GIRLS TENNIS
Manchester Essex 3, Hamilton-Wenham 2: The Hornets (14-2) picked up an impressive victory, beating their rivals for the second time this season. It also marked the seventh consecutive win for Manchester Essex, which sat at No. 2 in the most recent Division 4 MIAA power rankings, but could very well leapfrog top-seeded Hamilton-Wenham with the big win.
En route to the marquee victory, Manchester got a third singles win from Sienna Crocker (7-5, 6-2).
“She stayed patient and took her chances against a well-coached opponent who was prepared to make every shot,” said Hornets’ coach Barrett Alston.
Then in doubles, both matches went three sets: Grace Scarbrough and Sarah Cort came out with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 triumph before Emily Parkins and Mackay Brooks secured a marathon 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 victory to officially seal the team triumph. They won 10-8 in the third set tiebreak.
“Amazing performance under huge pressure from Mackay and Emily,” added Alston. “They are seniors and great friends but it’s Mackay’s first season of competitive tennis and Emily’s first as a regular starter. H-W’s team played aggressively and were really locked in, so overall just an awesome match/set of tennis that was fun to watch.”
Alston also highlighted the play from Scarbrough and Cort at No. 1 doubles; they were down 4-5 in the third set and ran off three games in a row to win it. Manchester will wrap up the regular season this week with matches against Andover (Monday at home) and Pentucket (Wednesday on the road).
Rockport 3, Amesbury 2: The Vikings picked up their second straight victory, avenging an earlier season loss to Amesbury in the process. Mariana DeBenedictis rolled at third singles, 6-3, 6-0, while the doubles teams of Brooke Cote/Zoey Parker (6-3, 6-4) and Dakota Graham/Julian Donato (6-2, 6-2) also came out on top.
BOYS TENNIS
Manchester Essex 4, Hamilton-Wenham 1: It was a big weekend for the Hornets’ tennis programs, as the boys squad also earned a terrific win over the Generals. Jack Cummins won his match at first singles (6-3, 6-4), Charlie Virden dominated at No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-0) after a three-set battle against the same opponent last time around, and Jan Vytopil secured a 7-5, 6-2 win at third singles.
In doubles action, the No. 2 duo of Sander Breuker and Charlie Langendorf pulled out a 4-6, 6-4, (10-4) win with a super tiebreak deciding the final set. With the win, Manchester earned at least a share of the Cape Ann League Baker division title. As it stands, the CAL now has the top three ranked teams in the state in Division 4 for both the boys and girls sides (ME, H-W and Lynnfield in both).
“We knew it was going to be a tough match,” said Hornets’ coach Rob Bilsbury, his team 13-3. “They had beaten us 3-2 last time with a lot of matches going three sets. So to come out today and play as well as we did was really awesome; really proud of the boys.
“We certainly could see them again in the state tourney, so it’s wonderful to celebrate now but we know once we start another match with them it’s going to be another battle,” he added.
Manchester’s win over the Generals came on the heels of a 5-0 victory over Ipswich on Friday. Winners in that one were Cummins, Virden, Vytopil, Finn Birkeland/Jack Lawler and Sander Breuker/Brodie Tolo.
BOYS LACROSSE
Manchester Essex 15, Lynnfield 10: The Hornets remained hot, improving to 12-3 with another Cape Ann League win on Saturday afternoon.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Manchester Essex 7, Lynnfield 4: Manchester snagged a defensively-oriented win against their CAL foes while celebrating their four seniors: Ella Chafe, Mechi O’Neil, Lucy O’Flynn and Gabbi DAndrea.
BASEBALL
Triton 5, Manchester Essex 0: The Hornets were shut out Saturday on Senior Day, falling to 5-12 on the year. Those seniors celebrated were Troy Flood, Kevin McKenna, Matt McKenna, Ross Edelstein and Matteo Sarmanian.
Masconomet 6, Gloucester 1: The Fishermen dipped back down to .500 at 8-8 with the conference loss. They’ll have four more games over the next week to wrap up the regular season, likely needing to win at least two of them to qualify for the state tournament.
SOFTBALL
Gloucester 17, St. Mary’s 4: The Fishermen (9-9) rolled against the top-ranked Spartans, exploding offensively en route to a convincing win. Abby Aiello, Olivia Madruga, Mackayla Allen and Emma Carripichosa all had multiple hits; Madruga and Aiello each scored three runs; and Carripichosa mashed a grand slam. Starting ace Cameron Carroll shined in the circle once again, too, tossing a complete game with seven strikeouts.
Gloucester had fallen in their previous game against Peabody on Friday by a 7-1 score.
Essex Tech 8, Manchester Essex 1: The Hornets trailed by just one, 2-1, heading into the seventh inning but allowed six runs in the final frame in the loss. Penelope Riggs stayed hot, going 2-for-3 with a homer, while Celia Mann, Sydney Hemme and Katie Crompton all had hits. Manchester Essex also celebrated their two senior captains on Senior Night: Mann and Morgan Laspesa.
Lynnfield 14, Rockport 2 (6 inn.): Karlee Lorden drove in both of Rockport’s runs with a double, but it wasn’t enough in the setback. Gretel Marshall, Auraylia Lord, Kaity DAnnolfo, Calleigh Trickett and Madi Slier also had hits in the loss.