With only one senior and eight freshmen on the roster, a young but talented Latin Academy softball team started fast and captured its 13th straight Boston City League title with a 7-2 victory over East Boston at Wentworth’s Sweeney Field.
The Dragons lost a considerable amount of players from last season’s 20-2 championship team, including ace pitcher Olivia McGrath. But leftover underclassmen such as junior captain and catcher Shantary Pimentel, along with newcomers such asfreshman pitcher Michaela Barcelou paved the way for this year’s title run.
“We have a great future,” said Latin Academy coach Rocco Zizza. “We jumped on them early with some vicious hits. When you work hard and play well, breaks come your way.”
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The Dragons (11-10) got on the board early, sending nine batters to the plate in a four-run first inning, highlighted by Jessica Rynne’s two-run home run and Pimentel’s triple.
Barcelou settled in quickly on the mound, surrendering just one hit over the first two innings while fanning four Jets’ hitters. She finished the complete-game effort with 10 strikeouts, allowing only five hits.
“Me and [Pimentel] worked together to get ready,” Barcelou said. “They have some really good hitters. We just worked together on different pitches.”
In the second inning, Pimentel cracked a two-run homer to center field. Her last two at-bats resulted in a pair of deep flyball outs to cnter that traveled nearly 250 feet.
“I saw the same pitch again, which was right at the letters,” Pimentel said. “So I was like I had to hit a home run this time because I almost hit one the time before.”
Despite the early deficit, East Boston (13-6) scored twice in the third inning on three straight hits, including a 2-RBI single by Theresa Forbes.
East Boston pitcher Kayla Elliott overcame early jitters, and held the Dragons to just one run on five hits over the final five innings.
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“We had a couple line drives that were great plays by [East Boston],” Zizza said. “We hit the ball well. We put the ball in play and they made the plays.”
Sacred Heart 13, Avon 0 — Pitcher Jillian Blake spun a 14-strikeout perfect game in the five-inning win for the Saints, in addition to launching a home run in the third inning.
Bridgewater-Raynham 19, Brockton 1 — Julia Newcomb tossed seven innings, striking out 11 to earn the win for the 10th-ranked Trojans (16-4). Junior Cece Barron went 6 for 6 with five RBIs and four runs scored.
Methuen 9, Greater Lowell 0 — The Rangers capped a 17-3 regular season with the shutout.
North Reading 12, Reading 6 — Freshman Julia Howse went 3 for 4 with four RBIs for the sixth-ranked Hornets, who capped an unbeaten 20-0 season.
Millis 4, Ipswich 3 — Junior pitcher Abby Doyle struck out the side with runners on second and third for the Mohawks, who clinched a state tournament berth.
Somerset Berkley 12, Seekonk 3 — Senior Abigail Cadorette allowed two earned runs, scattered five hits, and struck out 13 batters as the Raiders rolled.
Dennis-Yarmouth 22, Sturgis East 2 — Abby Hicks struck out five and allowed only three hits, and Maddie Medeiros hit a two-run triple as the Dolphins qualified for the state tournament.
Walpole 11, Norwood 2— Senior Kate Wilmont went 3 for 4 with three RBIs for the 13th ranked Rebels (15-3).
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North Attleborough 7, Milford 4 — With the score tied in the top of the ninth, Katherine Munley singled and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Andrea Miceli. With two outs, Olivia Capobianco, Abby Gallagher, and Ashley Cangiano strung together run-scoring hits as the 11th-ranked Red Rocketeers (16-3) surged past the No. 3 Scarlet Hawks.
Milton 10, Weymouth 0 — The Wildcats (10-9) qualified for the state tournament for the first time in nine years.
Dracut 2, Tewksbury 1 — Senior Austin Chausse hit a pair of doublesand Patrick Crowley gave up just four hits with no walks and one earned run for the Middies.
Billerica 9, St. John’s Prep 5 — Billy Rose allowed four runs over 5⅔ innings to pick up the win and Kevin Kennedy went 2 for 4 with two RBIs for the Indians.
Hopkinton 6, Nauset 2— Sophomore Jack Wehle went 2 for 3 with three RBIs, two runs scored and a walk for the Hillies (16-5).
Whitman-Hanson 6, Silver Lake 0 — Rian Schwede had two hits and threw a one-hit shutout to lead the Panthers to victory.
South Boston 4, East Boston 3— Alex Troncoso went the distance for the Knights, and struck out 10 to punch his team’s ticket to the Boston City League Championship game against Snowden.
Brookline 5, Acton-Boxborough 2 — Junior Silas Reed tossed six innings, striking out nine for the 18th ranked Warriors (14-6).
Belmont 6, Austin Prep 5 — Nate Espelin hit a walkoff single in the eighth inning to score Martin Marintchev and power the No. 14 Marauders (15-5) to an extra inning victory. “We’ve had a lot of walkoff wins this year, so it shows a lot of character,” said Belmont coach Jim Brown.
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North Attleborough 7, Taunton 3 — Peter Cohen struck out nine in a complete game effort and Zach DeMattio led the offense with a 2-for-4 performance for the No. 12 Red Rocketeers (18-2).
St. Mary’s 8, Winchester 0 — Bobby Alcock picked up his seventh win of the season with a complete game shutout for the Spartans (13-7).
Snowden 8, O'Bryant 5 — Freshmen pitching duo Justin Chevere and Luis Espaillat combined for the win and the save as the Cougars advanced to the finals of the Boston City League Tournament.
Plymouth North 3, Dennis-Yarmouth 1 — Brendan Ferrell went 2 for 3 with an RBI, and Don Cohoon improved to 5-2, allowing just three hits and not allowing any earned runs.
Walpole 13, Braintree 0 — Junior pitcher Cam Schlittler pitched six shutout innings and struck out 11 as the Rebels claimed the Bay State Conference title.
Reading 12, Belmont 5 — Senior Jack Geiger scored five goals for the Rockets (10-7),
Newton South 19, Watertown 11 — Lily Riseberg had six goals for the Lions, and Sydney Poulin tallied five in the losing effort for Watertown.
Division 1 South
Newton North 3, Randolph 0 — Jeremy Freed tallied nine kills and Gavin Emenaker added five of his own to go with 27 assists as the seventh-seeded Tigers (13-4) swept No. 10 Randolph (10-8) in the first round, 25-10, 25-22, 25-14.
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Division 1 Central
Worcester Tech 3, St. John’s (Shrewsbury) 1 — Isaac Quiles (5 kills, 10 aces) and Brendon Hamilton (14 kills, 4 blocks) powered the third-seeded Eagles (15-4) past the No. 14 Pioneers (10-11) to a first round win, 16-25, 25-20, 27-25, 25-23.
Matt Doherty reported from Belmont, Brandon Blom from Milford. For more highlights, go to bostonglobe.com/schools.