RHS Baseball Team Wins Opening Pair

Although spring was a long time coming for the Revere High baseball team, it proved well worth the wait, as the Patriots opened their 2014 season with a pair of victories last week over Northeastern Conference rivals Beverly and Salem.

The duo of Dylan Kalloch and Mike Ciambelli were the ultimate heroes in the 8-7 Opening Day victory last Wednesday over Beverly before a large crowd of enthusiastic Patriot supporters at Tony Conigliaro Field. With the score tied at 7-7 in the bottom of the seventh and final inning, Ciambelli stroked a double and then came home with the game-winning run thanks to a double by Kalloch that provided the walk-off victory.

Prior to the Kalloch-Ciambelli dramatics, RHS starting pitcher Noah Jaynes had been in command of the contest until he tired in the seventh. Revere led 7-3 through five innings, but Beverly rallied for a run in the sixth and then pushed across three more in the seventh to knot matters at 7-7.

RHS head coach Sean Brinkley then called upon Kyle Norton to come on in relief. Kyle got his team out of the inning, setting the stage for the Patriot heroics in the bottom of that frame

Steve Selevitch and Jake D’Angelo were the hitting stars for the Patriots as they built up their lead in the early going.

The next day at Salem saw a bit of a reversal of roles for the Patriots, who trailed 6-2 entering the fifth inning. However, Brinkley’s crew rallied to tie the contest with four markers in the fifth, setting the stage for another last-inning triumph. Cam Whalen, who walked to start the inning, eventually would score the game-winner after Salem pitching yielded two walks to load the bases and then forced in the game-winner with another base-on-balls to Chris Charido.

Hitting stars for Revere were Kalloch, whose base hit brought in the game-tying run in the fifth, Selevitch, Ciambelli, and Charido, who delivered a double in the Revere rally.

Tom Portrait went all seven innings, turning in what Brinkley lauded as a gutsy effort. “Tommy pitched outstandingly,” enthused Brinkley, who noted that Portrait fanned nine enemy hitters. “He didn’t get the support he should have had in the field — only two of the Salem runs were earned — but he hung in there the whole way and got the job done.”

But on Monday, the Patriots learned the truth of the age-old maxim, “Live by the sword, die by the sword,” as they fell victim to an opponent’s bottom-of-the-seventh-inning rally in dropping a 7-6 decision to Lynn Classical.

Revere had jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first with Selevitch (who had three RBI on the day) delivering a two-RBI double that  scored Portrait and Charido  and then Ciambelli and Kalloch both producing RBI base hits.

However, Salem chipped away at the Patriot lead as Jaynes had control problems (he hit five Salem hitters) that left matters at 5-5 after five frames.

Revere forged ahead in the sixth thanks to a sacrifice fly by Jake D’Angelo that scored the speedy Daniel Murphy, who had singled to start the inning. But the bottom of the seventh saw Salem win the game on a base hit, a sac bunt, a bloop single, another hit, and then a wild pitch that produced the two Salem tallies.

“It was a tough loss,” noted Brinkley. “We could have put the game away earlier, but we left too many men on base. But this team wants to win. They’re resilient and they’ll put it behind them. What’s heartening is that we’re scoring a lot of runs, which has been a contrast to the past few years.”

Brinkley and Co. were scheduled to host Lynn English today (Wednesday) and trek northward to Gloucester Friday for a noontime affair. They will host Peabody on the holiday Monday at 10:00 and then entertain Gloucester Wednesday at 10:00.

RHS softball team wins two more, now 4-0

The Revere High softball team is off to a sizzling start, winning all four of its contests thus far in the young season.

In an 8-2 conquest at Salem last week, the Lady Patriots plated their first four batters of the game and never looked back.

Although Salem sliced that margin in half with a pair of markers in the third frame, the Lady Patriots added solo runs in each of the next four innings to seal the victory.

RHS star pitcher, junior Sabrina Palermo, struck out 12 Salem opponents and allowed just four hits to chalk up the victory. Sabrina received fine defense from her teammates when she wasn’t fanning enemy hitters.

Junior Victoria Russo, who had two hits, paced the Lady Patriot offensive production, which benefited from some poor fielding by Salem.

On Monday the Lady Patriots played their first home game of the season and claimed a 7-3 triumph over Lynn Classical. Palermo once again was immense, chalking up 13 more Ks, although she also issued eight free passes to first that made her task more difficult.

Revere once again never trailed, taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a bases-loaded hit by Ally Hinojosa. After Classical tied the contest in the third, Revere assumed control with three markers in the fifth and then two in the sixth to seal the victory.

