BASEBALL
At one time the St. John's Prep baseball team may have looked iffy as a tournament qualifier when it had records of 6-5 and 7-6. It had opened the season 6-1.
The Eagles, spurred on by Jordan Edgett's five-hit pitching over six innings, earned a ticket to the postseason playoffs for the 13th straight year by overpowering highly-ranked Hopkinton, 9-3.
While handing Hopkinton (15-2) only its second loss, the Eagles (10-7 overall) got a split in their season's series in a huge road victory.
"I was pretty confident we'd do it. We got better, in general," the Prep's 28-year varsity coach, Pat Yanchus said. "I was aware that 1995 was the last time we didn't make it. We hit much better down the stretch. Nor did we have any soft games after today (Arlington, Danvers, Central Catholic)."
Mike Yastrzemski was 3-for-5 with an RBI, Peter Castoldi was 2-for-3 with one RBI, Chris Carmain contributed an RBI single and scored twice and Kyle Pettoroto had an RBI on a ground out.
"It was one of those games where we scored on a wild pitch and also on a run-down," Yanchus said."We also scored some late runs which helped."
Edgett fanned eight, walked two and yielded two unearned runs. Closer Dan Haugh had two strikeouts and walked one in the seventh.
Ipswich 11, Hamilton-Wenham 10
The Tigers erased a 9-6 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and they responded with a three-run eighth inning after Hamilton-Wenham scored two in the top of the eighth. Freshman John Eldridge hit a top-of-the-fence double to score two runs to tie the game and he scored the winner on junior Jack Golesworthy's suicide squeeze bunt.
Eldridge finished the day with three hits and four RBIs, senior captain Al Lampropoulos added two hits and two RBIs and junior Jimmy Cadogan picked up the win in relief with 51/3 innings. He surrendered just one earned run for Ipswich (6-11).
Dan Mulley singled, Matt Cook doubled and John Hession drew an intentional walk in the Generals' two-run eighth inning. A fly ball failed to advance the runners, but Andy Duval's two-run single staked the Generals to a 10-9 lead,
Swampscott 6, Saugus 4
The Big Blue moved to within a game of qualifying for the state tournament as senior righty Ryan Squires baffled the Sachems for most of the night. Squires pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts and one walk. He was dominant in the middle innings, throwing less than 20 pitches combined in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
Justin Mitchell and Chris Cameron each smacked two-run homers, with Cameron finishing with three hits. John Beaulieu contributed two hits and a run for Swampscott (9-9), which could clinch a tourney berth with a win over Marblehead today.
Peabody 7, Revere 0
Mark Linehan tossed six scoreless innings to help the Tanners (14-5) take care of Revere. Danny Mello and Tom Ciulla paced the offense as each was 2 for 3 with a pair of runs scored. Peabody broke it open in the fourth on consecutive hits from James Noftle, Pat Yeo, Ciulla and Mark Finnochio.
SOFTBALL
Peabody 20, Revere 4
The Tanners clinched the Northeastern Conference North division with a mercy rule victory in five innings. Peabody (14-3 overall, 12-3 in the NEC) got strong performances from Tawny Palmieri (3 for 4, triple) MaryKate Helas (3 for 5, two triples) and Sam Terenzoni (2 for 3, triple).
North Andover 6, Beverly 0
The Panthers were limited to two hits by Cape Ann League power North Andover. Daryl Powell and Jess Gagnon accounted for the hits as Beverly fell to 4-14.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Ipswich 23, Wilmington 8
Kim Corkum scored five goals and handed out five assists as the Tigers pounded Wilmington. Erin Vana (4-1), Sarah Graham (3-0), Amanda Bymark (3-0) and Tamra Galvin (2-3) also had huge games for Ipswich, which needs one win in its final two games to qualify for the state tournament.
Colleen Fitzgerald (2-0), Nicole Moss (1-0), Mikhaela Redy (1-3), Lidianne Lopez (1-1) and Hayley Marcos (1-0) also scored while Mary Krathwahl had an assist. Shannon Kirkland made 15 saves for Ipswich.
Gloucester 11, Danvers 10
Danvers had some strong efforts from Erica Veilleux and Cate DiNitto, both of whom scored two goals, but a five-goal rally in the second half fell short for the Falcons (2-13). Other Falcon scorers were Suzi Libby, Lauren Hovey, Eva Bramesco, Rebecca Cann, Ashley Sullivan, and Steph Costas, who trimmed the Gloucester lead to 11-10 wih 1:58 remaining.
