RHS Sports Roundup

Portrait tosses four hitter, RHS baseball team wins, 3-2

When the Lynn English baseball team tagged Revere starter Tommy Portrait for two runs in the bottom of the first inning on a hit-batsman and three straight base hits, little did the unsuspecting Rams (who are rated among the top teams in the state) realize that this would be the best they would be able to muster the rest of the way  against the Patriot junior righthander.

But that is precisely the scenario that played out Monday morning on Fraser Field in Lynn as Portrait limited English to just one base hit the rest of the way and his teammates took care of business at the plate and in the field to post a well-deserved 3-2 victory.

“Tommy was immense,” said RHS head coach Nick Faggas. “He never lost his composure after English got to him early. He settled in and went after the hitters and our defense backed him up.”

Portrait ran into some trouble in the sixth when he hit two English batters, but with his defense playing solidly behind  him, he escaped the jam unscathed.

“Our infield was superb all game,” said Faggas, noting in particular the solid play at key moments by third baseman Jon Papasodora.

The Revere offense proved just productive enough, scoring single runs in the third, fifth, and sixth frames, to make sure that Portrait’s fine effort would be rewarded with a “W.”

Mark Maloney scored the first Revere run when he singled, moved to second on an English error on a ball hit to third by Jake DeAngelis,  and scored on a double by Papasodora.

The Patriots knotted the contest at 2-2 in the fifth when Jonathan Van Buskirk led off with a base hit, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Maloney, and then scooted home on a double by Portrait.

The game-winning rally began with a lead-off base hit by Kyle Norton and another nice sac bunt, this time by Dylan Kalloch, that moved Norton to second. Pinch hitter T.J. MacDonald then stepped up and delivered the biggest clutch hit of the season, up the middle, to bring Norton scampering home.

The Patriots, a snake-bitten team if there ever has been one these past two seasons, survived one final scare in the bottom of the seventh when Ram star senior Ben Bowden, a 6-4, 215 pound lefty who will be playing at Vanderbilt next season, drove the ball high and deep to right field.

However, Van Buskirk played it perfectly and settled in under the ball at the fence for the out.

“After some shakiness in the first inning, we played a complete game,” said Faggas of his team, who jubilantly thronged the field to experience the proverbial ecstasy of victory. “It was gratifying to see that all of the hard work we’ve been putting in is paying off.”

The Patriots will seek to make it two wins in a row when they trek to Salem State this morning (Wednesday) for a 10:00 encounter with Salem. The Pats will return home tomorrow for another 10:00 encounter with East Boston. Faggas and his crew will hit the road to Peabody Monday and to Gloucester Wednesday.

RHS softball team beats English,. 7-3

The Revere High softball team received a superb pitching effort from Noelle MacDonald and took advantage of mistakes by their opponents to post a 7-3 triumph over Lynn English Monday on the local field.

MacDonald went all seven innings, allowing just three hits and only one earned run. “Noelle did a superb job for us,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “She threw strikes and made the English batters hit the ball.”

The Lady Patriot offense was led by sophomore Kristina Stella, who had two hits, and freshman catcher Julianna Cecere, who put an exclamation point on the Revere victory by belting a mammoth home run in the bottom of the sixth.

The Lady Patriots, who now stand at 2-2 on the season, will host Salem this afternoon (Wednesday) at 4:00, host Medford Friday at 10:00 in the morning, and trek to Peabody Monday.

Girls track team edged by Winthrop

The Revere High girls outdoor track team put up a valiant effort in their meet with Winthrop last week, but just fell short by a score of 66.5-64.5.

A number of Lady Patriots turned in outstanding performances to bring home first place honors in their individual events: Angie Buenaventura sprinted to victory in the 100 meter dash in 13.9 seconds; Comfort Toglan did likewise in the 200 dash in 27.6; Danielle Fortuna captured the 800 meter run in 2:49; Nikki Nelson reigned supreme in the mile in 5:59.9; Caitlin Caramello outjumped the field in the high jump with a leap of 4-8; and Lindsay Gurska led a Revere sweep in the javelin with a toss of 74-2.

The Lady Patriot quartet of Sarah Boukdad, Danielle Fortuna, Fiona Kerthi, and Nikki Nelson captured the 4 x 400 relay in a time of 5:24.6.

Second place efforts for Revere, which earned three points for the Lady Patriot scoresheet, came from: Gurska in the 100 meter high hurdles in 17.9 and in the shotput with a toss of 26-6.5;  Cristina Martinez in the 800 in 2:52.2; Maggie DiPlatzi in the two mile in 14:24.7; Ariana Licata in the discus with a twirl of 71-4; and Herlinda Fernandes in the javelin with a toss of 72-6.

