SAILING
Gloucester takes two: In a wild, windy week, Gloucester sailing secured two straight wins. The first came on Monday, as the squad took down BC High in a 4-1 harbor romp with “some very tenacious tactical maneuvers,” according to coach Gordon Baird. Then on Thursday, GHS took down a combined Norwell/Notre Dame Academy team and swept three straight races to prevail once again.
Division 2 Gloucester is now 4-1 for the season, losing only to Division 1 front-runner Hingham by a single point earlier this season.
GIRLS TENNIS
Rockport 3, Gloucester 2: Behind some strong play throughout the lineup, the Vikings squeaked out a conference win on a sunny Thursday afternoon. Singles victories came from Aili Mattson (6-1, 3-6, 6-3) and Gracie Flaherty (2-6, 7-6, 6-3), while the second doubles tandem of Zoey Parker and Hannah Aspesi prevailed in three sets as well (6-3, 6-7, 6-2).
“All around incredible matches today,” said Rockport coach Stacey Twombly. “Aili served great today and won many free points on her serve. Gracie was absolutely incredible; she was out played in the first set and came storming back in the second. She never looked back in the third set, she controlled and really started swinging the racket and hit the ball hard.”
As for her victorious doubles team, Twombly couldn’t have been more impressed.
“Zoe did an excellent job finding the alley over and over as her opponent at the net overplayed her poach,” said the coach. “And it was Hannah’s first varsity win.”
Gabby Lucido battled hard at second singles in an 0-6, 4-6 defeat, as did the first doubles team of Tessa Twombly and Brooke Cote, who fell by a 4-6, 5-7 score. Rockport (3-2) has now won two straight to climb over .500.
For Gloucester, Meghan Buckley was the winner at second singles while Esme Sarrouf and Keira O’Brien came out on top at first doubles.
Manchester Essex 5, Amesbury 0: The Hornets moved to 3-2 with Wednesday afternoon’s win, dropping just 14 total games along the way. In singles action Aurora Lenehan (6-2, 6-4), Sarah Cort (6-0, 6-1) and Grace Scarbrough (6-1, 6-0) all came out on top. In doubles it was the tandems of Nina Zalosh/Maeve McCardle (6-1, 6-0) and Libby Lawler/Ella Arntsen (6-2, 6-4) who were victorious. Manchester takes on Ipswich on the road Friday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).
GIRLS LACROSSE
Manchester Essex 18, Triton 5: The Hornets rolled on Thursday afternoon to improve to 5-3 on the year. They’ll be off until Monday, April 28 when they travel to rival Ipswich for a marquee rematch of an earlier season battle.
Winthrop 17, Gloucester 6: The Fishermen (0-6) remained winless despite a much better second half against a strong opponent. Sophia Ferrara shined defensively while Keagan Jewell netted a hat trick to lead the offense. Meadow Anderson added two goals while Natasha Depaula had the other. Head coach Liz Luster also highlighted the play from Lilly Whaley, who “played hard the entire game.” Gloucester is off until Monday when it travels to Peabody for a 10 a.m. start during school vacation week.
BASEBALL
Pentucket 6, Rockport 1: The Vikings hung tough for much of the afternoon but surrendered six runs in the top of the fifth to ultimately fall behind for good. Rockport (now 1-4) managed three hits on the day, with Gabe Gallagher connecting for a double and Josiah Whitley and Chase Wheat each recording one single. Pat Reardon had the lone RBI after drawing a walk in the fifth. Whitley started on the mound, going four innings while allowing four hits, two earned runs and striking out three. Rockport will look to bounce back on Saturday morning at home against Manchester Essex (10 a.m.).