Russo was the chief offensive producer for Revere with three hits in four trips to the plate and also running the bases well. The Lady Patriot defense was solid behind Palermo. Second baseman Logan DiCarlo made the play of the game when she dove for a ball that was headed up the middle and rose  on one knee, from which position she threw out the Classical batter in a Dustin Pedroia-esque display of defense that ended an inning.

“Overall, we’re playing well,” noted RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “But we left 11 runners on base against Classical, so we could improve in the area of timely hitting.”

The Lady Patriots travel to Lynn English today (Wednesday) and then host non- league rival Medford Friday at noon. They’ll travel to Peabody Monday morning and make the long ride to Gloucester next Wednesday morning. They’ll return home next Saturday to host Westford Academy.

Patriot laxers  beat Lynn, 12-2

The Revere High boys lacrosse team earned its first win of the season with a solid 12-2 victory over Lynn Monday afternoon.

Marco Mazzarelli paced the Patriot offense with four goals. Stephen Piazza reached the back of the Lynn net for three goals and had two assists.  Brian McNitt added two goals to go with three assists and the trio of Jason Seigal, Adam Comeau, and Steven Noel contributed a goal apiece.

“We have a big senior class,” said RHS head coach Mike Guanci, whose squad now stands at 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the South Division of the Northeastern Conference. “All year we have been telling them they need to step up and take some ownership of the team, and those guys really did it. Before the game I told Brian McNitt he had to be a bit of a field general, and he played a great game and was really a great catalyst all day.

“Jay Seigal also had a great day taking face-offs  and he dominated,” noted Guanci. “We have been working on that all season, and he really controlled that part of the game, and it enabled us to control the time of possession. On defense, Doug Zingali played a strong game in net, and Mike Dreeszen, Matt Roncevich, Gennaro Cataldo, and Ben DiGuilio played strong games.”

Last week the Patriots came out on the short  end of a 10-2 decision to Swampscott.  After trailing by a tight 4-1 margin at the half, the Patriots were unable to make a dent in the Swampscott lead after the intermission.

“We could not close the gap in the second half,” said RHS head coach Mike Guanci. “We struggled on offense, as we had trouble dodging and moving the ball effectively. Swampscott played very well on defense, so we have to give credit to them. They were very well-coached.”

Jay Seigal and Marco Mazzarelli scored the goals for Revere. Mike Dreeszen turned in what Guanci termed “an absolutely stellar game on defense. Mike is quickly emerging as one of our leaders on the field. He guarded the other team’s best offensive player and effectively shut him down. This is his first year at defense, so he deserves a ton of credit,” said the coach.

Zingali played well in goal for Revere, turning aside 14 Swampscott shots.

“It was unfortunate that we started 0-2, but we have good character on this team  and I was optimistic we could bounce back from our slow start,” Guanci, whose squad faces Winthrop tomorrow (Thursday).  “We have some positive momentum going into the Winthrop game, which should be a good contest.”

RHS boys tennis team falls to Classical

The young Revere High boys tennis team dropped a 4-1 decision to Lynn Classical last week in a close match that could have gone either way with the outcome of just a few points making the difference.

RHS captain Ryan Tran, playing at first singles, was the lone victor for Revere. After winning the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6 (8-6), Ryan, a junior, took the second set more handily, 6-3, to claim his match.

The second singles contest saw Patriot Satyak Som take the first set, 6-3, but then come up short in the next two sets by hard-fought scores of 6-3, 6-4. Revere’s third singles man, Kont Lumaj, similarly lost in three, closely-contested sets. After dropping the first set 7-5, Satyak battled back to tie the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.  However, he fell short in set three, 6-4.

In the doubles contests, RHS head coach was forced to juggle his usual lineup. The second doubles tandem of Dakota Grieco/Josh Preciada battled valiantly, but fell in straight sets, 7-6 (8-6) and 6-4. The first doubles pairing of Mathew Lopez/David Henao came out on the short end of scores of 6-0, 6-1.

“We’re getting better as we go along,” said Flynn. “We’re a very green team without a lot of experience, but the team is working hard every day to improve and it’s noticeable that we’re getting better as the season progresses.”

Flynn and his crew were set to play at Salem yesterday (Tuesday) and will host Beverly Thursday. They will play during the holiday week next Thursday at Lynn English and then host Malden next Friday.

Girls tennis team showing improvement

Although the Revere High girls tennis team has dropped its first two matches of the young season, RHS head coach Carla Maniscalco is seeing improvement in her team’s performance.