Adding single points for their third place finishes that almost put Revere over the top were: Jenn Dandrow in three events, the 100 dash in 14.7, the triple jump, and the long jump; Brenda Rudecindo in the 100 hurdles in 19.3 and the high jump with a leap of 4-6; Kerthi in the 400 meter dash in 1:11.6; Yesenia Arango in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 1:18.5;  Jaclynne Dion with a personal record of 6:22.5 in the mile; Taylor O’Neil with a clocking of 14:44.3 in the two mile; Licata with a heave of 25-6 in the shotput; Katie Tuck with a discus toss of 61-11.5; and Immaculate Langat in the javelin.

Gurska finished as the top point scorer for the Lady Patriots with 11 points on the day.

Coach Rosalind Murphy and her crew are set to be back in action tomorrow (Thursday) at Lynn.

RHS track boys roll past Winthrop, 120-9

The Revere High boys outdoor track team received fine performances throughout its lineup to post a 120-9 victory over Winthrop last week.

As the final score would indicate, the Patriots swept almost every event, including the following:

400 low hurdles: Karim Sahila in  59.1,  Riyad Douane in 72.8, and  Damond Khat in 73.9;

Two mile: Kristi Nushi in 11:06.2, .  Mo Benzadok in 12:16.9, and Jay Mistri in 12:25.7;

800 meter run:  Zack Primo in 2:16,  Sala Barhoum in 2:26.4, and  Joe Suy in 2:40.9;

One mile run: Frank Davidson in 5:11.6, . John Dello Russo in 5:16.7  3, and William Troung   in 5:21.6;

Long jump: Bobby Rose in 17-11, Karim Sahila in 17-8, and  Tommy Sor in 17-6; and

Triple jump:  Karim Sahila in  34-7,  Jay Mistri in 34-4, and John Dello Russo in 32-4.

If the Patriots did not sweep and event, they still took first and either second or third in almost everything else, as follows:

110 high hurdles: Karim Sahila in 16.2 (first place) and  Renan Marchet in  21.2 (second);

400 meter dash: Rawlings Toglon in 55.0 (first place) and Bourlaing Chea in 59.0 (second);

200 meter dash: Bobby Rose in 23.4 (first place);

100 meter dash: Tarik Maddrey in 12.1 (first place) and Younes  Hartout in 12.16 (second);

High jump: Tarik Maddrey in 5-6 (first place) and  Bobby Rose in 5-2 (third);

Shotput: Omar Morales in 42-8 (first place) and Mirza Liskovica in 36-6 (second);

Discus:  Mirza Liskovica in 106-6 (first place) and Omar Morales in 103- 6 (second); and

Javelin: Sery Morm in 111-10 (first place) and  Damond Khat in 109-2 (second).

The Revere boys also won the 4 x 100 relay with the quartet of  Bobby Rose,  Bourlaing Chea, Brian Bonilla, and Tarik Maddrey circling the oval in 48.0.

Coach Jack Mosco and his squad will be back on the track tomorrow (Thursday) at Lynn.

RHS boys tennis team working hard, improving

Although the Revere High boys tennis team came out on the short end of its three contests this past week, head coach Mike Flynn said he is pleased with his team’s progress as they get into the heart of their schedule.

“We have a lot of newcomers to tennis who still are learning the game,” said Flynn. “But they are working hard and improving with every practice and every match. We’ve been competitive with every opponent and we’re getting better every day. I’m very proud of how the team has been giving 100 percent at every match.”

In a 4-1 loss to Winthrop, sophomore Ryan Tran won his match at second singles in a hard-fought battle, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. “Ryan played a lot over the summer and has really improved his game,” said Flynn.

Mladen Pepic played well at first singles, but came up short, 4-6, 3-6, as did Nick Mucci at third singles, 4-6, 4-6.

The duo of Dan Talic and Santyah Som also lost a hotly-contested match, 4-6, 3-6 at first doubles. The twosome of Henry Mancia (who was competing in his first match) and senior captain Brian Monroy also played competitively at second doubles before falling by a score of 2-6, 2-6.

In subsequent matches against Lynn Classical and Salem, Pepic fought valiantly against the top seeds in both contests. Mladen dropped a three set match to his Classical counterpart, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 and played well against his Salem rival in a 4-6, 3-6 match.

Mucci at third singles went to three sets against his Salem foe, taking the first set, but came up short in the latter two, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6.

Talic and Som also went to three sets at first doubles in their Salem match, but fell by a score of 4-6, 6-2, 3-6.

Flynn and his crew were set to be at Beverly today (Wednesday); host Lynn English Monday; and trek to Marblehead next Wednesday.