WHS softball team defeats Ipswich, 14-6
The Winthrop High softball team put it all together last Thursday to post a 14-6 victory over Ipswich at Cellucci Field.
Freshman Lucy Boncore collected four hits in five at bats with three RBI to pace the Lady Vikings’ offense. Lucy also earned the “W” in the pitcher’s circle, allowing no earned runs and fanning nine Lady Tiger opponents.
Sophomore Kylie McFarland went two-for-four with an RBI double in the third inning and freshman Giuliana Marenghi also had two hits with two RBI.
Coach Erin Vercrusse’s team was aggressive on the basepaths, stealing 11 bases on the day.
Winthrop hosted Gloucester last Monday and came up on the short end of a 12-0 decision. Boncore struck out six Lady Fishermen and had one hit on the night. Sophomore Sofia Gonzalez also tallied a hit. Both senior captain Amelia Spencer, playing third base, and junior Jenna Whitehead partnered with freshman first baseman Giuliana Marenghi to earn three assists in the field.
Last Tuesday, the Lady Vikings traveled to Medford and dropped a 12-1 decision on a windy day. Boncore, sophomore Francesca Indrisano, Gonzalez, senior captain Tina Fabiano, and Marenghi each tallied a hit for the Lady Vikings, with Indrisano nabbing the only RBI. The game ended early due to the weather.
Vercruysse and her squad are scheduled to host Peabody next Thursday.
WHS baseball team to hit the road
The Winthrop High baseball team will be Road Warriors in the coming week, with coach Jack Wallace and his Vikings making long bus rides to Gloucester yesterday (Wednesday), Salem tomorrow (Friday), Manchester-Essex on Saturday, and Peabody next Wednesday.
Winthrop played two contests last week at Veterans Field. In an encounter with Medford on Thursday, the game was stopped because of darkness with the teams tied at 3-3 entering the ninth inning.
Senior Timmy Vargus continued his streak of quality starts, going six innings in which he allowed two earned runs and struck out eight Mustang batters.
Sophomore shortstop Jojo Pumphret made a game-saving 6-3 DP to stop a run from scoring. Seniors Jay Fotiades and Matt Reardon made key relief appearances to keep the game tied, with Fotiades getting the last out with the bases loaded in the seventh.
Highlights for Winthrop included sophomore Ryan Murphy getting his first career varsity hit, a single through the right side. Senior Will Murphy hit a nice double down the right field line.
“This was a good game between two very even teams,” said Wallace. The game will be continued on Sunday, May 18.
The following day, the Vikings hosted Danvers and came up on the short end of a 14-1 decision.
“This was a tough game, as our pitching staff struggled for the first time really all season,” said Wallace. “Give credit to Danvers — they swung the bats very well and played clean baseball all game.”
Senior Matt Noonan’s RBI-triple in the first inning accounted for the Winthrop run. Sophomore Dom Spinale continued his great year, keeping his average above .400 with a nice single. Senior Will Murphy also added a base hit.
“Our pitchers, senior Jay Fotiades, freshman Braedon Lounsbury, and sophomore Nikita Rossi all battled hard and will bounce back this week,” added Wallace. “We’ll be hoping to get some momentum going into the middle of the season as we hit the road.”
Nick Cappuccio, D’Amico are double winners in tri-meet
Winthrop senior Nicholas Cappuccio once again dominated his opponents in the 100 and 200 meter dashes in a tri-meet with Northeastern Conference rivals Masconomet and Gloucewter at Miller Field.
Nick sprinted to victory in the 100 in a time of 10.8 with his closest rival coming across in 11.1. In the 200, his clocking of 22.2 was 0.3 faster than the second place finisher.
Cappuccio capped his day by adding a second-place vs. Gloucester in the discus.
Teammate Thomas D’Amico also turned in an impressive performance in the tri-meet with victories in two events against both opponents. Thomas won the 400 dash with a winning time of 55.2, edging the second-place finisher from Masco by 0.7 of a second. D’Amico also topped the field in the triple jump with a final landing of 36′-2.5″.
Additional point-scorers for the Winthrop boys included:
— In the 800, Gabriel Perez took first place vs. Gloucester with a time of 2:22.6.
— Aaron Armitstead took first place vs. Gloucester and second vs. Masco in the 110 high hurdles in a time of 17.8 and third vs. Gloucester in the discus;
— Chris Messina and Nicholas Rich went 2-3 vs. Gloucester in the shot-put;
— Brody Burrill took first place vs. Gloucester in the javelin with a throw of 83′-2″;
— Ryan Gillis finished third vs. Gloucester in the javelin and third vs. Gloucester in the 800;
— Pietra Maria Provini finished third vs. Gloucester in both the 100 and 200;
— Christian Bower finished second vs. Gloucester in the 400 dash;
— Ali Benchikhi took first place vs. Gloucester and second vs. Masco in the high jump with a leap of 5′-2″.
— Wyatt Texieira finished second vs. Gloucester in the long jump;
— Liam Natareno finished third vs. Gloucester in the triple jump and in the mile; and
— Brady Tallent finished second vs. Gloucester and third vs. Masco in the 110 hurdles.
On the girls’ side, Ariana Cappuccio sped to first place vs. Masco and second vs. Gloucester in the 100 dash with a sprint of 13.2, which was just 0.2 behind the winning time. Ariana also took second vs. Gloucester and third vs. Masco in the long jump.
Mary Healy won the high jump vs. Gloucester and finished third vs. Masco with a leap of 4′-2″.
Iris Clancy took first place vs. Gloucester in the discus with a throw of 41′-0″. Iris also grabbed third place vs. Gloucester in the shot-put.
Additional point-scorers for the Lady Vikings included:
— Jillian Buonopane took second place vs. Gloucester in the 400 hurdles.
— Lylah Cassidy earned a second-place vs. Masco in the triple jump and a first vs. Gloucester in the 100 hurdles.
— Lyla McCarey finished second vs. Gloucester in the 400 dash; and
— Hailey DeMarco finished second vs. Gloucester in the discus with her toss of 40′-6″.