With 16 athletes who are back and actively playing for the Pentucket girls lacrosse team this spring (star Sydney Trout is out with a torn ACL), there was some optimism that perhaps the Panthers could stay within striking distance against Newburyport. After all, there was of course plenty of talent among those returners, including two Division 2 college commits in Ella Palmer (U of Tampa) and Kate Conover (St. Anselm).
But … no.
Newburyport is still multiple levels above everyone else in the entire CAL.
Tuesday afternoon, the Clippers raced out to a dominant 10-0 halftime lead on the road, and had little issue closing out a 19-2 victory over the Panthers. Furman-commit Lilly Pons led the way with 7 goals, and UMass Amherst-commit Reese Bromby added 5 goals and 2 assists.
Olivia McDonald (Colgate) added 3 goals and 1 assist for Newburyport, Maddie Heath had an excellent game with 2 goals and 6 assists, and both Rita Cahalane and Erin Marshall scored. The Clippers (7-1) came in ranked No. 7 in the latest Division 3 power rankings, and are looking to defend their state title from a year ago.
For Pentucket (5-5), Conover scored both of the team’s goals, and also picked up two ground balls along with Kat Flaherty.
Georgetown baseball breaks record
The Georgetown baseball team is simply in cruise control right now.
Thanks to a one-hitter with six strikeouts on the mound from senior Carter Lucido, the Royals earned yet another mercy-rule win on Tuesday after drubbing Manchester-Essex in five innings, 17-0. Hayden Ruth went 2-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with four RBI, and the trio of Jason Gioia, Ty Gilmore and Oliver Thibeault also each had two hits apiece.
And with the victory, the Royals (10-0) remain perfect on the season and have already clinched a playoff spot. In the latest MIAA rankings released two days ago, the Royals came in as the No. 1 team in Division 5 with an overall rating of 3.5858. After Hopedale at No. 2 (3.3057), it’s more than double the ratings jump before you get to No. 3 English High (1.6528).
But just how good is this start?
Well, good enough to be a program record. Georgetown has never opened a season 10-0 before, and will look to keep it rolling when it hosts a similarly-hot Triton team on Thursday (4 p.m.).
Triton baseball wins big
The Triton baseball team took care of business quickly on Tuesday, scoring 15 runs over the first two innings on its way to a mercy-ruled win over Essex Tech, 20-2.
For the Vikings (7-1), Connor Rumph went 4-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with four RBI, and the trio of Josh Hersey, Josh Penney and Gavin Fraser were all a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBI. Then between Beckham Zizza, Ricky Stanley, Liam Friis and Rumph, the Vikings allowed just three hits and combined to strike out eight on the mound.
Taylor, Triton clipped by Essex Tech
It was another close call for the Triton boys lacrosse team on Tuesday.
Sophomore Michael Taylor put together a solid performance with 4 goals and 1 assist, but the Vikings fell in a nailbitter against Essex Tech, 9-7. Seamus Cahill had 2 goals and 1 assist, Alex Pasquini scored, and the trio of Carl Lucy, Shawn Twomey and Paxton Laky all had assists. Then in net, senior captain Charlie Clare stopped 15 of the 24 shots he faced.
The Vikings (1-5) will look to get back on track when they travel to North Reading on Thursday for a 6 p.m. start.
Redhawks drop a pair
The Amesbury boys lacrosse team suffered a pair of setbacks to open the week, falling to Manchester-Essex on Monday (17-5) and Lynnfield on Tuesday (16-2).
Max White scored four goals against the Hornets, then had a goal and an assist against the Pioneers. Grady Hagan was then behind the final goal in each game for the Redhawks.