Page 14 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FriDAy, JUnE 9, 2023 Three Sachems make NEC softball all-star team By Greg Phipps C oming off an 11-win season, the Saugus High School softball team had three players make this year’s Northeastern Conference all-star squad. Catcher Lily Ventre received all-conference honors while teammates Devany Millerick and Kaitlyn Pugh were chosen for the all-star team Ventre was perhaps the best catcher in the conference both off ensively and defensively. She supplied both power and the ability to produce clutch hits with the bat. She was a stable presence at the backstop position. She came back strong from an injury that forced her to miss a large portion of the 2022 season. Millerick is a solid shortstop defensively and made a game-saving catch in a onerun win over Malden Catholic. She also produced mightily on offense with several strong performances at the plate. Pugh may have been the team’s best hitter this season. She came through with numerous multiple hit games, including most recently a fourhit eff ort against Swampscott where she doubled twice, tripled and drove in two runs. This trio helped the Sachems, who sported a roster of exclusively underclassmen, achieve their second conference Lynch Division title in three years and the program’s seventh straight playoff berth. Ventre, Millerick and Pugh will all be back in a Sachems’ uniform next season. Saugus shortstop Devany Millerick was a 2023 Northeastern Conference all-star selection. Soroko makes Northeastern Conference all-star team By Greg Phipps T he Saugus High School baseball team went through a rebuilding season of sorts this spring, finishing with a 4-16 record. But with a few different twists of fate, the young Sachems may have possibly made the playoffs. They lost numerous close games, including several contests where they held late leads. Saugus did emerge victorious in three of its final four games to end the campaign on a positive note and set a promising tone for next spring. One player who won’t be a part of next year’s regrouping is senior infielder/pitcher Cam Soroko, who was the lone Sachem named to this year’s Northeastern Conference all-star team. Soroko was selected to represent the all-star squad as a pitcher. He led the Sachems with a 1.66 earned run average. He hurled 38 innings, had a 1-2 record and fanned 54 batters. He gave up just 24 hits. When not on the mound, Soroko played the shortstop position. He was the team’s top hitter with a .365 average Having had a great season offensively, Saugus outfi elder Kaitlyn Pugh was chosen for the 2023 Northeastern Conference all-star squad. Saugus catcher Lily Ventre made this year’s all-Northeastern Conference team. Saugus softball team defeated in preliminary playoff round By Greg Phipps P Saugus senior Cam Soroko earned 2023 Northeastern Conference all-star honors as a pitcher. GAMING DISTRICT MALDEN laying a Div. 3 preliminary-round playoff game at home last Thursday, the Saugus High School softball team got off to a fast start before falling by a 13-4 score to Bristol-Plymouth. The defeat gave the Sachems an 11-10 overall record to conclude the 2023 season. Saugus was seeded 31st in the tourney and tallied three times in the bottom of the fi rst inning to build an early 3-1 lead against 34th-seeded Bristol-Plymouth. But the visitors produced 12 of the next 13 runs to pull away to the victory. Kaitlyn Pugh, Devany MillerGAMING DISTRICT check us out at P www.MaldenGamingDistrict.com Questing, Billiards, Bouldering, e-Sports, VR, Room Escapes, Karaoke and Magic, plus many great restaurants, shops, and breweries all in Malden Center! ick and Ava Rogers each scored first-inning runs while Danica Schena and Sydney Deleidi drove two of those runs in. Maria Silva brought in Saugus’s fourth tally with an RBI single later in the contest. Pitching ace Taylor Deleidi got the start and threw well but the defense behind her struggled, as fi elding errors cost Saugus. Abby Enwright pitched two scoreless innings of relief. Head Coach Steve Almquist was pleased with the eff ort of his young team this spring. The Sachems had no senior players on this year’s squad. The entire roster will return in 2024. “The future looks bright. If you asked me at the beginning Saugus’s Abby Enwright pitched two scoreless innings in the Sachems’ Div. 3 preliminary-round loss to Bristol-Plymouth last Thursday. of the year if we would’ve won the [Northeastern Conference Lynch Division], made the tournament again and hosted a tournament game, I would have been a little skeptical,” Almquist told the press after the playoff loss. “I’m proud of [the team], and they should be proud of themselves for the season they put together. No one expected us to be here.” This season marked the seventh consecutive spring that Saugus softball has qualifi ed for the postseason. It was also the second time in the past three years that the Sachems earned the conference’s Lynch Division crown.
15 Publizr Home