Step aside, Roger Clemens.
The former Red Sox ace, who first set a Major League record for strikeouts in a nine-inning game with 20 in 1986, has nothing on Revere High ace softball pitcher Sabrina Palermo after the Lady Patriot junior fireballer fanned an incredible 26 Gloucester hitters in 11 innings last week.
“That was the most amazing pitching performance I’ve ever seen, at any level,” marveled RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “As the game wore on, and I was asking Sabrina if she was getting tired, she just said, ‘Give me the ball,’ and went out there and kept striking them out.”
Although Palermo’s feat clearly is a Revere High record, statisticians reportedly are trying to determine whether it is a Massachusetts record. In any event, Sabrina’s strikeout mark clearly is one that has surpassed anything like it in recent times in state schoolboy annals.
Almost lost amid Palermo’s stunning performance was the 3-2 victory that she and her teammates earned against a plucky Gloucester foe. The teams were scoreless through eight frames until Revere broke the deadlock with two runs in the ninth. Ally Hinojosa walked, stole second, and scored the first run of the game on a base hit by Logan DiCarlo. After Logan took second on a passed ball, she came home on a base hit by Julianna Cecere.
However, Gloucester responded in its half of the inning thanks to a walk (amazingly, one of only two awarded by Palermo all game), a triple, and then a bloop single, which accounted for two of the six Gloucester hits on the day.
After a scoreless 10th, Hinojosa went back to work in the 11th. Ally singled and stole second to lead off the inning. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Victoria Russo and then came home on a squeeze bunt by DiCarlo.
Palermo then took care of matters in the 11th with two more Ks to close out the contest.
The victory was a big one for the Lady Patriots, inasmuch as it snapped a two-game losing streak. Revere came out on the short end of a 3-2 decision to Peabody last Monday. After Peabody scored three runs in the opening inning off Palermo (who was returning to action after sitting out for a week with arm soreness), Sabrina settle down and pitched shutout softball the rest of the way, racking up 11 strikeouts.
Her teammates (who fanned 12 times against the Peabody pitcher) chipped away with single markers in the third and fifth frames, but could not manage to overcome the early deficit.
“We’ve had a tough stretch with our bats,” noted Ciccarello, whose team now stands at 6-2 on the season. “We had plenty of offense in our first five victories, but we’ve gone cold in the last three.”
Revere has been missing a key bat in its lineup in the past 10 days with the sidelining of junior Kristina Stella, who has been out of action with a concussion. Kristina, one of the Lady Patriots’ top hitters and starting shortstop, was expected to return this week, which should give the Revere line-up a boost. Ciccarello noted that during Stella’s absence, Russo has done a superb job at the shortstop position.
The Lady Patriots were set to take on Danvers this past Monday and will play at Marblehead today (Wednesday) and at Swampscott Friday. They will return home to entertain Winthrop Monday and Beverly next Wednesday.
RHS boys lacrosse tops Methuen, 11-10
The Revere High boys lacrosse team earned a hard-fought 11-10 decision over Methuen Saturday. The Patriots generated a balanced scoring attack, led by Jay Seigal with three goals, including the game-winner. Stephen Piazza and Steven Noel both reached the back of the net twice and single tallies were recorded by Brian McNitt, Mike Dreeszen, Marco Mazzarelli, and Adam Comeau.
A negative aspect of the contest was an injury to Rich Damiano, who had played superbly throughout the contest. His teammates gave Rich the game ball afterwards.
“Methuen played a rough game, but we were really proud of the way our guys handled it,” said RHS head coach Mike Guanci. “They played with a lot of class and discipline.”
The victory was sandwiched between losses to Salem last Thursday and Swampscott on Monday.
Salem jumped out to an early 5-0 lead which the Pats never were quite able to make up. Revere got as close as 6-4 in the fourth quarter, but could not narrow the margin further.
“Mike Dreeszen played an excellent game on defense and Doug Zingali was fantastic in goal,” said Guanci. “Our team defense did a great job all around. But offensively we couldn’t get much going except for the late surge in the fourth.”
The Patriots never quite got untracked in Monday’s contest with Swampscott. “Things really did not go the way we wanted,” said Guanci of his team’s 6-3 loss. “We played tough throughout though, and never gave up.”
Among the highlights for the Pats was the performance of David Sinatra, who played his first varsity game in goal as a freshman and made some superb saves. Guanci also lauded the play of Dreeszen, who turned in another great defensive effort and scored another goal.
The Patriots will host Cambridge tomorrow (Thursday) and then will hit the road to play at Matignon Saturday, at Winthrop Monday, and at Lynn next Thursday.
Patriots baseball team seeks to get back on track
The Revere High baseball team has hit a rough patch of late. After opening the season with a pair of impressive victories, the Patriots have lacked the winning touch in their last five contests, including three losses in the past week.
The Patriots appeared ready to snap out of the doldrums last Monday against Peabody on the strength of a superlative pitching effort by senior Tom Portrait, who protected a 1-0 lead up to a 3-2 count with two outs in the top of the seventh. However, that Peabody batter was hit by the next pitch and then came home on a double to tie the game. The visiting Tanners then scored three runs in the eighth to come away with a 4-1 victory.
