Sports 05-09-2018

RhS sports Roundup

RHS softball team splits with Lynn teams

 

The Revere High softball team earned a split decision in its back-to-back contests with Lynn English and Lynn Classical this past week.

The contest with English last Wednesday, which marked the first game for the Lady Patriots in nine days because of rainouts, essentially was a non-event. Revere won the game 21-0 and the contest ended after five frames because of the mercy rule.

The hitting star for Revere was Gianna Uminski, who had five RBIs.

In the encounter the following day with Classical, perennially one of the strongest teams in the Northeastern Conference, the Lady Patriots took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Alina Giuliano smacked a double that brought home teammates Katie O’Donnell and Victoria Coreia.

However, a key Revere error in the top of the fifth allowed the floodgates to open. Classical pushed across six runs in that frame and then added another in the sixth for an 8-2 victory.

“Classical is a good-hitting team, and you can’t afford to make mistakes against them,” said RHS head coach Joe Ciccarello. “As for us, we had not seen any real pitching in 10 days because of rainouts, so we struggled all game at the plate and never got untracked.”

The Lady Patriots now stand at 7-2 as they approach the midway point of the season. Ciccarello and his crew have a busy week ahead because of make-ups of previous postponements.

They were set to face Salem this past Monday and will make the long ride to Gloucester today (Wednesday). They play at Cambridge at noon on Saturday; host Medford on Monday; and make another long ride to Beverly for an evening encounter next Wednesday. The Revere girls then will host Winthrop next Thursday.

 

RHS baseball team defeats English, 8-7

The Revere High baseball team earned an 8-7 triumph over Northeastern Conference rival Lynn English last Wednesday.

The Patriots jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening inning. After a leadoff walk to Kevin DePaula and a base hit by EJ Leone, David Guillama brought in DePaula with a sacrifice fly.

Kasey Cummings singled and Leone stole home on a successful double steal.  After Zach Furlong drew a walk, James O’Donnell singled down the left field line to rescue Cummings and Furlong.

Revere added to its margin with a solo marker in the fourth when John Leone was hit by a pitch and scored on a double by EJ Leone.

English finally broke through for some offense against RHS starting pitcher Frank Sims in the fifth, slicing the Revere lead to 5-4, the key blow coming on a three-run homer.

However, the Patriots responded in kind with a two-run roundtripper by Matt Cravotta with Furlong, who had singled, aboard. O’Donnell kept the rally going with a double to left center and was brought home by a John Leone single to make it 8-4.

English made things uneasy for the Patriots with four consecutive doubles in the sixth to close the gap to 8-7, prompting RHS head coach Mike Manning to bring on Cravotta in relief. Matt closed the door, earning the final out in the sixth and tossing a scoreless seventh (in which English had the tying run at second).

“I don’t know if my heart can take many more of these one-run games,” noted Manning.  “But they are giving us a lot of learning experiences for our young team.  Once again, when the going got tough, we responded, and were able to hold on with some great pitching and defense.”

Sims picked up his second win of the season with Cravotta earning the save. EJ Leone went 3-for-4 with an RBI and O’Donnell was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

Manning and his crew, who stood at 5-5 at the midpoint of the season, hosted Salem this past Monday and are set to entertain Gloucester today (Wednesday). Medford comes here on Monday and Beverly arrives next Wednesday.

 

RHS girls tennis defeats two foes

The Revere girls tennis team earned a pair of wins against Northeastern Conference rivals Lynn and English and Salem this past week, both of which were of the 5-0, shutout variety.

In the triumph last Wednesday over English, the scores were as follows:

1st Singles Farah Selman won 6-2, 6-1;

2nd Singles Trang Nguyen won 6-3, 6-4;

3rd Singles Christina Restrepo won 6-1, 6-2;

1st Doubles Luisa Gil & Lina Nguyen won 6-2, 6-1; and

2nd Doubles Ayat Zakaria & Taylor Le won 6-2 6-1

In the 5-0 blanking of Salem on Monday:

1st Singles Farah Selman won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3;

2nd Singles Trang Nguyen won 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 in a great comeback;

3rd Singles Christina Restrepo won 6-1, 6-1;

1st Doubles Luisa Gil & Nora Le won 6-1, 6-4; and

2nd Doubles Lina Nguyen & Ayat Zakaria won 6-2 6-1.

