Softball team swamps Waltham, 18-1, behind Lauletta

The Revere High softball team celebrated Patriots Day in fine fashion by earning its first win for new head coach Joe Ciccarello with an 18-1 triumph over Waltham. The game was halted after five innings when the umpire invoked the mercy rule.

Lady Patriot hurler Briana Lauletta went all five frames, allowing just one hit and one walk to earn the victory.

“Briana pitched well and the defense did the job,” said Ciccarello afterwards. “It was a total team effort.”

Although Revere benefitted greatly from some shoddy fielding by Waltham, the entire lineup contributed to the offensive production, with sophomore DH Courtney Gurska’s two run homer highlighting the Lady Patriot attack.

The Lady Patriots did not enjoy similar good fortune last week in losses of 5-0 and 9-6 to Salem in a home and home series with the Lady Witches.

Ciccarello was not pleased with his team’s effort in the initial game and had a talk with the Lady Patriots afterwards. “We fell a few runs behind and the team just seemed to get down on themselves,” said the coach. “One of the key ingredients to a successful program is to have a proper attitude and that means never giving up.”

The Lady Patriots took the advice to heart in the next contest. Even though they found themselves trailing 5-1 early on, the Revere girls continued to fight hard, culminating in a fence clearing three run homer by sophomore Cassandra Zullo that closed the gap to 5-4.

When Salem scored a run, Revere responded to make it 6-5. Although Salem eventually would pull away for a 9-5 win, Ciccarello said he was pleased with the level of his team’s determination.

“We may not have won the game, but we showed a completely different attitude than two days earlier,” he said. “We loaded the bases a couple of times and kept the pressure on all the way to the end.”

The girls will host Lynn Classical today (Wednesday) at 4:00 and Beverly Friday at 10:00. They will travel to Lynn English Monday and to Peabody next Wednesday.

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