Tennis roundup: Swampscott tops Cambridge in tourney opener

The Swampscott High girls tennis team is off and running in Division 2 North thanks to a 4-1 win over Cambridge Rindge & Latin in a first round match Friday at Swampscott.Coach Nina Rodgers expected the Falcons to be strong in singles and she wasn’t surprised. Cambridge won at first singles, but the Big Blue took two and three with Rita Tsokanis winning 6-3, 6-2, and Tatum Pederson winning 6-2, 6-2.Swampscott swept doubles led by Francesca Pelletier and Shannon Toner at one, 6-1, 6-0, and Alicia Coyle-Danica Villanueva at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3.”I knew their strength was in their singles play, so I was pleased we got wins in two and three. All their singles players were excellent.”Swampscott (13-4) plays Burlington Monday in the quarterfinals.”It’s good to come away with a win in the first round,” Rodgers said.Chelmsford 5, English 0At Chelmsford, the 14th seeded Bulldogs (7-6) ran into a buzzsaw during the Division 1 North opening round. Thanh Bui was a bright spot for English, playing well in her 6-1, 6-2 loss at second singles.Marblehead 5, Beverly 0At Marblehead, the No. 2 seeded Magicians (17-1) breezed through the opening round of the Division 2 North tourney, losing a combined six games in the five matches.Ashley Noyes was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at first singles with Mary Lindsey Ryan adding a 6-1, 6-1 win at second singles and Annie Ryan a 6-0, 6-1 win at third singles.Lindsey Cohen-Megan Stanojev were 6-1, 6-3 winners at first doubles and Meghan Gabel-Sarah Katz completed the sweep with a 6-1, 6-1 second doubles win.In other action, Danvers lost 5-0 to Burlington in the D2 North first round.BOYS TENNISNewburyport 3, St. Mary’s 2At the Governor’s Academy in Byfield, the Spartans (8-9) nearly pulled the big upset as Grant McKinnon (6-4, 6-0) and Pat Barceleau (6-3, 6-3) wins at second and third singles.”Newburyport had two very good doubles teams and their No. 1 kid was very strong,” St. Mary’s coach John Wynne said. “My kids represented themselves very well and had a great season. It’s the first singles matches we’ve ever won in the tournament.”Boston Latin 4, Marblehead 1At Marblehead, the No. 13 seeded Wolfpack pulled off the stunning upset over the No. 4 seed. The Magicians point cape at first doubles where Ryan Dempsey-Dylan White won a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 match over Cameron Labeck-Tom Jenkins.Ian Hyte had maybe the match of the day, though, in his loss at third singles which saw him lose a 13-11 tiebreaker in the third set.In other action, Revere bowed out of the Division 1 North tourney with a 5-0 loss at Andover while Danvers lost to Reading, 5-0, and Gloucester fell 4-1 to Cambridge in the Division 2 North first round.BASEBALLDanvers 5, Belmont 2At Twi Field in Danvers, the Falcons (17-4) had to sweat out a little seventh inning drama in the first round of the Division 2 North tourney. The Marauders loaded the bases before Nick Gikas came back from a 3-0 hole in the count to strike out the final batter.Scott Hovey started and worked the first six innings to get the win. He also scored the game’s first run and added an RBI double in a four-run fifth inning.Dan Connors had two RBI and Zach Ryan added two RBI on a single in the fifth.Beverly 3, Wilmington 2At Cooney Field in Beverly, Mitch Hamor scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh when the Wildcats couldn’t get an out on Anthony DiOrio’s grounder.Chris Mitchell started for the Panthers in the Division 2 North first round, but exited in favor of Pat Wilson, who picked up the win. Beverly hosts No. 13 Gloucester on Monday (4) in the quarterfinals.SOFTBALLBeverly 8, Andover 1At Innocenti Park in Beverly, the Panthers (12-9) trailed 1-0 after three innings, but took the lead in the fourth and never looked back in a Division 1 North preliminary round game.Ashley Chalifour had three RBI for the Panthers while Jen Ashton had a two hits and two RBI. Rachel Willwerth got the win in the circle, allowing one earned run over seven innings.The Panthers are at No. 1 Chelmsfo