Page 16 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, May 3, 2019 Balanced attack has Sachems off to strong start By Greg Phipps A n almost perfect balance of pitching, defense and timely offense are getting it done so far for the Saugus High School baseball team. Following Monday’s 5-1 road win at Swampscott, the Sachems improved to 6-1 on the season. Pitching has been Saugus’s biggest strength, with ace right-hander Todd Tringale leading the way. Tringale hurled another complete game last Wednesday, April 24, at Beverly, fanning nine and allowing one run on five hits. However, he was tested against the Panthers, who threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after the Sachems had pulled in front 3-1. But an excellent defensive play led to a Beverly baserunner being thrown out at the plate to end the frame. The lone damage off Tringale was a first-inning homer off the bat of Beverly’s Brayden Clark, who was also the opposing pitcher. Jack Devereaux had a big day for the Sachems, going 3-for-3, including a huge runSaugus catcher Jackson Stanton applies the tag in time to nail a Beverly baserunner at home plate in last week’s win over the Panthers. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) scoring double in the fourth. Jackson Stanton and Zack Falasca also drove in runs with base hits. Head coach Joe Luis told the press afterward that the efforts of Tringale and Devereaux were the keys to the win. “It was a great pitching performance from Todd and a big day at the plate for Jack,” he pointed out. Saugus followed up the Beverly victory with a 3-1 home win over Marblehead last Friday. On Monday, the Sachems traveled to Swampscott, where Skyler Smith got the start and went four innings before turning it over to Tringale, who worked the final three innings. Smith earned the victory in his first start of the season. He gave up three hits and one unearned run, and walked four. Tringale then put forth three clean frames and struck out six hitters in the process. Luis was impressed with Smith’s season debut. “[He] Anthony Cogliano hustles down the line but is just beaten by the throw to first base last week at Beverly. pitched into the fifth inning his first time out and only let up one run that wasn’t even earned with a few fielding mistakes behind him,” Luis said. “[He] gave us the effort that we needed.” Stanton ended the day with three hits and two RBI, and Falasca and CJ Graffeo added a base hit and an RBI each. The contest was tied 1-1 until Saugus rallied for two in the top of the third and added two more in the sixth to put it in the books. When Smith walked a batter to open the bottom of the fifth, Luis decided to pull him and go with Tringale to close it out. The ace didn’t disappoint. “He showed control as he usually does,” Luis said of Tringale’s effort. “He gave us what we needed to shut them down.” This is a busy week for the Sachems, who had a game at Peabody on Wednesday (after press deadline) and have home games against Medford on Friday and Winthrop on Saturday. Softball: Sachems fall to 3-3 after loss to Big Blue By Greg Phipps R iding the momentum of a key Northeastern Conference (NEC) victory over Beverly last week, the Saugus High School softball team emerged on the short end of a 7-1 home loss to Swampscott on Monday afternoon. Saugus was never able to get much going offensively in Monday’s defeat, which left them at 3-3 on the season. Moving forward, the Sachems were hoping to play a make-up with Winthrop on Tuesday and hosted Peabody on Wednesday (after press deadline). They are scheduled to face Medford on Friday. On Monday, the visiting Big Blue, previously winless entering the contest, erupted for Alexa Ferraro is thrown out at second base in Monday’s home loss to Swampscott. (Advocate Photos by Greg Phipps) three runs in the top of the first and held on from there. Saugus responded with its lone run in the bottom of the first when pitcher Caitlyn Wood aided her own cause by stroking an Ace Caitlyn Wood fanned 10 hitters in Monday’s loss. RBI single. Alexa Ferraro came across from third after reaching on a triple. Saugus had its best chance to close the gap and even take a lead when it loaded the basSaugus batter Sadie DiCenso is focused before making contact during action on Monday. es in the bottom of the fourth. But it couldn’t take advantage and squandered the opportunity. Swampscott added to a 4-1 lead with three seventh-inning tallies to put the contest out of reach. Sachems head coach Steve Almquist said Swampscott is a better team than its 0-5 record indicated coming into Monday’s tilt. “We knew coming in that [they were] a good team and it was only a matter of time before they broke out, and when they did we just couldn’t match them with our offense,” he said. “We just couldn’t do anything when we had runners on base.” Two hits each from Wood and Ferraro and single knocks from DJ Munafo, Emma Howard and Nystasia Rowe accounted for the bulk of the Sachems’ offensive output. On the mound, Wood, in her seven innings of work, struck out 10 batters but was also touched up for 10 hits and the seven runs. In last week’s 8-6 victory over Beverly, Wood earned the victory by fanning eight and giving up five earned runs. Alessia Salzillo had two hits and drove in two runs, as did Ashley Shaw with her base hit. Also singling and driving in runs were Ferraro and Howard.
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