Masconomet 12, Hamilton-Wenham 11
Maura Brazel led the Chieftains (13-2) with four goals and two assists. Kathleen Ragan added three goals while Sydney Godett had three goals. Heather Fraser and Blair Shrewsbury each had a goal. Netminder Mackenzie Morris had 19 saves.
Deb Tam paced Hamilton-Wenham with five goals and an assist.
BOYS LACROSSE
Marblehead 15, Pentucket 1
Tucker Cohen, Will Beranger and Kevin Nesbit all scored the three-goal hat trick to power the Magicians (10-7). Nesbit also had three assists. Patrick Grady and had a pair of goals while Nick Tobin, Eric Fader, Nat Williams and Jess Lipkind had single goals.
GIRLS TENNIS
Beverly 5, Winthrop 0
Beverly improved to 13-1 overall behind Sabrina Salmela (6-0, 6-0), Meghan Corcoran (6-0, 6-0) and Gina Pinciaro (6-4, 6-0) in singles. The winning doubles teams were made up of Amanda Krugman-Kate Johnson (6-0, 6-2) and Robyn Spiridigliozzi-Emily Kerrigan (6-0, 6-0). The Panthers host Salem today.
Marblehead 5, Lynn English 0
Some new faces in the lineup played well as the Magicians improved to 12-3. Singles wins came from Morgan Sharrio (6-4, 6-2), Julia Zaltsman (6-3, 6-1) and Liliya Perelman (6-3, 6-3), while doubles wins were secured by Jenny Carroll/Julia Burke (6-3, 6-1) and Lauren Angelo/Kelsey Davis (6-1, 6-2).
Peabody 4, Revere 1
The Tanners swept singles to finish the regular season 11-7. Kristyn Kelley (6-4, 6-1), Emily Athas (6-1, 6-0) and Nathallia Souza ( 6-2, 7-5) got the job done at singles, while Sam Syska and Kerrianne O'Brien won at first doubles, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
BOYS TENNIS
St. John's Prep in split
The Eagles (14-3) won the completion of an earlier suspended match, 3-0, but dropped their regularly scheduled contest against the St. John's of Shrewsbury Pioneers, 3-2. John Corbi (6-1, 6-2) won at singles in the first match, as did the doubles teams of Jake Doue/Giovanni Maffeo (7-6 (7-1), 6-1) and Chris Trosin/Chris Sullivan (6-3, 6-1). Trosin and Sullivan also won in the regularly scheduled match (6-2, 6-4), as did singles player Spencer Canny (6-2, 6-4).
Beverly 4, Winthrop 1
Rich Xenos and Steve Norton won in three sets at second doubles, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to help the Panthers improve to 10-5. Jeff Varney and Dean Littlefield won at first doubles, 7-5, 6-0, and Trevor Harwood (No. 1, 6-4, 6-2) and Jordan Hirshfield (No. 3, 6-1, 7-6) won at singles.
Peabody 4, Revere 1
Did Peabody (11-4. 10-2) win the NEC Large divison? "We were told we'd find out (today)," Tanners' coach Chris Vasseur said. Unbeaten No. 3 singles Greg Doonan (15-0, 30 straight sets without a loss) rolled again, 6-0, 6-0. Josh Giller and Gabe Diamant both won 6-1, 6-1 and No. 1 doubles Kevin Kolhonen and Matt Remon ruled, 7-5, 6-2.
BOYS TRACK
Peabody 84, Revere 37
The Tanners clinched first place outright in the Northeastern Conference North with a convincing performance that improved their record to 7-0.
Freshman Jeremy Picanso won the 2-mile in 11:10 and senior Mike Berlangierie was a double winner, taking the 100 (11.4) and the high jump (6-3). Junior A.J. Grube captured the triple jump (39-1) and senior captain Scott Diefenbach won the javelin (143-2). Junior Nour Shahin took the discus (132-41/2). Sophomore Jon Acquaviva won the 200 in 23.4.
"We're very excited about winning the title," said Peabody coach Fernando Braz. "Dealing with a new league, the nuances and all that, we needed to stay focused. The kids did that, the staff did that and it became a progression of good meets for us. We're very proud of what the kids did."
GIRLS TRACK
Peabody 113, Revere 18
Andrea Saccardo won the low hurdles (48.6) and the triple jump (32-6) as Peabody finished the dual meet season 6-1. Kirstin Surman won the shot put (33-5), Pinky Ratanajit took the 100 (12.8) and Kritsin Kolodziej finished first in the 800 (2:35.4) for the Tanners.
