WHS Sports Roundup

WHS boys lacrosse remains undefeated at 7-0

The Winthrop High boys lacrosse team improved to 7-0 this past week with victories of 12-4 vs. Northeastern Conference Lynch Division rival Gloucester last Wednesday and 15-5 over non-league opponent Essex Tech this past Saturday morning.

Coach Brian Donnelly’s Vikings have outscored their opponents by a dominating spread of 94-30 en route to their 7-0 start.

Winthrop was scheduled to play at Lynch Division opponent Salem yesterday (Wednesday) before trekking up to NEC Dunn foe Danvers this morning (Thursday).

They will play at non-league opponent Malden Catholic next Monday and will host NEC Dunn adversary Peabody next Wednesday.

WHS baseball wins two of three; hosts Salem Friday

The Winthrop High baseball team enjoyed a successful week, winning two of its three contests.

The Vikings traveled to Northeastern Conference (NEC) Lynch Division rival Salem last Monday and returned home with a 5-1 victory.  Dominic Spinale got the start on the mound for Winthrop and tossed five strong innings, allowing one hit and one unearned run, while striking out five Witches.

“Dom showed a lot of guts on the mound,” said WHS head coach Tom Capasso. “That was the kind of performance we really needed after some tough games last week.”

Jimmy Lyman came on in relief for the final two frames and was equally impressive, fanning two and allowing only one hit and no runs in his time on the mound.

Joe Pumphret, Nate Previte, and Carmen DePrisco collected two hits apiece to pace the Viking offense. Pumphret added a run scored, two RBI, and two stolen bases. Previte scored two runs and had a stolen base, and DePrisco added an RBI and a run scored.

Additional offensive contributors for the Vikings included Spinale, who had a hit and two stolen bases; Braedon Lounsbury, who added a hit; Danny Connolly, who contributed a hit and an RBI; Charlie Ferrara, who scored a run; and Lyman and Michael Barron, who both stole a base.

This past Friday the Vikings took on a strong Danvers team and came up on the short end of a 5-0 decision. Lyman went five innings for the Vikings, allowing five earned runs while striking out two Falcons.

 “Jimmy did a great job keeping us in the game,” said Capasso, “but our bats could not seem to get going.” Joseph Dalton relieved Lyman and threw a scoreless inning of relief, fanning two.  Carmen DePrisco had two hits for Winthrop, with Pumphret and Lyman also registering hits.  Winthrop loaded the bases in the second inning on two bunt hits sandwiched around a walk, but could not push across a run.

The Vikings closed out the week this past Saturday at home with a hard-fought 4-1 triumph over non-league opponent Lynn Tech. Lounsbury went the distance on the mound with a masterful performance, striking out six while allowing only one unearned run. Braedon needed only 81 pitches to record the “W” and ended the game with a flourish by picking off a runner on second base for the final out.

On the offensive side, Winthrop was aggressive on the basepaths once again, stealing six bases, many of which led to runs.  DePrisco and Spinale swiped a pair of bases apiece, with Dalton and Pumphret also stealing a base each.

Pumphret added a hit, an RBI, and two runs scored. Spinale and Dalton also scored runs, and Lounsbury, Deprisco, and Connolly all contributed base hits.

Capasso and his crew were scheuled to host NEC Lynch rival Gloucester yesterday (Wednesday). “This game will be a challenge for our young team,” noted Capasso of the encounter with the undefeated Fishermen, who are 7-0 and have outscored their opponents 51-11 with four shutouts.

The Vikings will host Salem tomorrow morning (Friday) at 11:00 before traveling to Ipswich for a Saturday morning contest. They will entertain NEC Dunn Division foe Peabody next Tuesday.

Two victories for WHS softball team

The Winthrop High softball team enjoyed a successful week, winning two of its three contests.

Last Monday, the Lady Vikings earned a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Northeastern Conference Lynch Division rival Salem. Sophomore pitcher Lucy Boncore turned in a superb effort, striking out 14 Witches with no walks (and no earned runs) en route to the win.

After Salem grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, junior captain Sofia Gonzalez delivered an RBI base hit in the bottom of the frame to bring the game back to level, which is where matters stood until the sixth, when Fran Indrisano belted a two-run triple and Giuliana Marenghi brought in Indrisano with a base hit for an additional insurance run.

Boncore earned Viking Player of the Game honors for her stellar effort.

Three days later Winthrop made the short trip to Revere to take on the Lady Patriots, who are in second place in the Greater Boston League. Although the Lady Vikings outhit Revere, 10-9, they came up short by a score of 8-6 on the scoreboard.

Winthrop struck early in the top of the first inning when Gonzalez tripled to right field and scored on a ground-out, and the Lady Vikings extended their lead with three runs in the top of the second on RBI singles by Molly Titemore and Gonzalez.

However, the Lady Patriots came back to tie it up in the bottom of the fifth thanks to some Winthrop errors and then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Winthrop had five stolen bases on the day. Indrisano, who had four hits, was named the Viking of the Game.

Winthrop made the long trek to Ipswich this past Friday and had a happy bus ride home after claiming a 12-5 victory. Indrisano once again was a major force at the plate — for which Fran once again earned Viking of the Game honors — driving in five runs on three hits, including an RBI-triple in the first.

