THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – Friday, May 3, 2019 Page 13 After thumping Malden, Tide softball team drops heartbreaker to undefeated Medford By Joe Mitchell T he Everett High School softball team (5-2 overall, 4-1 in the Northeastern Conference) was all over Malden Monday afternoon, April 29, to the tune of 15-2 in a mercy rule game that was called after five innings. Pitcher Ariana Garay went all five innings, giving up three walks, two hits and two earned runs while striking out three. The Crimson Tide broke open the game in the third by scoring 13 runs on just four hits, erasing Malden’s 1-0 lead with a decisive attack. The Golden Tornadoes notched the run in the first, and then they tacked on their final tally in the fourth. The third inning highlights included a single by Haley Oteri followed by another single off the bat of Veronica Bento. They both scooted home on a double by Maddy Duraes. “The defense did a great job in this game backing up Ariana,” said Everett coach Stacy Poste-Schiavo. “When runners got on, we made the plays to get the lead runners first, which helped stop many more potential runs from coming in.” The schedule got a little bit tougher Wednesday afternoon, when they traveled to Medford to take on the undefeated Mustangs. But the Tide girls gave their Medford counterparts all that they could handle, only to lose by a 2-1 count. Celeste Fuccillo went all seven innings for Everett in the circle, allowing two earned runs on nine hits and one walk. She whiffed two. The Tide had runners on base in each of the first three innings, plus the fifth, before finally scoring the first run of the game in the sixth. The Mustangs, too, stranded runners in four of the first five innings, but it was in the magical sixth that they broke through. They then scored the winning run in the seventh. Bento reached on an error to begin the Everett sixth. Duraes then singled, setting the stage for Garay to deliver the run with a solid hit to the outfield. Medford quickly tied it up in the home half with a home run, and could have scored more with runners in scoring position, but the Everett defense was equal to the task. The Mustangs were then able to avoid extra innings by scoring the game-winning run in the seventh. “This was such a great game by both teams,” said Poste. “It was a battle back and forth. Celeste and Kaylee did an amazing job as a battery, and the defense backed her up in every inning. “We had an error-less game. Medford did get hits, but we made the plays to hold them from scoring, except in the last inning. We told the girls we were proud of how they played, and they never gave up. Unfortunately, we hit the ball right to their defense, and they also made some great catches to stop us from getting on or scoring.” Everett has another game this week: against Peabody on May 2 (after press deadline). They will then be taking on host Beverly on Monday, May 6. Revere comes to town Wednesday, before the Tide faces host Lynn Classical on Saturday, May 11, starting at 3 p.m.
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