Hornets Nest: Lacrosse, Baseball and Tennis

Boys Lacrosse

The team traveled to Hamilton Wenham on June 9, as the game had been postponed the day before due to high heat advisory. The visiting Hornets scored first with goals from freshmen Quinn Brady and Mac Edgerton. With the score 2-2 after the first quarter, Hamilton Wenham would score 5 unanswered goals to lead 7-2 midway through the game.  In the second half, HW would dominate the pace of play, tallying many important ground balls to secure possession. Defenders Sam Athanas, Danny Wood, Andrew Amigo, and Brennan Twombly all played very solid for the Hornets, causing a handful of turnovers combined with goalie Hayden Brady’s 10 saves on the day. The final score was 12-6.

The team hosted Lynnfield High school on June 10 which was also senior night; honoring seven seniors in their final home game of their High School careers. The game was kept low scoring through two quarters, both Lynnfield and Manchester-Essex would exchange goals, as the Hornets trailed at the half 4-3 on a late goal by the Pioneers in the final minute of the second quarter. Scoring was led by Seniors Sam Rice (4) and Ryan Crompton (2), both having high shooting percentages on the day. A late goal by Rice again in the third put Manchester-Essex down 6-5. The Hornets would eventually be outscored in the fourth quarter 3-1, which was the biggest bout for the visiting Pioneers all day. The defense was led by Juniors

Andrew Amigo, and Jacob Brown, as well as sophomores Danny Wood and Mark Pollock continuously causing turnovers and problems for the Lynnfield attack men. Senior goalie Oliver Tolo made 6 saves on the night.

Ipswich High School hosted the Hornets from Manchester-Essex on Saturday morning, June 12th. Ipswich jumped to a quick 2-0 lead with fast break goals off the faceoff. Early possessions helped the Hornets dictate the pace of play on offense, scoring on their first possession of the game. At the other end, the defense made some big stops and some key saves by goalie Hayden Brady was enough to keep the Hornets within a 3-1 deficit after the first quarter. The second quarter Ipswich would score 7 unanswered goals, capitalizing on Hornet mistakes and quick restarts, leading at half 10-2.  The second half was a different story. Manchester would score 5 goals in the third quarter from seniors Eli Hammett, Sam Rice (3), and Freshman Quinn Brady. Trailing 11-6 midway through the fourth quarter, it would be senior Hawk Hamor scoring two important goals for the Hornets in big transition opportunities, helped by the young Hornet defense making big time stops to keep the game close. Junior goaltender Hayden Brady would come up big in the fourth with numerous key saves. Sam Rice found the back of the net off face-off wins by Declan Kirk, which found the Hornets within two with nearly three minutes to go in the game. Manchester pressured Ipswich in the final minutes and held them scoreless until time expired. The final was 11-9 in favor of Ipswich, but Manchester Essex sparked a miraculous comeback in their final game of the year, whose play and drive to compete which did not go unnoticed, especially against an undefeated powerhouse in Ipswich High school. This was very encouraging to the younger players on this team for a bright future ahead for this Hornets program. Manchester-Essex finishes the 2021 season with a record of 3-8. This young squad is resilient, eager to learn and compete at a high level of high school athletics, and have bought into the new culture of the Manchester Essex lacrosse program.

Baseball

The Hornets hosted the Georgetown Royals on June 10 at Memorial Park in Essex and won the game 3-1.  Junior Kellan Heney went the distance on the mound striking out 10 batters.  Senior Will Levendusky led the offense with 2 hits and an RBI.  Behind Will, Vaughn O’Leary, Kellan Heney and AJ Pallazola each had one hit.

The next afternoon the Ipswich Tigers were on tap at Memorial Park. Freshman Troy Flood took the mound and pitched a complete game no hitter while also contributing an RBI single. Junior Vaughn O’Leary was 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI’s to finish the year leading the team with (9) Doubles and (17 (RBI’s).  He was also named 1st team all conference posting a 2.72 ERA and 3-2 record.  Junior Sachem Ramos went 2-3 with 4 RBI’s and was named to the 2nd team all conference hitting .473 with 10 RBI’s, 13 runs scored and 11 stolen bases.  Kellan Heney and Jack Shaw were also chosen 2nd team all conference.  Kellan led the team with 16 stolen bases and 15 runs scored.  Jack led the pitching staff with most innings and a 2.70 ERA and a 3-2 record.  He was also 2nd on the team with 12 RBI’s.  The team awaits the seedings for the Division 4 North MIAA tournament which will begin at the end of the week.