The Vikings exploded for seven runs in the second frame to take an 8-0 lead and never looked back. The key hits in the rally were two-RBI doubles by Gonzalez and Kylie McFarland, a two-RBI single by Gaby Bustamante (who had three hits on the day), and an RBI base hit by Indrisano.

The Lady Viking offense generated 13 hits and four stolen bases. The defense also shone, turning in two double plays behind freshman pitcher Briella McFarland, who went the entire seven-inning route to earn the “W” in her first varsity start.

Coach Erin Vercruysse and her crew, who have won three of their last four contests to climb to .500 at 4-4, were scheduled to host Danvers this past Monday when they were hopeful of playing on their new field at Ingleside Park.

The Lady Vikings will be road warriors in the coming week with three long bus rides on tap: to Gloucester yesterday (Wednesday), to Salem tomorrow (Friday), and to Peabody next Wednesday.

Tegan Pereira nets 100th goal as WHS girls lax wins two

The Winthrop High girls lacrosse team surged over the .500 mark (4-3) with a pair of victories last week over two opponents from the Greater Boston League, Malden (16-3) and Revere (16-2).

Lady Viking captain Tegan Pereira achieved a milestone when she notched her 100th career goal in the Malden contest. “This is a huge accomplishment in lacrosse,” said WHS head coach Anthony Hatzisavas. “Tegan is an extremely hard worker and a great athlete and student. She is also doing a great job of being a captain along with Reese Ferrara and Avalina Coffey.”

Pereira notched seven goals on the day with Ferrara reaching the back of the Malden net for six goals.

In the win over Revere, Ferrara topped the scoring column with six goals and Pereira added five.

“Avalina Coffey is also a driving force in the middle who does everything that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet on both ends of the field,” Hatzisavas said. “I can’t say enough good things about the three captains. They have been doing a great job. Annabelle Bettano is also doing a great job in net.”

“We are pushing to make the tournament and we are off to a decent start,” added Hatzisavas, whose squad is scheduled to travel to Peabody next Tuesday and to Swampscott next Thursday.

WHS boys track

defeats Saugus

The Winthrop High boys outdoor track and field team claimed a 74-42 victory over Saugus last Wednesday at Masconomet Regional High School.

Junior Thomas D’Amico led the way for the Vikings, winning four events to score 20 points on the day. Thomas took first in the 400 dash with a time of 56.6, the 400 hurdles in a clocking of 1:04.4, the long jump with a flight of 18′-.5″, and the triple jump with a final landing of 38′-6″.

Freshman Owen Harty won the 1-mile with a superb time of 5:00.2, which was the fastest clocking among all of the teams (Masconomet, Danvers, and Saugus) on the Masco track that day.

Dominic Farrell won the 100 meter dash with a sprint of 12.0 and took second in the long jump to score eight points.

Liam Connors won the 2-mile with a time of 11:59.9. Ali Benchikhi won the high jump with a leap of 5′-8″.

Elvys Paula  grabbed second in the mile and in the 400 dash to add six points to the Winthrop column on the scoresheet. Sean Mcgloin also scored six points for his pair of second-place efforts in the 800 and the javelin.

Adding three points to the Winthrop cause with their second-place performances were Liam Natareno in the triple jump, Joseph Spinale in the 2-mile, and Maximiliano Torres in the discus.

The Vikings also took the 10 points in the two relay events, the 4 x 100 and the 4 x 400.

On the girls’ side, Hailey DeMarco was the top Lady Viking scorer, tallying nine points. Hailey took first place in the 800 with a time of 2:57.9, second place in the 400 hurdles, and third in the high jump.

Aria Zizzo scored six points with a first place in the 200 dash in 33.9 and a third in the 100 dash.

Also scoring points for the Lady Vikings were Riya Koemdzhiev, who took second in the 100 dash; Anna Blanquer Devos, who grabbed second place in the javelin and third place in the 200; and Keariss Mejia, who finished second in the shot-put.

Vikings netmen

fight hard vs.

Swampscott

Although the Winthrop High boys tennis team came up on the short end of a 3-2 decision to perennial Northeastern Conference power Swampscott last Wednesday, head coach Marie Finn was impressed with her team’s performance against the Big Blue.

Tate Montgomery put up a good fight at first singles against Swampscott’s Julien before falling in straight sets, 2-6, 0-6.

WHS captain Jackson Faber earned a victory in straight sets at second singles vs. the Blue’s Victor Zeissig, 6-3, 6-0.

Freshman James Silva, playing his first singles match against Swampscott’s Zak Gilman, dropped his contest, 2-6, 4-6, at third singles, “Though James came up short, he caught everyone’s attention with his skills,” noted Finn.

The first singles tandem of Dario Cerasani and Luca Braga put up a tough battle, but fell by a close score of 4-6, 4-6 against the Blue’s Jax Walker and Alex Levine.

However, Winthrop’s second doubles duo of freshman Daniel McNeil and junior Julien Boudrout pulled out a dramatic victory in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

“Daniel and Julien play hard in a high-pressure match against their Swampscott opponents,” said Finn. “The entire team played well and we were able to get some points against Swampscott. I’m excited about this young team.”

Finn and her crew are scheduled to travel to Danvers on Monday and then will host Stoneham on Tuesday and Gloucester on Wednesday.