THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 29, 2023 Page 19 THE SPORTS WIRE | FROM PAGE 17 Chicago and try and see Carmine play in his first professional game, since he was the first pro guy I had ever coached, having been a varsity coach alongside Shawn Brickman at Malden High in the Salem Street Slugger’s three wildly successful years with Malden High baseball (1986-1988). Carmine did not get into the season opener, a home game for South Bend, who were listed as the “South Bend White Sox,” but actually went by the “South Bend Silver Sox.” But there he was in Game 2, starting in right field in his first-ever professional baseball game, and I was sitting there about 20 rows from the field in South Bend, Indiana, also home of that little Catholic school next door to the baseball park. What was that name? Oh yeah, Notre Dame! What a thrill it was to see this 22-year-old kid from Malden getting his first professional swings! Carmine grounded out his first at bat, pulling the ball sharply between the first and second baseman. Second baseman made a pretty good play on the ball. Second at bat? Bingo! Carmine hammered a ball in the gap in right center and it looked like a sure double, but the centerfielder tracked it down and held him to a single. Carmine did take a wide turn, but he did not take the bait as the outfielder fired a seed to second base. He got lifted for a pinch hitter in the later innings as they used a ton of guys in the game. That’s all right, I got to see his first professional game and his very first professional base hit! Awesome! I waited for him after the game and who knew? It happened. Carmine actually took a fairly long time to come out afterward and, wouldn’t you know, he was walking out and chatting with his manager at the door, none other than Terry Francona! Carmine saw me standing there and waved me over. “Hey Skip,” Carmine says to the future Hall of Famer, “This is Frek, my high school coach; he came out to see me play this weekend.” “Nice to meet you, Frek!” Carmine’s soon to be very famous manager said. “We got us a gone one here, he’s got a good eye and great bat. We’re lucky to have him!” Of course, Carmine was beaming – and so was I – two Malden guys who had no idea we were in the presence of astounding, future greatness: a man who would transform two franchises into bona fide “super”-winners, with two World Series titles in Boston, no less. I knew right away Carmine was in good hands, and I had a great flight back to Logan two days after that. Carmine would go on to play professional baseball at various levels and in two different countries for the next 11 years, longer than anyone – ever – in Malden High history. Francona, well, he went on and did Hall of Fame level deeds. Good luck in anything you do, and anyplace you go, Tito Francona! That one night in South Bend 1992, you made Malden High’s best-ever hitter and his high school coach feel like a million bucks! What a great start for Saugus High Football, as the Sachems roll out to 3-0 mark at Serino Stadium Christie Serino is loving this, all of it! The most celebrated athlete in Saugus history was not only the best hockey and baseball player to ever grace the halls of Saugus High – he was also the best football player. We lost him way too soon in 2012, but one of the best moves the town of Saugus ever did was naming the glistening new football stadium in his honor when it opened two years ago. You see, Christie Serino was all about lots of things, most of them having to do with making his players’ lives better. But he was also about this: winning!! That is why he is looking down on the stadium which bears his name and loving the fact that his Saugus High football team is off to its best start in decades: a perfect 3-0 with more winnable games coming down the pipe in their schedule. Dare we even say it? Let’s! Are playoffs in the cards around the bend? Why not start the conversation. Five or six wins will get the Sachems there. That’s definitely something that might be ahead, the way they’re playing under Coach Cummings and Coach “Blue.” Why not? This year’s Sachems are definitely feeling the “Why not us?” vibe, and Coach Serino, somewhere, somehow is coming along for the ride with them this year. Get out and root for these Sachems tonight against Swampscott at Serino Stadium. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. and there’s a lot of homegrown fun to be had! Revere and Malden joining forces again in second cooperative team: Varsity Golf; Malden freshman Cronin gets big props for sportsmanship They’ve been together for years in Boys Ice Hockey. Now they are partners in Varsity Golf. The Malden High and Revere High golf teams have merged and the result has been a bunch of early-season wins. The team’s #1 golfer, junior Chris Macdonald, had been a leader in most of the matches, winning the last four holes of his match against Medford to roar back with a key individual EHS SPORTS | SEE PAGE 22
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