RHS Boys of Spring Waiting to Be Sprung

With Mother Nature being anything but cooperative thus far this spring for anything having to do with baseball, the Revere High baseball team, under the direction of new head coach Sean Brinkley, has been patiently playing indoors at Merullo Fieldhouse while awaiting weather that is more conducive to outdoor activity.

“The weather has been disappointing, but overall, things are going well,” said Brinkley, who was the assistant varsity coach last year and the junior varsity coach two years ago under former RHS head coach Nick Faggas, who left Revere to take the job as head coach of the Curry College baseball team. “We’re eager to get out onto the field. We have a lot of talented players who are coming back and our goal is to reach the state tournament.”

The 2014 edition of the Patriots will be led by a quartet of captains, seniors Tom Portrait and Steve Selevitch and juniors Jake DeAngelis and Noah Jaynes. Both Jaynes and Portrait are experienced pitchers with strong arms who will give the Patriots as good a pair of starting pitchers as any team in the Northeastern Conference. Jaynes played a lot of AAU ball this past summer, traveling to Georgia and around the country for tournaments, and much is expected of the fireballing right-hander.

Brinkley and his crew were supposed to take on Winthrop in a  pre-season scrimmage today (Wednesday) and then host Saugus Friday, but given the weather forecast for this week, those games are unlikely to take place. Three more pre-season contests are on tap for next week — weather permitting — at Melrose Tuesday, at Wimington Thursday, and  at Wakefield Friday before the Patriots play for real in the season opener April 9 at home vs. Beverly.

High hopes for RHS softball team

Although the temperatures thus far this spring have been unseasonably low, hopes are high for the Revere High softball team this season. With junior ace pitcher Sabrina Palermo heading a cast of seven returning starters, coach Joe Ciccarello and his squad are eager to get outside and get their 2014 campaign underway.

“The team has been working hard and we’re really excited about the upcoming season,” said Ciccarello. “We have a veteran team who knows what it takes to contend and get to the state tournament. We’re setting our goals high.”

In addition to Palermo, key returnees include senior captain Logan DiCarlo and fellow seniors Noelle MacDonald and Cassandra DiBella; junior Kristina Stella; and sophomores Ally Hinojosa and Julianna Cecere.

The Lady Patriots battled St. Mary’s of Lynn to a 0-0 tie through seven innings of an indoor scrimmage at the Sportsplex last week. Weather permitting, the Lady Pats were set to scrimmage Lynnfield and Lexington next week before opening their season next Friday, April 4, against Medford.

Seigal named NEC all-star

Revere High senior guard Jason Seigal, who averaged 13.3 points, 7.2 assists, and 1.9 steals per game, was named to the Northeastern Conference all-star basketball team at the league’s recent meeting of coaches.