Weekly Sports Roundup, May 2-May 8

Without question, the story of the week in the world of Melrose athletics was the revelation that 11 student athletes could lose up to 60 percent of their seasons over the fallout from pictures allegedly showing them consuming alcohol and tobacco products.

According to Superintendent Joseph Casey, the parents of the students—whose identities are not being released—must now meet with school officials, and team captains will be stripped of their armbands.

With the dust yet to settle and punishment still to be meted out, there was a cloud of uncertain anxiety hanging over the athletic fields of Melrose this week, but the games went on, as there are still titles to be fought for and schedules to be honored.

On the softball diamond, the Lady Raiders posted a 2-3 mark this past week with wins over Wakefield and Belmont.

It was senior Athena Ziavras leading the charge for Melrose (5-6) on May 2, as she went 4-for-5 during the 10-7 victory over the Lady Warriors. The Lady Raiders followed that up with a 14-2 thrashing of Belmont in another Middlesex League contest on May 3.

Facing Malden in the second weekend of the first annual Mayor’s Cup, Melrose experienced the lone setback of the week, falling short against one of the best pitchers in the state in Golden Tornadoes ace Kiara Amos (8-1, 0.66 ERA, 107 K) by a score of 6-0 on May 6.

Basebal Earns Extra-inning Win

Baseball earned an 8-4 win over Wakefield on May 2 in a 10 inning marathon.

Senior moundsman Ryan Hardy did his best Roy Halladay impersonation, remarkably working all 10 innings and striking out 10 Warrior batters, as Melrose (9-4, 8-2 ML)kicked the week off in fine fashion. 

Things took a turn for the worse from there, however, and the Red Raiders dropped their two remaining contests.

Burlington one-hit Melrose on May 5 and earned a 7-1 Middlesex League win, while Ben Ouellette was out-dueled by Malden’s Dakota Pellegrini on May 6, as the Golden Tornadoes held off a late Melrose surge to capture a 4-3 victory and earn a sweep in the first annual Mayor’s Cup.

Dan Riordan went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run, and Matt Fanikos and Mark Bailey collected RBIs.

Track Teams Have a Mixed Week

Boys track lost to Burlington 100.5-35.5 on May 2, but came back with a stronger showing against Stoneham on May 5, falling 80-66.

Kevin Persons continued his unbeaten run in the 100 and 200 meter events, and posted his personal best mark in the 100 with a time of 11.1 seconds. Cody Lucas won the shot put and the discus, and Scott Moore took second in the shot put. Donny Conn won the mile with a time of 5:09, and the 4x110 relay team of Shane McKinley, Dean Anderson, Spencer Walsh and Aron Jones took top honors as well. Billy Killilea won the 110 meter hurdles and took second in the high jump, while Winston Chen earned a hard won second in the 400 meter event.

Melrose girls track split a tri-meet with Burlington (L, 66-70) and Winchester (W, 92-42) on May 3, and toppled Stoneham 83.5-52.5 on May 5.

The Lady Raiders are now 4-2 on the season.

Tennis Spilts Two

Moving to the tennis court, Melrose (5-2) girls tennis split a pair of Middlesex League games this week, falling to Burlington 4-1 on May 2, and sweeping past Reading 5-0 on May 5.

After never emerging victorious against the Rockets during the tenure of Melrose head coach Deb Deacon prior to this season, the Lady Raiders have now beaten Reading twice this year.

Emma McGowan, Sarah McGowan and Lydia Mays all won singles matches, while Charlotte Mays and Sarah Ghozayel and Julia Mongeau and Natalie Kendall won in doubles play.

On the boys side of the court, the Red Raiders fell to Burlington 4-1 on May 2 and lost to Reading by a 5-0 margin on May 6.

Lax Teams Held Winless This Week

The tough times continued for the Melrose lacrosse on both sides of the gender divide, as neither program was able to get into the win column last week.

The boys lost to Winchester by a 14-2 score on May 3, and dropped a clash with Belmont by a 9-2 margin on May 6. 

Alex Surette has played well in goal for Melrose, while Ryan Fay has emerged as a valuable contributor in the role of defensive midfielder.

The Red Raiders are now 2-8 overall, and 0-7 in league play.

The girls lost to Belmont on May 3 in a 16-3 blowout, and are still looking for their first win of the year at 0-5.