High fives for boys tennis
The Marblehead High boys tennis team (5-1) made it five in a row after beating hosts Swampscott (5-0, April 13) and non-league Lynnfield (4-1, April 16) last week.
It’s always good to beat your longtime rival, and that’s what the Magicians did to the Big Blue, under the direction of first-year head coach Karl Tenenholtz, last week.
First singles player Ty Cooper defeated Swampscott’s Sam Schepens in a first set tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-2), before his opponent had to default, which ended the match prematurely in Marblehead’s favor.
T.J. Kelly, the team’s second singles player, took care of Victor Zeissig in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. Alex Boehning made it a complete singles sweep after beating Zac Goldman, 6-4, 6-1.
The first doubles team of Adam Loughlin and Cordt Menzler topped Julian Flacke and Alex Levine, 6-3, 6-0. Juniors Filip Wabno and Caleb Sidman, the second doubles tandem, maintained the winning trend after dominating Jax Walker and Leo Hellmann Flatt, 6-1, 6-0.
Against Lynnfield, it was pretty much the same winning results. Sidman, playing third singles, was the lone Marblehead player to end up on the short end of the scoreboard, when Brady Trippe secured the victory, 6-1, 6-4.
Cooper shutout Shravan Sreenau, 4-0 in the first set, and once again his first singles opponent had to default, giving the junior captain another quick victory.
Kelly was all over Rowan Bayer in second singles to win going away, 6-0, 6-0. Loughlin and Boehning persevered past Andee Shieh and Rishask Anand in a competitive first doubles matchup, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Wabno and Menzler came out on top against Maher Akter and Ritvik Mahajan in second doubles, 7-5, 6-4.
Girls tennis shuts down Peabody to secure first win
After losing its first three matches of the year, the Marblehead High girls tennis team was finally able to get untracked with a dominating performance against host Peabody on April 16, 5-0. The Magicians began last week with a 4-1 home loss to rival Swampscott on April 13.
In the win over the Tanners, the Marblehead girls took care of business with straight set victories across the board, starting with Samara Dosch’s first singles win against Alexandrai Kaurtelidis, 6-0, 6-1.
Callie Gilmore then defeated Tiffany Bettencourt in second singles, 6-1, 6-3. Sophie Li followed with her first individual win of the season, while shutting out Margaret Shaker in third singles, 6-0, 6-0.
The first doubles team of Joy Meshulam and Caroline Bruett, this year’s senior captains, maintained that winning trend. 6-0, 6-1. The second doubles tandem of Harper Mooney and Annie Tucker completed the sweep with its own 6-3, 6-3 triumph.
Against Swampscott, the Magicians earned their lone point of the day in first doubles, when Meshulam and Bruett defeated Ana O’Donnell and Alexia O’Donnell, 6-1, 6-4.
Swampscott’s Lilly Carr topped Dosch in first singles, 6-2, 6-3. Gilmore then lost to Ginger Gregore in second singles, 6-0, 6-1. Li fell in third singles to Anna Eccles, 6-2, 6-4. Lily O’Keefe and Mooney lost in second doubles, 7-5, 6-2.
“We started the season with three really competitive matches,” said coach Tracy Ackerman. “In this one against Swampscott, (the Big Blue) did not lose any players off last year’s team, while also gaining a great freshman to play second singles. But we will continue to learn from these matches with our own motivated players, who (only lack varsity experience). I (fully) believe as the season progresses, these girls will gain confidence in their abilities to pull off some wins.”
And they did just that in that aforementioned Peabody encounter.
Softball team returns to winning form after Peabody setback
With the exception of the Peabody blip, the Marblehead High softball team (5-1) is doing what it has been accustomed to doing for the last three years, and that’s winning, while accomplishing it in style with a couple of shutout home victories over Beverly (5-0, April 15) and Medford (7-0, April 17) last week.
Against the Panthers, pitcher Tessa Francis scattered five hits to go along with seven strikeouts. Francis also contributed to the offense with a double.
Freshman second baseman Avery Sheridan made two great defensive plays to help preserve the shutout, according to Coach Johnny Gold. She was also credited with a hit.
First baseman Kate Andriano was on base twice, while also turning in another solid performance on defense. Ashley Mortensen, Hailey Schmitt and Isabel Mortensen each chipped in with hits.
Two days later, non-league Medford came to town, and was summarily taken to school by these Magicians.
In this game, Francis gave up only two hits, while fanning 12. Leftfielder Nora Mahan and centerfielder Ashley Mortensen led the way on offense with three hits apiece. Isabel Mortensen and Schmitt made contributions at the plate, as well.
Baseball Magicians split the week
The baseball Magicians split two games last week to remain at the .500 mark on the season with a 3-3 record. They first defeated host Beverly on April 15, 8-6, before dropping a close 5-4 decision to Saugus on April 18.
The game against the Panthers was a back-and-forth affair, with Marblehead finally prevailing in the end. Owen Coyne was the star of the show for Marblehead, both on the mound and at the plate after going a perfect 4-for-4 on offense, while pitching five-plus innings to help secure the win. “(Coyne) did everything for us in this game,” coach Mike Giardi said.
Even though last Saturday’s game was played at Seaside, the Sachems were the home team, and as fate would have it, they scored the winning run in their last at-bat by walking it off on a one-out single.
“Both teams struggled on defense in this game, giving up (collectively) eight unearned runs,” said Giardi. “We committed seven errors alone.”
Girls lacrosse dominates the Falcons for second win
The Marblehead girls lacrosse team (2-4) played twice last week with mixed results. These Magicians blew away Danvers at home on April 13, 15-4, before host Peabody edged them two days later, 12-11.
Zoe Dwyer (5 goals, 4 assists), Addie Co-Peep (3 goals, 1 assist), Emma Ryan (2 goals), Ella McConnell (1 goal), Gwen Potter (1 goal), Claire Burke (1 goal), Elisabeth Greely (1 goal) and Sydney Moniz (1 goal) took care of the explosive offense. Goalie Molly Bullard came up with eight saves to help preserve the rather comfortable victory.
“This was a strong win for us to start the week,” said coach Annie Madden.
But then, the Marblehead girls traveled to Peabody, where they heartbreakingly came up just short of another victory.
Sammy Walker (1 goal), Co Peeps (3 goals), Moniz (1 goal), Dwyer (5 goals, 1 assist) and Emma Ryan (1 assist) factored into the offense against the Tanners, along with Avery Wysor (1 goal). Bullard made another eight saves to keep this game close on the scoreboard.
