ITEM FILE PHOTO
Fenwick’s JP Reiling got the start in a win over Greater Lowell in the preliminary round of the Division 3 North tournament on Thursday.
By LILY DOOLIN
The Bishop Fenwick baseball team broke open a 1-1 tie with a three-run fifth inning then held on to beat the Greater Lowell Gryphons, 4-1, in a Division 3 North preliminary round game at Fenwick.
J.P. Reiling struck out the side in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Fenwick took a 1-0 lead when Cory Bright led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Simon Gonzalez, who was credited with the win.
Gonzalez relieved Reiling in the second and gave up an unearned run before settling down and retiring 15 of the next batters before Reiling mopped up in the seventh, striking out two of the three to earn the save.
Fenwick broke the game open with a three-run fifth inning, the big hit being an RBI single by Gonzalez that scored Bright (double) with the game-winning run.
“The plan was to pitch J.P. in the first inning only so we could save him for Sunday’s Austin Prep game,” Fenwick coach Kevin Canty said. “Simon did exactly what we needed him to do, he was fantastic.”
BASEBALL
Westford Academy 2, Peabody 1
The Tanners lost in the first round of the tournament in excruciating fashion, as the Grey Ghosts won on a walk-off walk.
It was a pitchers’ duel up until that point, with Pat Maguire on the hill for Peabody. He threw 112 pitches, striking out three and walking three, allowing seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. He allowed a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, but otherwise held down the Westford lineup.
The Tanners scored their run in the second, as Jake Zeuli scored on an error. Peabody had leadoff doubles in three innings (from Anthony Iannuzzi, Nick Palma and Ben Irvine), but couldn’t push another run across.
North Andover 10, Salem 0
The Witches ran into a very good team in No. 5 North Andover, and couldn’t get much going offensively in the Division 2 first round.
“We came a long way,” said Salem (12-10) coach Gavin Softic. “We competed the whole way, but we ran into a buzzsaw today.”
Eddie Duran and Sammy Aria Ramirez split the game on the hill. Ruben Baez went 2-for-3, and Matt Ryan added a single.
Belmont 4, Beverly 2
The Panthers fell to Belmont the Division 2 North quarterfinals. The game went for thirteen innings after Beverly’s Luke Samperi hit a two-run homerun in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game, but Beverly was still unable to get the win.
SOFTBALL
Lowell 7, Peabody 1
Amanda Crawford smacked a RBI double to knock in Kaitlin Thibodeau-Corey to score the Tanners’ only run as they ran into a powerful Lowell team. Thibodeau-Corey had two hits, and Mallory LeBlanc singled.
Arlington Catholic 14, Marblehead 3
The No. 3 Magicians were upset by No. 14-seed Arlington Catholic at home.
Lynnfield 13, Snowden 0
The No. 22 Pioneers shut out No. 11 Snowden on the road to advance to the first round of the Division 3 North tournament. Lynnfield will play No. 6 O’Bryant Saturday at 4.
Mystic Valley 2, Winthrop 0
The Vikings, who earned the last seed in the Division 3 North tournament, couldn’t get their offense going against No. 9 Mystic Valley.
Gloucester 9, Wilmington 6
No. 6 Gloucester will go on to play No. 14 Arlington Catholic Monday at 4 p.m. at home.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Woburn 12 Peabody 2
At Peabody, the Tanners ran into Middlesex League powerhouse Woburn in the Division 3 Girls North tournament quarterfinals.
Peabody trailed from start to finish, in spite of an outstanding performance in goal from junior Gianna Denisco, who finished with 15 saves.
Peabody’s first goal was scored by Emma Rigol after Kelly Crotty hustled to win a loose ball, then slipped it to Rigol in front with 4:30 left in the first half.
Chloe Gizzi capped the Tanners’ scoring with just over two minutes to play. Alyssa Shashaty, Michaela Jacks and Catherine Manning played well defensively. Peabody finished 14-6.
Marblehead 19, Shawsheen 3
The Magicians got the blowout win over Shawsheen in the Division 2 North quarterfinals. Caroline Driscoll led Marblehead with six goals. Hadley Carlton recorded three goals, caused two turnovers, and picked up two ground balls, Grace Arthur tallied three goals and three assists, Amanda Gregory had two goals and five assists, Niamh Healy scored two goals, Lydia Bongiorno recorded one goal and three assists, Lucie Poulin had one goal and one assist, and Courtney Berry scored one goal. Goalkeeper Brittany Lydon had ten saves on eleven shots before being relieved by Maeve Caldwell, who had three saves on five shots.
Melrose 6, Swampscott 5
Making their first appearance in the MIAA tournament since 2007, battled Melrose hard all night, but came up just short, losing 6-5 in the opening round of the Division 2 North playoffs.
Big Blue coach Al Eaton, in his first season at the helm, said he was extremely pleased with how his team competed Thursday night in Melrose.
“It was so close, you could tell we were a little nervous, but all our hard work, from the pre-season up until tonight, really paid off for us, just a great effort by our team,” Eaton said. “This was only the third tournament game in the program’s history, our first appearance in the post-season in six years, and we played very well against an excellent Melrose team.”
Eaton said his younger players would certainly benefit from the playoff experience; Swampscott graduates five seniors from the team, including co-captains Sam Blank and Jessica Gambale.
“We gave it everything we had, I’m so proud of my team,” Blank said. “We did a great job getting to the tournament, we just couldn’t get that last goal.”
“Our whole team played excellent tonight,” Gambale said. “It was an incredible effort, and I couldn’t be any more proud of my team tonight.”
Maggie DiGrande had a pair of goals for Swampscott (10-9), Blank, Ellie Wright and Taylor McBurney also scored for the Big Blue.
Masconomet 15, Danvers 8
Danvers fell to Masconomet in Division 1 quarterfinal action.