Boys Tennis

The Manchester Essex boys’ tennis team had a stellar week matching up against the best teams in the league in Lynnfield, Hamilton Wenham and Ipswich.  On Wednesday, the boys went to undefeated Lynnfield who had been 5-0ing the entire league this season.  Pieter Breuker won his match (6-1, 6-0) against an opponent who had only lost one match in his entire high school career!  The doubles tandems of Sam Kenny and Griffin Kempskie at one doubles and Emerson Kahle and Jack Roberts at two each forced a tiebreak in a hard fought straight set lost.  On Thursday, the boys hosted Hamilton Wenham who had beaten the Hornets 4-1 in their first encounter.  This time through, in addition to Breuker again winning his match in straight sets, Roemer de Widt turned his earlier loss into a three set win.  The doubles tandems also played solid tennis, but the Hornets would fall just short losing 2-3.  On Friday, senior day, the seniors came to play.  In the first match the Hornets had beaten Ipswich in a 3-2 nail biter coming down to a three-set win by second doubles to take it.  This time through, the Hornets took all five points to win in convincing fashion.  Breuker concluded his high school career remaining unbeaten all season.  As a freshman, he had earned co-player of the year, and this season there will be no questioning him winning the honor again.  Winning in three sets at two was Roemer de Widt who again beat a player he had come up short with earlier in the season.  Winning at three was junior Owen Bappe (6-4, 6-3).  The doubles also took care of business with the second doubles tandem of Emerson Kahle and Jack Roberts winning (6-0, 6-1) and the first doubles winning in a third set tiebreak 10-6 to take the match five love.  An amazing regular season for the Hornets will give way to the state tournament with pairings coming out Wednesday and the first-round action coming Friday.

Girls Tennis

On senior day last Wednesday at Memorial School in Manchester, the Hornets defeated Lynnfield 3-2. Senior Stephanie Pratt won 6-1, 6-2 at first singles. At number two, senior Jessie Miller split the first two sets and won in a third-set super-tiebreak, 10-3. Senior Lilly Coote fell at third singles, 3-6, 2-6. Number one doubles duo juniors Parker Brooks and Gracie Susko split the first two sets and lost a third-set super-tiebreak 10-5. To clinch the victory for the Hornets and to improve their record to 10-1 on the season, the number two doubles tandem of senior Emma Francoeur and sophomore Emery Weber-Provost won 6-1, 6-3.

In their penultimate regular season match on Thursday, Manchester-Essex's number two doubles team of Emma Francoeur and Emery Weber-Provost found itself needing to come back from being down a set, in order to clinch the crucial third point over Baker Division rival Hamilton-Wenham. In a match played at Gordon College, the Hornets rallied to win the second set 6-3 and then broke the Generals' serve twice in the third to win 6-2. Number one singles player Stephanie Pratt prevailed 6-2, 6-0. Jessie Miller rounded out the victorious Hornets effort with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at number two singles.

 A shutout victory on the road over Ipswich on Friday provided a nice bookend to the Manchester-Essex girls' varsity tennis team's regular season. The Hornets didn't drop a set as singles players Stephanie Pratt, Jessie Miller, and Lilly Coote cruised. Number one doubles duo of Parker Brooks and Gracie Susko roared back from a 5-2 deficit in the second set to close out a 6-2, 7-5 win. Emma Francoeur and Emery Weber-Provost coasted to 6-1, 6-1 win at number two doubles. Manchester-Essex finishes the regular season with a 12-1 record, good enough for the best in the Baker Division and a solid chance at the top seed and home court advantage in their North 3 section matches as the girls look forward to the MIAA team tennis tournament.