Girls Track Team Tops Classical

The Winthrop High girls track and field team defeated Lynn Classical, a pre-season favorite to win the Northeastern Conference South Division, 77-42.

“The team stepped up and responded in a big way,” said WHS head coach Warren MacPhail, whose young squad (the Lady Vikings have no seniors) grabbed 10 first place finishes (out of15 events) against a Classical team that features six nationally-ranked competitors.

“We needed to make a few, last-minute changes leading into the meet that really made the difference in the outcome,” said MacPhail. “Carly O’Keefe made a suggestion about her possibly doubling in the 400 low hurdles with Amy Sena to try to go 1-2, which paid off.

“Then seventh grader Shanel Turransky moved into the two mile because we needed to fill that spot and she took first place with a conference best time,” continued MacPhail. “The other huge factors in the victory were Ashley Jurovich minimizing Classical’s strong throwers by winning both the shotput and discus and Amy Sena just being her MVP self, scoring 18 points with three first place finishes. Overall, we competed  terrifically with best performances across the board.”

Sena was a victor in the high jump with a leap of 4-8, the 800 in 2:37, and the 400 low hurdles in 71.1, in which she tied O’Keefe for top spot.

Jurovich captured the shotput with a throw of 31-9.5 and the discus with a fling of 79-5.

Michaela McCarthy (6:15) led a Lady Viking sweep in the mile with teammates Christa Vaccaro (6:30) and Kaitlyn Fennell (7:12). Winthrop also swept the triple jump, paced by Lexi Vaccaro (32-6) and followed by Sena (29-5.5) and McCarthy (29-5).

Mayomi Meggison was the best in the long jump; O’Keefe took the 100 high hurdles in 17.4; and Turransky won the two mile in 14:14 to complete the Lady Viking first place efforts.

Other point scorers for Winthrop who contributed second place performances for three points were Julia Wallace  in the high jump with a leap of 4-6 and Lexi Vaccaro in the 100 dash in 13.5 and the 400 in 64.0.

Third place finishers who added single points to the Lady Viking victory total were: Meggison in the 100 dash in 14.6;  Isabella Kennedy in the 100 high hurdles in 21.2 and the 800 in 2:52; Christa Vaccaro in the 200 in 31.5; and Maria Rago in the two mile in 14:53.

“The addition of middle schoolers Shanel Turransky, Christa Vaccaro, and Isabella Kennedy has played a huge factor in the team’s ability to remain very competitive within the South Division,” said MacPhail,. “and the leadership of juniors Maria Rago, Jordan Griffiths, Alyssa Mackey, and Gina Guiliano has been very impressive.”

Ferri’s two hitter tops Beverly, 1-0

Alex Ferri tossed a brilliant two hitter, fanning 12 enemy hitters, to lead the Winthrop High softball team to a 1-0 victory over Beverly last Friday.

“Alex was great,” said WHS head coach Dave Guffey, whose mound ace already has a no hitter to her credit this season.

The lone run of the ballgame came across in the Winthrop half of the third inning. After Kelly Swanson and Brittany Lento drew walks, Liana Ferullo delivered what would prove to be the game winning hit to bring in Swanson. Ferri and the Viking defense behind her made the 1-0 margin stand up the rest of the way.

Rachel DelSolio made the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the seventh when, with the Winthrop outfield playing deep to avert the potential for a Beverly extra base hit, she tracked down a long, long fly ball to centerfield that could have been a home run (there are no fences at the Beverly field) had she not been able to make the catch.

The victory was sandwiched between a pair of losses to undefeated Lynn Classical last Wednesday and to Peabody on Monday. In a 4-0 loss to Peabody, Ferri struck out 10 opponents, but the Lady Vikings managed only two hits, a double by Jen Adamson and a single by Swanson.

Classical came to town last Wednesday and prevailed by 13-1 score. Ferri fanned nine LC batters (only five LC girls had struck out all season prior to that game) in the five innings she worked, but Classical showed why it is one of the top ranked teams in the state.

“They’re a very strong team,” said Guffey. “They have depth and they do not make a lot of mistakes.”

Winthrop threatened to get into the game from the start, loading the bases in the first, third, and fourth frames, but could not find the timely hitting needed to push across some runs. The Lady Vikings’ lone tally came on a sacrifice fly by Maura Lanza that brought in Ferullo, who had two hits on the day.

The Winthrop girls hit the road this week, starting yesterday (Wednesday) at Salem. They go to Lynn English Friday and to Revere Monday before returning home to host Danvers next Wednesday.

Young WHS baseball team continues to play hard 

Although the Winthrop High baseball team has been coming up short in recent weeks, head coach Frank DeMarco is impressed with the way in which his young team continues to work hard, play hard, and improve.

“We went up against the three toughest teams in the North Division this week, but we battled them in every inning and never gave up,” said the veteran coach. “The boys are maintaining a positive attitude and look forward to every game.”

The Vikings have found two solid starting pitchers in Zack Mills and Steve Goddard, both of whom took turns on the mound in the past week’s encounters. Mills tossed six solid innings in a 6-4 loss to Beverly Monday, allowing only three earned runs.

“Zack threw a great game for us,” said DeMarco. “He kept us in the ballgame and gave us a chance to win. If we’d given him a bit better support in the field, it might have been a different outcome.”

Indeed, the Vikings came close to tying matters in the seventh, but Chris LeBlanc’s hard liner with two teammates in scoring position was right at the Beverly shortstop for the game-ending out.

“We’re at the point where we are getting some good pitching and the bats are starting to come around,” added DeMarco. “Once we start putting it all together, we’ll begin to see some wins into the scorebook.”

The Vikings will host Lynn English Friday and Revere Monday.