff is very excited about what they can bring to the table this year. We will need all players to contribute to win games in the difficult Northeastern Conference and our difficult non-conference schedule.
“We are also very excited about the future of the program with a large freshman class,” DeGregorio noted. “We have a few freshmen who could be pushing some of the older players for playing time. The freshmen are Joseph Pumphret, Ryan Murphy, Desmond Cassidy, Michael D’Ambrosio, Tony Bordonaro, Nathan Previte, Nikita Rossi, Domenic Spinale, Ricky Mackenzie, Ryan Buchman, Dax Sabin, Joe Dalton, and Evan Tallent. It is a large class, and we are excited about what they can bring this year and to the future of the program. We also have 10 new eighth-graders entering the program.
“In the offseason we put together a more challenging schedule for us than we even had last year,” said DeGregorio. “We looked at how we can try to increase our opponent value rating as part of the new MIAA rankings. We decided to add Manchester-Essex and Amesbury to our schedule. Both of these opponents run great programs and are consistently good each and every year. Amesbury went deep in the tournament last year and Manchester-Essex is two years removed from the state championship.
“We are returning most of the coaching staff that I rely heavily on,” said DeGregorio. “The coaches are always prepared, professional, and very knowledgeable. I think having the continuity that we have as a group is very important. As a head coach there is not much more that you can ask for in your coaches. Returning is Joseph Murphy, who is going into his third year in the program. He is a former Rhode Island College baseball alumnus. Michael Vatalaro, whom I have personally known since basically we were old enough to pick up a baseball — we played baseball together since we were four and he played at Salem State — was one of the better shortstops to come through the Winthrop High program. Coach Anthony Sorrentino is returning and has actually been in the program longer than I have. The kids really do look to him for guidance, and he is very-respected. Jack Wallace is returning again this year to keep working with the pitchers. He was a four-year pitcher at Franklin Pierce and was a pitcher for national champion Eastern Connecticut in his post-grad year. Also, joining the staff this year is former Winthrop baseball and hockey alum Ryan Skoczlas. Kurt Rodrigues returns as the JV coach this year for the third year. Joining him are Tommy Capasso and Dan Shannon this year as coaches. Finally, Frankie Fabiano returns to the staff. He is an integral part of the program and we are excited that he continues to be a part of our program. As you can see, we have a very large coaching staff. It is by design, as we like to keep our players constantly moving at practice. We break them up into positional groups and work on skills. There is always a coach there for them to work on something.”
DeGregorio has been pleased with his team’s effort in the pre-season. “We recently played a scrimmage on Monday against Stoneham and we competed well against a very good program,” said the coach. “They have also been very good, and it was good for us to face them as they are a new Division 4 opponent as they moved down from Division 3 this year. There were a lot of really good things that the coaches saw in the scrimmage. We pitched well and put the bat on the ball pretty consistently. We have some things we need to continue to work on and will make sure we prepare our players as best as we can for our opening day.”
The Vikings had one more scrimmage yesterday (Wednesday) against Lynn Classical at Fraser Field. After Monday’s opener with Spellman, the Vikings and will travel to Northeastern Conference (NEC) South rival Peabody on Tuesday. The Vikings have a 20 game schedule, meeting their four NEC South foes (Saugus, Salem, Swampscott, and Peabody) twice each and their five NEC North opponents (Danvers, Beverly, Marblehead, Masconomet, and Gloucester) one each. They will meet non-league foes Cardinal Spellman, Rockport, Ipswich, Wakefield, Sharon, Amesbury, and Manchester-Essex once each.
WHS Softball Hosts Saugus This Monday
The WHS softball team, under the direction of head coach Erin Vercruysse, will open its 2024 campaign on Monday, entertaining NEC South opponent Salem at the Little League Field.
“We are coming into the 2024 season with a strong freshman class on varsity and gaining a strong seventh grade class on junior varsity as well,” said Vercruysse. “We lost six strong seniors last year, but have some players who have really stepped up to fill those gaps. We’re greatly looking forward to being more competitive in our league this year.”
The 2024 Lady Vikings are:
Varsity:
Carolina Gonzalez (Captain), Zoe Bakos, Gianna Indrisano, Hannah Barrett, Izzy Cash, Amelia Spencer (Captain), Tori Bates, Jenna Whitehead, Deanna Nee, Francesca Indrisano, Sofia Gonzalez, Kylie McFarland, Brianna Rizzotto, Makayla Herdt, and team manager Adrianna Viscio.
Junior Varsity:
Xaviera Figueroa, Lucy Boncore, Sonny Theberge, Emma Previte, Norah Zaffini, Ava Rogowicz, Audrina Petrola, Ruby Viens, Molly Titemore, and Briella McFarland.
After Monday’s opener, the Lady Vikings will travel to Swampscott next Wednesday. In addition to their 13 contests with their nine NEC rivals, Vercruysse and her crew will meet non-league opponents Hamilton-Wenham (2), East Boston (2), Northeast Regional, Excel Academy, and Lynn Classical to complete their 20-game schedule.
WHS Athletes Swing Into Action
The 2024 spring sports season will swing into high gear this coming week for Winthrop High athletes.
The WHS girls lacrosse team opens its season Tuesday at Lynnfield and will travel to Saugus next Thursday. In addition to their NEC opponents, the girls will meet non-league foes Lynnfield, Stoneham (2), No. Reading, Arlington Catholic, Bishop Fenwick, and Somerville.
The WHS boys and girls tennis teams, headed by Marie Finn and Jeff Beck respectively, will get into the swing on Monday against non-league foe Watertown. Finn and her boys, who will trek to Watertown on Monday, will travel to Ipswich on Tuesday and to Medford on Wednesday. Beck’s Lady Vikings, who host Watertown on Monday, will entertain St. Mary’s of Lynn on Tuesday and Medford on Wednesday.
The boys and girls track teams, led by Nik Beshere and Warren MacPhail respectively, will face Swampscott at Miller Field in their season-opener on Wednesday.
The WHS sailing team will take to the chilly blue ocean on April 13, while a new sport at WHS, girls flag football, kicks off its season on April 11 at Needham.