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Page 8 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, MAy 9, 2025 By Dom Nicastro FERRARO, BRANDENBURG SHINE IN TRACK; BASEBALL, TENNIS FACE TOUGH OUTINGS Saugus High School’s Spring athletes continued competition across the North Shore last week, with standout individual eff orts in boys and girls track, tennis team contributions in the co-op program and a full slate of baseball action. SAUGUS BOYS TRACK BATTLES TOUGH COMPETITION The Saugus boys track and fi eld team competed in dual meets against Beverly and Swampscott, followed by the Northeastern Conference Freshman/ Sophomore Meet in Gloucester. Against Beverly, the Sachems fell 12115. Paxton Ferraro placed third in both the shotput and discus. Jacob Hunt and Pharoah Brandenburg placed second and third, respectively, in the javelin. ~ SHS Sachems Spring Sports roundup ~ Justin Bremberg earned a fi rst-place fi nish in the 400-meter hurdles, while Kalaeb Mathieu took second in the 200-meter dash. Gabe DeSouza finished third in the 400 meters. In a 109-26 loss to Swampscott, Ferraro took fi rst in the discus and third in the 110-meter hurdles. Hunt and Brandenburg fi nished 1-2 in the javelin, while Bremberg once again took fi rst in the 400-meter hurdles. Mathieu took second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, with DeSouza placing third in the 400. At the NEC Freshman/Sophomore Meet: Brandenburg finished third in the 400-meter hurdles and fi fth in the javelin Hunt placed second in the javelin Ferraro was sixth in both the discus and shot put GIRLS TRACK EARNS WINS, NATIONALS QUALIFIER IN GLOUCESTER The Saugus girls track and fi eld team also made a strong showing at the NEC Freshman/Sophomore Meet in Gloucester. Destiny Okoye led the team with a fi rst-place fi nish in the high jump and placed sixth in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Soraya Mathieu had a breakout meet, placing third in the 100 meters, second in the 200 meters and second in the long jump — qualifying for the Freshman Nationals in both the 100 and 200. SAUGUS CO-OP TENNIS DROPS MATCH TO GREATER LOWELL The Northeast Metro Tech boys tennis team — which includes several Saugus players — lost 6-1 to Greater Lowell at Belmonte Courts. Mathew Cipriano, a senior from Wakefi eld, earned the team’s lone win at fi rst singles with an 8-1 victory, improving to 4-0 on the season. Jeff Trinh, a junior from Saugus, played second singles and narrowly lost 10-8. Eighth grader Grant Leonard of Saugus fought hard at third singles but fell, 8-0. In doubles, Rayan Mrabbi and Ryan Dupuy, both from Saugus, teamed up at second doubles but lost 8-0 BASEBALL DROPS TWO STRAIGHT, PREPARES FOR GLOUCESTER SHOWDOWN Saugus baseball dropped a pair of contests this past week, falling to Lynn Classical 11-4 and to Beverly 8-0. Against Classical, senior Cam Bernard took the loss after throwing 4.2 innings with three strikeouts and two earned runs. Cam Soroko pitched one inning in relief, allowing fi ve earned runs and striking out two. Danny Zeitz fi nished the game with 1.1 innings, two earned runs and two strikeouts. Zeitz also led the off ense with a threerun homer. Nathan Soroko added a double and a single, Brayden Crawford hit a double, and Soroko also reached base with a single and a walk. In the loss to Beverly, junior Jordan Rodriguez pitched 3.2 innings, giving up four hits and six runs while striking out three. Zeitz and Connor Bloom came in as relievers for the Sachems. Saugus was set to host Gloucester Wednesday, May 7, at World Series Park. Saugus softball battles through three-game stretch, eyes tournament push By Dom Nicastro S augus High School’s softball team faced a challenging three-game slate in the past week, going 1-2 and bringing its overall record to 4-6 (2-6 in the Northeastern Conference). The Sachems were ranked No. 51 in the MIAA’s Division 3 power rankings as of May 6, with head coach Steve Almquist emphasizing the importance of staying in the tournament hunt. The past week opened with a 13-6 loss at home to Beverly, a game marked by early defenLawn and Yard CareUSA It’s Time For SPRING CLEANOUTS Cutting, Weeding, Mulching, Trimming, Brushes, Shrubs & More! 781-521-9927 sive struggles that put Saugus in a deep hole. Beverly capitalized on a string of errors to build a 7-0 lead after two innings. Saugus cut into the defi - cit with a three-run home run by freshman Alannah Duong in the third, but Beverly answered with four more runs in the fourth. Duong added a three-run triple in the seventh, fi nishing the day 3-for-4 with fi ve RBI, but the comeback eff ort fell short. Senior captain Lily Ventre went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. Taylor Deleidi and Sofi a McCarrier split time in the circle but were undone by shaky defense behind them. “Both Deleidi and McCarrier did their jobs but just didn’t get much support on this day,” Almquist said. The Sachems responded with a strong 7-3 win on the road against Winthrop. Sophomore Ari Chianca sparked the off ense, reaching base fi ve times from the leadoff spot with two hits and three walks. Ventre drove in four runs on a pair of doubles, going 3-for-4, and Maria Silva added an RBI single. “We had runners on base every inning but just couldn’t get that timely hit to break the game open as we left 13 runners on base,” Almquist said. “However, it turns out that these were all the runs that Sofi a McCarrier would need.” McCarrier pitched a complete game, allowing three earned runs on seven hits with fi ve strikeouts. The week closed with an emotional 5-1 loss to Marblehead in the First Annual Todd Norman Memorial Game. The Marblehead assistant died suddenly at the beginning of last season. “We were so honored that Marblehead chose us to participate in this game and the day couldn’t have gone any better,” Almquist said. “It was such a fun time and a great way to honor Todd’s memory so it was only fi tting that Marblehead came away with the victory.” Saugus took a 1-0 lead in the third when Chianca doubled, and Ventre singled her home. Ventre remained unstoppable at the plate, going 3-for-3 and earning team MVP honors for the game. She entered the week hitting a blistering .844. But Marblehead broke through in the fi fth with three runs—two of them unearned due to Saugus infi eld errors— and tacked on two more in the sixth. Despite outhitting Marblehead 6-4, the Sachems left SOFTBALL | SEE PAGE 9 Call LAWNS Cut From $25

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