Hard work has paid off for the Pentucket girls tennis team.
On Wednesday afternoon the Panthers earned a dramatic team victory, taking down visiting Amesbury in a thriller, 3-2. It was the program’s first win since midway through the 2022 season, ending a streak of 24 consecutive setbacks that the team was close to breaking a handful of times last year.
The doubles teams got the job done for the Panthers with a pair of clutch wins.
The senior captains duo of Alyssa Persichetti and Leah Whitney cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory at first doubles, while at second it was junior Kaylie Linehan and freshman Fiona Moore winning by the same score. Then the Panthers got a dominant win from sophomore Evelyn Dunn at No. 3 singles, who handled business 6-1, 6-1.
Catarius, Amesbury softball win big
Talk about a tone-setter.
On the second pitch of the game, senior captain Cali Catarius blasted a home run to immediately give the Amesbury softball team a lead over visiting Manchester-Essex. The rest of the afternoon was pretty elementary from there, as the Redhawks cruised to a victory over the Hornets in five innings, 16-3. The homer capped a 3-for-5 day for Catarius, who also scored three runs.
Elsewhere for Amesbury (2-0), Izzy Levasseur went 2-for-4 with a triple, Lexi LeBlanc was 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, and newcomer Addison Cooper was 2-for-3 with a two-run single and a walk. Freshman Celia Tavares also had a monster day going 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBI.
Barbarick blasts two HRs
It didn’t take long for Ellie Barbarick to find her power swing.
The returning Daily News All-Star from Georgetown led the area a year ago with 11 home runs — as an 8th-grader! — and on Wednesday she added to her ever-growing career total. Barbarick went 3-for-5 out of the leadoff spot with two homers, leading the Royals to a win over Hamilton-Wenham, 11-2.
Sophomore pitcher Maddie Grant was also dialed in, striking out 15 while going 1-for-4 at the plate. Ava Fair went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Mackenzie Riley drove in a run and went a perfect 3-for-3 and Gillien Figueroa scored three times and ripped an RBI-single.
The Royals (2-0) will now gear up for an important, early-season showdown against Amesbury on Friday with large CAL Baker implications. First pitch will take place at 4 p.m. from Penn Brook Elementary.
Amesbury boys tennis takes down Pentucket
It came down to the final match on Wednesday, but the Amesbury boys tennis team was able to earn a thrilling win over Pentucket, 3-2.
Both doubles teams for the Redhawks owned the day. At first it was the duo of Cole Leblanc and Noah Blouin winning 6-1, 6-0, and at second the unit of Trevor Landry and Aniketh Vaduka took home the 6-2, 6-2 victory. Clinching the overall match win, however, was captain Nick Bazirgan, who took care of his match at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-2.
LeBel’s 2-hitter lifts Pentucket softball
When Molly LeBel is on, not many in the CAL can keep up with her fastball.
The junior was dialed in once again on Wednesday, tossing a two-hitter and getting some great defense behind her to lead the Panthers to a big win over Essex Tech, 3-1. Kayla Murphy and Sarah Freitas each had RBI-singles in the first inning, and Izzy Hackett drove in another on a fielder’s choice to make it a 3-0 game right out of the gate.
Which turned out to be all the runs the Panthers (2-0) would need.
Freshman Michaela Gabardi continued her excellent start to the season with two more hits in a 2-for-3 day.
Keefe, Clippers get on the board
The Newburyport softball team certainly didn’t dwell on its season-opening setback to Pentucket.
Led by a 4-for-4 day at the plate from senior captain Emma Keefe, the Clippers rebounded with a solid victory over Lynnfield on Wednesday, 9-6. The trio of Cassidy Bolcome, Emily Meleedy and Grace Habib all went 2-for-4, and in the circle Meleedy struck out 11 over six innings before freshman Ciara Thompson came in to pick up the save.
The Clippers will now gear up to host rival Triton on Friday (4 p.m.) in a big CAL Kinney tilt.
Governor’s softball falls in season-opener
The Governor’s Academy softball team was locked in a pitcher’s duel in its season-opener on Wednesday, but couldn’t come up with the necessary runs to get past Austin Prep in an eventual 2-1 loss. Merrimac native Angelina Moroz was in the cirlce for Govs, and tossed six innings with only one earned run and six strikeouts.
Moroz also went 1-for-2 at the plate and drove in the team’s lone run.