Coach Carla Maniscalco and her crew are scheduled to host Gloucester today (Wednesday) and Everett on Friday. Next week they will travel to Medford on Monday and to Winthrop on Tuesday before returning to the Gibson Park courts on Wednesday to take on Beverly.

 

RHS girls achieve PRs in meet with Peabody

Although the Revere High girls track team came out on the short end of a 104-32 decision to Peabody last Wednesday evening, the Lady Patriots continued to show individual improvement.

“This was our best performance to date, as more than half of the team had personal records,” said RHS head coach Antonio LaBruna.

The Lady Patriots took first place in two events. Emily DeMauro sprinted to victory in the 200 meter dash in a time of  29.7 seconds.

The Revere 4 X 400 meter relay quartet of Olivia Novoselsky, Stephanie Vu, Hannah Fitzpatrick, and Nubya Filho also triumphed with a clocking of 4:50.7.

Second-place finishers for Revere included:

Luana Barbosa – Long Jump – 13’10”

Maria Torres – Javelin – 84’10”

Stephanie Vu – 400M -70.2

Hannah Fitzpatrick – Mile – 6:13

Erika Cheever – 2 Mile – 14:09

Third place finishers included:

Luana Barbosa – High Jump – 4’4”

Chloe Giordano – Long Jump – 13’2”

Chloe Giordano – High Hurdles – 19.5

Kathy Umanzor – 200M – 30.0

Nubya Filho – 400M – 71.7

Erika Cheever – 800M – 2:59.9

Leila Cesic – 2 Mile – 14:36

“This was Hannah Fitzpatrick ‘s first race of the season, as she has been battling a foot injury,” said LaBruna. “Hannah’s conditioning isn’t where it usually is at this point of the season, but she ran a competitive and, more importantly, pain-free race, which was encouraging.

“Maria Torres achieved a PR in the javelin with a throw of 84’-10”,” LaBruna added. “It’s her first year throwing and she has really worked hard to get better with each meet. She was watching javelin videos right before the event took place and apparently picked up something.”

The Lady Patriots are scheduled to meet Gloucester today (Wednesday). They will take on Beverly on Monday and Malden next Wednesday.

Revere hosted the Northeastern Conference Freshmen/Sophomore Meet this past Saturday at Harry Della Russo Stadium. “This is one of my favorite meets of the year because it gives the coaches a little preview of the future stars of our league and gives the kids a look at their competition during the remainder of their high school careers,” said LaBruna.

 

RHS boys tennis team wins two matches

The Revere High boys tennis team earned a pair of victories this past week, defeating Northeastern Conference rivals Lynn English and Everett.

Riaz Butt-Garcia clinched the match for the Patriots in last Monday’s contest with English when he overcame — and outlasted — his Bulldog rival at second singles in dramatic fashion, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4). Riaz’s triumph, which was the last match of the day to finish, gave Revere a 3-2 victory.

“I’m really proud of the awesome effort that Riaz gave us that won the match for us,” said RHS head coach Mike Flynn. “He played for over three hours and everyone on both teams was watching. It truly was a gutsy and clutch performance.”

Eric Meza, playing at third singles, won his match in far easier fashion in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. The first doubles duo of Siderong Men and Wellen Sok also vanquished their English counterparts in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1.

David Phan, playing at first singles, dropped his match 1-6, 2-6. The Patriots’ second doubles tandem of Matthew Freitas and Vincent Nguyen, playing together on the varsity for the first time, came up just short after a three-hour match with their Bulldog foes, 4-6, 7-5, 4-6.

