We’ve heard the phrase “Barbarick with a home run!” plenty of times over the past few years on the local softball scene.
36 times, to be exact.
And on Friday afternoon, we heard it for the first time in 2026.
… Except, it was referring to a different “Barbarick.”
Georgetown set the tone early during its 9-1 win over rival Amesbury at the Penn Brook field, with Victoria Barbarick crushing a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. It was the first career homer for the 8th-grader, who is the younger sister of three-time Daily News All-Star junior lefty Ellie Barbarick — who has 36 career home runs. The two sisters went a combined 2-for-8 with four runs scored and six RBI, helping the defending CAL Baker champion Royals (3-0) send a message against the traditional powerhouse.
Maddie Grant had another big game, going 3-for-4 with an RBI while also striking out 13 in the circle to get the win. Meghan Maguire added a 1-for-4 day with two RBI for the Royals, who will next travel to Lnnfield on Monday.
Meanwhile for Amesbury (0-2), both Hope Shanahan and Harper Walker went 2-for-3, while Sofia Le had the team’s final hit and Katelyn Cronin had an RBI. The Redhawks will look to pick up their first win when they travel over to Essex Tech on Monday afternoon.
Strong start leads Port boys lacrosse to big non-league win
The Newburyport boys lacrosse team grabbed control early and didn’t let up.
Traveling down for a huge non-league game at Marblehead on Thursday, the Clippers led wire-to-wire to finish up a 10-8 victory. It was an early 5-1 lead for the Clippers (3-2), who built it up to 10-5 with just over two minutes left in the game before the Magicians put together a late surge. But even despite a little bit of a shaky finish, it was still a massive win to put in the back pocket.
Veteran Newburyport coach Josh Wedge was quick to credit his defensive midfield, with Jack Miller, Reid Tummala, Kian Markos, Owen Mongeau and Wes Young all having strong games. Then offensively, Davis Pons had four goals and an assist, while Luke MacIsaac assisted on a goal to go along with his hat-trick. Carter Scott (1a) scored twice, Cole Dickinson had the team’s final goal, and Henry Waddell had an assist.
Up next, the Clippers will host Essex Tech on Monday.
Clean sweep for Newburyport boys tennis
The Newburyport boys tennis team was home in time for dinner on Friday.
It was a lightning-quick day at the office for the Clippers, who welcomed in Ipswich to the Nock Courts and cruised to the 5-0 sweep. And none of the matches were really all that close, with the hosts getting quick singles wins from Ronan Refour at first (6-0, 6-0), Yaman Kilic at second (6-2, 6-1) and Beck Andreliunas at third (6-0, 6-0). Then at doubles, the team of Parker Iverson and Luke Palen won 6-1, 6-0 at first, while the duo of Hunter McCormick and Hank Weisberg won 6-1, 6-3 at second.
Newburyport (2-1) will next travel to Mystic Valley on Wednesday.
Pentucket boys tennis still perfect
Don’t look now, but the Pentucket boys tennis team is off to a strong start.
After opening their season with a thrilling win over Amesbury, the Panthers welcomed in Danvers on Friday afternoon and cruised to a 4-1 victory. Returning Daily News All-Star senior Cosmo Lund earned a win for the team at No. 1 singles, and also claiming victories were Maddox Heller at singles, and both doubles teams of Rhyas Dewar/Tyler Truong and Pedro Vargas/Logan White.
The Panthers (2-0) will look to stay undefeated when they welcome in North Reading on Monday.
Steady improvement for Georgetown lacrosse
The results on the scoreboard will eventually come, but the Georgetown girls lacrosse team is still headed in the right direction.
On Saturday morning, the Royals played their closest game of the year while scoring their most goals, welcoming in Gloucester and battling to a 12-8 loss. For captains Lilah Ananian-Randall, Emma Sadler, Katie Davies and the Royals (0-5), they’ll look to carry this positive momentum over to Monday when they host rival Manchester Essex.
First loss for Pentucket boys lacrosse
There will be no undefeated year in the CAL for Pentucket boys lacrosse.
The offense wasn’t the issue on Friday afternoon, but defensively the Panthers couldn’t stop North Reading in what ended up being a 19-15 loss. It’s the first setback of the year for Mac Cole, Aiden Napolitano, Nate Stys, Michael Torrisi and the Panthers (5-1), who will look to quickly put it behind them before welcoming in Manchester Essex on Wednesday.