Tennis teams lose in squeakers
UPDATED, June 5: For Arlington High in the Massachusett Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) brackets, only the softball team had remained, and now none does.
The Ponders (15-6) edged Watertown, 8-7, in the first round at the Peirce softball field on Thursday, June 1, but lost to No. 2 Dracut (18-4) in the quarterfinal of Division 2 North on Sunday, June 4, at Dracut. The score was 4-1.
The team poses, at left, with its new scoreboard following the Watertown win in a photo by Crissy Tarantino.
In boys’ tennis (12-9), Melrose prevailed at home, three sets to two, and in girls’ tennis (11-9), Burlington won by the same margin.
How softball lost to Dracut
The AHS softball team fought hard against Dracut but lost, leading a Boston Herald school sports to note: “Proved me wrong from the outset great season.”
Crissy Tarantino, volunteer assistant coach, provided details: “Our Journey to Tourney came to an end in Dracut, but not without a fight. We played a great game against a well-coached team with a fast pitcher who was on her game.
“Faith Griffin pitched the whole game and threw a fabulous game.” She had three strikeouts and two walks.
In the second inning, Dracut scored one run with three singles.
In the fifth, Dracut scored three off two singles and two doubles.
In the seventh, Jamie Toomey singled, but the catcher picked off pinch runner Jill Danton. Abi Ewen tripled, and Erin O’Brien singled, scoring Ewen.
The final was 4-1.
Other hits: Katie O’Brien singled in the sixth, and an excellent outfield catches by Ewen, Toomey and Allie Britt. Erin O’Brien had many nice plays at third.
Watertown win
On Thursday, June 2, AHS beat Watertown, 8-7. “Not our best game, but we squeaked the win,” Tarantino wrote.
Here’s how the scoring occurred: In the second, the team rang up five runs: Toomey singled, Katie O’Brien bunt-singled and Erin O’Brien tripled, scoring Toomey and Katie. Allie Britt singled, scoring Erin; Kayle Mayo walked and stole second and third. Emily Benoit hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Mayo, and Ellie Demaree doubled.
In the third, Watertown answered with three runs, with a single, triple and a walk.
In the fourth, Erin O’Brien was hit by pitch, Britt and Mayo walked. Erin scored on a fielder’s choice.
In the fifth, Watertown scored twice with two singles, an error and a walk. For AHS, Katie singled, stole second and third, and Erin singled her home.
In the sixth, Watertown scored two after a walk, two singles and a wild pitch.
In the final frame, Toomey walked, and pinch runner Annika Hill stole second and third. Then Abi Ewen hit a sacrifice fly to score the winning run.
Katie O’Brien had some nice plays in the infield, and Britt had some nice outfield catches for Arlington.
Natalie Swift and Griffin split the pitching duties.
Girls’ tennis called ‘fighters’ in loss
As to girls’ tennis, Coach Danielle Rakowsky wrote June 5 of the 3-2 loss to Burlington: “My players are fighters, fought hard, worked well together and did their best.
“Mia Wallace, ranked No. 1, and Meagan Carney, at No. 2, pulled out wins. My first and second doubles battled every point.
“First doubles played very well. My second doubles went to three sets. The highlight was their second set, playing to 9-7 in the tiebreak and fought back three match points against them.
“Unfortunately, the third set didn’t go their way.
“It was unfortunate we had to go out this way.”
The boys’ team coach has not responded.
This news announcement was published Tuesday, May 30, 2017, and updated June 5.