In a 4-1 triumph over Everett, Phan whitewashed his Crimson Tide counterpart at first singles, 6-0, 6-0. Men, playing at third singles, also won handily, 6-0, 6-1.

The first doubles pairing of Meza and Alejandro Muleta triumphed 6-0, 6-1 and the second doubles duo of Sok and Ergi Ismahili similarly won in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.

Flynn and his crew, who now stand at 3-4 on the season, make the long ride to Gloucester today (Wednesday). They will host Medford on Monday and Winthrop on Tuesday before making another long bus ride to Beverly next Wednesday.

 

Aspiration, Intensity, Commitment

Natalie Maggioli earns field hockey scholarship

By Cary Shuman

Natalie Maggioli had not picked up a field hockey stick until her tryout as a freshman at Revere High School.

As her proud mother, Elizabeth, so aptly stated at Natalie’s college letter-of-intent signing ceremony, ‘They put her on the varsity and the next thing you know, she was a captain, and here we are today. This a wonderful day and we’re all excited.”

The ascension of Natalie Maggioli from field hockey beginner to college scholarship athlete stands as  testament to her exceptional athletic talent, her determination, and her year-long dedication to the sport that includes off-season training.

With family, friends, and teammates looking on proudly, Maggioli signed her letter of intent to attend American International College in Springfield where the talented 18-year-old honor roll student will be competing in the Yellow Jackets’ NCAA Division 2 program.

Athletic Director Frank Shea, who rolled out the red carpet for the signing ceremony, said Maggioli’s accomplishment may be unprecedented in school history.

“I think Natalie is our first scholarship athlete in field hockey,” said Shea. “It’s a real credit to her hard work and we’re really proud of her and wish her the best. She and her teammates have brought the program so far and it’s a credit to those girls and their dedication.”

 

Taylor Giuffre-Catalano, a four-year RHS teammate, said that Maggioli is well deserving of the recognition and college scholarship.

“I’m incredibly proud of her,” said Giuffre-Catalano. “I’ve played club (Prime) field hockey and Revere High School field hockey with her and seeing her develop and grow and mature as a player and as a person for the past four years has been amazing. The moment she stepped on the field, she made varsity as a freshman, you could see her talent and she’s been a team leader. She’s not only a great athlete, but an amazing friend and person and I’m so proud of her and so happy to see her receiving this opportunity.”

Maggioli is honored to be continuing her athletic career at the collegiate level.

“It feels amazing to know that all my hard work the past four years actually paid off,” said Maggioli. “I knew that I wanted to play field hockey in college. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Maggioli said that one of the factors weighing in her decision to attend AIC was the college’s outstanding academic program in physical therapy, the career path she intends to pursue. “So having the field hockey and great physical therapy program makes it a perfect fit for me,” she said.

She credited Revere coaches Erin Parker (three seasons) and Briana Scata (one season) for developing and advancing her skills as a player and a team leader. “They both pushed me to my limits and I thank them for that because I wouldn’t be here without him,” she said.

The college-bound senior also thanked world history teacher Dean Papagiorgakis and advisor Julianne Esposito for having a positive impact on her path to AIC.

“And my teammates were basically my second family since the start,” said Maggioli. “I’m going to miss them a lot because they were always there for me and I was always there for them. My goal has always been to be a role model, to always better myself so I can influence others to better themselves, too.”

A two-year captain and a Northeastern Conference All-Star, Maggioli said she initially considered playing soccer at Revere High. She also played lacrosse and competed in track.

“I thought I was going to play soccer, but it just didn’t work out, but when I picked up a field hockey stick for the first time, I just fell in love with the sport,”

said Maggioli.

Elizabeth and Leo Maggioli were present for their daughter’s letter-signing ceremony, displaying smiles as big as the Merullo Fieldhouse in which they stood. Natalie gave both a huge assist for their role in her success.

“I just want to thank them for always pushing me in a positive way, driving me to early-morning practices, coming to my games, and being sideline supporters. I obviously wouldn’t be here without them and I love them so much – and I can’t wait to make them even more proud.”