“Tommy pitched a real gem and deserved a better fate,” said RHS head coach Sean Brinkley. “But we gave him no support.”
In a 9-6 loss to Gloucester later in the week, the Pats found themselves in a 5-0 hole after the top of the first inning. Although Mike Ciambelli blasted a two-run homer in the Revere half of the frame, the Pats never were quite able to get over the hump, despite erupting for three runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Dylan Kalloch and Chris Charido also had big hits in the contest. Defensively, Kalloch, whom Brinkley sad is having “an all-star caliber season,” threw out three Gloucester base runners on steal attempts (a feat Dylan also accomplished in the Peabody game). Brinkley also lauded the play of James Furlong at shortstop.
The Patriots have a busy week ahead. After taking on Danvers this past Monday, they’ll host Marblehead today (Wednesday) and Swampscott Friday. They’ll travel to Arlington Saturday morning, to Winthrop Monday, and to Beverly next Wednesday.
RHS girls tennis team tops English
The Revere High girls tennis team earned its first victory of the season with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Lynn English last Thursday.
All three of the Lady Patriot singles players won their matches. Senior Sara Grujic, playing at first singles, won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3.
Senior Yesenia Mazo triumphed at second singles in a marathon match that took more than three hours to complete. However, by the end of the day, Yesenia had prevailed in three sets, 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, to provide Revere with the match-winning point.
At third singles, junior Andrea Rueda was victorious in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
In the doubles contests, the first doubles duo of juniors Leila Darouey and Cassidy Hernandez fell 3-6, 2-6. At second doubles, the tandem of junior Alejandra Escaobar and sophomore Lyba Khan came out on the short end of a 3-6, 0-6 decision.
“All of the players did a great job dealing with extremely difficult conditions caused by the high winds,” said RHS head coach Carla Maniscalco. “Yesenia’s match really stood out. She played for over three hours to win in three sets.”
The victory over English was sandwiched between a pair of contests with former Greater Boston League rivals Medford last Tuesday and Malden on Friday.
In the Medford match, the lone winner on the day for the Lady Patriots was Hernandez, who was playing at third singles. Cassidy defeated her Medford counterpart in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
In the other singles matches, Grujic fell at first singles, 6-7 (4-7), 1-6 and Rueda at second singles in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6.
In the doubles battles, the duo of Darouey and Khan lost at first singles, 4-6, 2-6.. At second doubles, the team of Escobar and sophomore Nicole Muniz battled fiercely, but came up just short, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6.
“Cassidy Hernandez had a good win at third singles and the rest of the matches were close and very competitive,” noted Maniscalco.
Friday’s encounter with Malden was much closer than the final score of 5-0 in Malden’s favor might indicate, as all of the singles matches were hard-fought in every set.
Grujic fell at first singles, 4-6, 4-6; Mazo at second singles, 3-6, 4-6, and Rueda at third singles, 3-6, 5-7.
In the doubles affairs, Darouey/Hernandez came up short, 2-6, 1-6, at first doubles and at second doubles, Escobar/Khan fell by a score of 0-6, 0-6.
Maniscalco and her squad were set to host Danvers today (Wednesday), entertain Malden Friday, travel to Swampscott Monday, and host Winthrop next Wednesday.
Boys tennis team continues to improve
Although the Revere High boys tennis team came out on the short end of a pair of matches this past week, RHS head coach Mike Flynn said his team is improving with every match.
In a hard-fought battle with Lynn English in which the Patriots were shorthanded because of academic commitments by some of their players, Flynn lauded the play of those who stepped up from their normal positions.
“It was a really close match and the guys who played, played very well,” said Flynn.
Freshman Mathew Lopez triumphed at the third singles slot in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1. At first singles, Satyak Som played a tight match, but came up just short in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Kont Lumaj played a strong match at second singles in a 6-1, 6-1 loss.
At first doubles the duo of David Henao and Nelson Ortiz, playing together for the first time, turned in what Flynn termed “a great match” and won 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
The Revere tandem of Mustafa Ahmed and Naveed Jabbar, first-time players teaming together for the first time, played well in a 6-4, 6-2 loss.
In a contest with Malden last Friday, although the Pats dropped a 5-0 decision, there were some really close matches that could have gone either way.
First singles Patriot Ryan Tran played very well and lost a tight match, 6-7 (0-7), 6-4, 6-3. At second singles, Satyak Som played a strong match, but just came up short, 6-7 (4-7), 6-5, 7-5. Mathew Lopez also played well, but lost to a strong Malden counterpart, 2-6, 4-6.
At first doubles, Kont Lumaj and David Henao played well, but lost 1-6, 1-6 and at second doubles, David Grujic and Danton Duque played well together and lost a tough match 2-6, 3-6.
The full roster for the 2014 Patriiot squad consists of the following players: Ryan Tran (Captain), Satyak Som (Captain), Kont Lumaj, Mathew Lopez, David Henao, Danton Duque, Moustafa Ahmed, Nelson Ortiz, David Grujic, Dakota Grieco, Amer Kurtovic, Jack Mallen, Joshua Preciado, Naveed Jabbar, Zack Gentile, and Jose Lopez.