In a 4-1 loss to Lynn Classical last week,  senior Sara Grujic, playing at first singles, defeated her Classical counterpart in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.

Senior Yesenia Mazo dropped her contest at second singles, 6-0, 6-1 and at third singles, junior Andrea Rueda fell by a score of 6-3, 6-1.

In the first doubles contest, the duo of juniors Leila Darouey/ Cassidy Hernandez lost the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (3-7) before falling in the second set, 6-0. At second doubles, the tandem of junior Rim Lerari/sophomore Lyba Khan came out on the short end of a 6-0, 6-2 match.

“I saw some improvement in the match against Lynn Classical,”  said Maniscalco, whose squad dropped a 5-0 decision to Peabody in their season opener. “Many of the players are still gaining match experience.”

Maniscalco, who played on the state champion RHS girls teams in the 1980s and is now in her 11th season as head coach, and her crew have a busy stretch of matches ahead through the vacation week: They were set to host Salem yesterday (Tuesday), play at Beverly today, trek to Medford tomorrow, host Medford next Tuesday morning, entertain Lynn English next Thursday morning, and travel to Malden next Friday morning.

RHS lacrosse girls fall to Gloucester

Although the Revere High girls lacrosse team came out on the short end of a 15-5 decision to Gloucester last Friday, RHS head coach Katelyn Zabel was pleased with her team’s effort.

“Gloucester is a really talented team with great stick skills,” said Zabel, whose Lady Patriots were playing without the services of starting goalie Janice DeStefano. “I was really happy with the way our girls played against such a great team. They played with speed and we had a couple of great transitions.  We still have a lot of work to do on defense, but we’ll get there.”

A highlight of the contest for Revere was the goal scored by Amina Mansouri, a 10th grader who is in her first season playing lacrosse and for whom the tally was her first career goal.

Zabel and her crew are set to face Winthrop today (Wednesday) in what should be a  highly-competitive match-up.

RHS boys track team tops Classical

After dropping their first meet of the season to Swampscott by a close score of 69-62, the Revere High boys track team handily ran past Lynn Classical, 80-56, last week.

The Patriots took first place in 11 of the 14 individual events and also won the 4 x 400 relay.

Leading the way in the points department for coach Sam Ros’s Patriots was Tarik Maddrey, who brought home three first-place finishes for 15 points. Tarik outsprinted the field in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.8; took the long jump with a leap of 20′-1.5″; and cleared the high jump bar at 5’10”.

“The season has been cold and I have held Tarik from high-jumping too much, too early at this stage,” said RHS head coach Sam Ros of Maddrey, who is the top high jumper in the Northeastern Conference and who took second place at the State Division 2 indoor meet this past winter season. “What I have done is that I tried him in the long jump for the first time.  Although Tarik  needs more improvement, he is catching on so quickly that at the Lynn Classical meet, he missed qualifying for states by just 1/2 an inch.”

Also coming through in a big way for Revere was Salah Barhoum. Salah was a double-winner for the Patriots, winning the 800 meter run in 2:22.1 and taking the two mile event in 11:12.3 to put 10 points onto the Revere side of the scoresheet.

Mirza Liskovica also was a double-victor for Revere with firsts in the shotput with a heave of 39’6-.25″ and the discus with a toss of 114′-0″

Other first place winners for Revere were Lionel Forbes in the 400 meter hurdles in 64.2, a personal record for Lionel; John Dello Russo with a clocking of 5:15 in the mile; Bounlaing Chea in the 400 dash in 58.1;  and Pedro Pimenta with a triple jump of 36′-4″.

The 4 x 400 quartet of Chea, Dello Russo, Gianni Hill, and Jay Mistri won their race in a  time of 4:02.1.

Earning three points for their second-place finishes were: Sebastian Mejia in the mile in 5:21; Forbes in the 100 meter hurdles in 19.7; Carl Bendeck in the 800 in 2:23.3; Dello Russo with a triple jump of 36′-2.5″;  and Serey Mom with a javelin toss of 120′-0″.

Rounding out the scoring for Revere with points for their third place finishes were: Riyad Douane in the 400 hurdles in 71.0; Forbes in the long jump with his leap of 16′-8.5″; Damond Khat with a  javelin toss of 116′-0″; and Mistri with a triple jump of 36′-0.5″.

“Our team is significantly smaller than in years past with only about 35 members,” said Ros. “In addition, a lot of these boys are young and new to the team and the sport.”

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