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From left: The soccer team celebrates. Thembani Phoya (Soccer photos by Collin Hamilton) and pitcher Ian Mihalopousos (Photo by Celine Hines).
After some unscheduled time off because of inclement weather, Putnam Science Academy’s baseball team got back to action last week and showed little sign of rust.
The Mustangs, ranked No. 13 in New England, won three of four games including an 8-6 decision Monday at No. 10 Winchendon. That win was fueled by the strong pitching performance of Marist-bound Cody Heselton, who up just two runs on three hits while recording a school-record 12 strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. David Batista delivered a huge two-out, two-run single in the third inning, while Cris Peguero finished with two hits and PSA took full advantage of eight walks by Winchendon pitchers.
Tuesday featured another Top 10 opponent on the road, this time at No. 4 Salisbury School. Jeffry Ferreira had a pair of hits, and Derreck La Riva and Ryan Ponte both drove in runs, but PSA couldn’t climb out of an early hole and lost 6-3 after falling behind 5-0 in the first inning.
Ferreira and Emil Garcia both had three hits and two RBI, and Ian Mihalopoulos struck out nine over six innings as PSA won its home-opener Wednesday, 14-5 over Kings Edge Hill (Canada).
Ponte’s long home run to left leading off the fifth and Robbie Natale’s two-out, two-run double off the wall in left highlighted a six-run inning as the Mustangs broke the game open.
In Thursday’s 9-7 win over Paramount Academy, La Riva had two hits, walked twice, and scored a run, while Jacob Hines had a pair of hits, drove in a run, and scored one. Sebastian Garcia threw five solid innings before Nate Rivera finished it off by striking out the side in the seventh.
Soccer
PSA Prep 8, St. Thomas More 1
Thembani Phoya recorded a hat trick Monday to spark a second-half scoring onslaught, and PSA’s soccer team won its first league game of the Spring season, 8-1 over St. Thomas More.
PSA trailed 1-0 at the half but Phoya pulled the Mustangs even early in the second. Mario Camacho put PSA ahead shortly thereafter, and Bernardo Vieira pushed the lead to 3-1 a few minutes after that. Thembani then scored the next two to finish off his first career hat trick, the last one coming when he spun a corner kick directly into the net.
Fran Barcelo, Marcos Chantada, and Airam Rodriguez tacked on the final three for PSA, which dropped a 2-1 decision at Vermont Academy on Sunday. Phoya scored in the second half of that one.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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