Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Field Hockey Wastes No Time Getting Back To Their Winning Ways

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Watertown Field Hockey expects to be the best. They practice hard. They train and play year-round. They have a legendary coach in her 40th year who cares about her players, cares about teaching the sport, but also cares about teaching life-lessons. So, while no one feels sorry for Watertown after they lost for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday, players were certainly eager to learn from the loss and move on towards their ultimate goal — another State title. Watertown did just that Thursday afternoon, shutting out Wakefield 8-0. The first half was played under a steady rain, but didn’t cause much in the way of slipping or errant play. Watertown controlled the action, but just couldn’t find the back of the cage. The Raiders were even awarded a penalty stroke (aka, penalty shot), but Kaylee Master was stonewalled by the Wakefield goaltender.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Boys Soccer Remains Undefeated After Pulling Out a 2-2 Tie

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Are you a half-empty or half-full sports fan? Wednesday night’s Boys soccer game would put that question to the test. Was Watertown the better team and just ran into some hard luck, but found a way to salvage a tie? Or did the Raiders let a win slip away because of a few lapses and are fortunate to even get a tie? Or is the truth somewhere in-between? Who knows, but ultimately all that matters is what the young men in Watertown uniforms think, and how they respond Saturday night at home versus second place Melrose.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Watertown Field Hockey Keeps on Trucking Against Stoneham

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Of Watertown’s first five games this Fall, only one was at home, back on Sept. 9th. It was a classic though, as Watertown edged Belmont 2-1 to reach the century mark undefeated for the second time in the program’s illustrious history. Thursday, on a beautiful and warm late-summer day, the Raiders played the first of five straight at home against the 0-3-3 Spartans. Watertown was looking to go to 6-0 on the young season. Coach Donahue’s squad did what it so often does — win — by completely controlling this game. Final score, Watertown 5 Stoneham 0.

Sports

JIM’S VIEW: Watertown Opens Football Season by Hosting Tricky Whittier Team

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We can never know about the days to comeBut we think about them anywayAnd I wonder if I’m really with you nowOr just chasin’ after some finer day…… Anticipation, anticipation

Well, of course, Carly Simon’s song Anticipation is a love song, not a football anthem.  Then again, the song isn’t about ketchup, but it had a good run helping to advertise the condiment years ago. Anyhow, the point is, after a tough 2024 season, a winter, spring and summer to prepare, and weeks of training camp this August, the Watertown Football program anxiously anticipated Friday night’s Sept. 5th game versus Whittier Regional Vocational Tech High School. It was a first chance to put last season behind them while at the same time building on a two-game winning streak at the end of last season (a non-league game and a Thanksgiving win over Belmont). The Raiders came into this game feeling stronger thanks to a commitment to off-season lifting.  They felt deeper with an additional twelve new football players. And they felt even more comfortable with a head coach in his second year and having their back, and having them prepared to play. The Senior/Junior-heavy lineup included the following on offense: junior Coleman Keuchkarian-McKeen at QB, senior running backs Patrick McHugh, Gabe Oliveira and Mike Ramirez and Junior Jayden Pineda, senior Wide Receivers Joe Wilson and Lucas Bray, Junior Shane Garey and Sophomore Mason Lamacchia, at Tight End Juniors Joe Connors and Cash Bailey, and on the line Seniors Caleb Hardy, Pedro Tancredo, Jayden Ortiz and Zac Wolfe, and Juniors Peter Pavlidis, Flavio Valenzuela and Billy Werra.

Sports

Watertown Battled First Place Wakefield on Senior Night

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Senior night is always special. It doesn’t matter if a team has a winning record or a losing one, is heading to the post-season tournament or not. Senior night is about family and friends. Senior night is about remembering all the good times and the practice and the commitment and the training and the devotion to team. Parents and grandparents and siblings share in the joy and recognition. And when the night is done, it’s hard to believe that one’s high school career is almost at an end. Well, for Jack Brisson, Patrick Johnson-Ciano, Lucas Pizzuto, Jack Brennan, Domenic Moynihan, Daniel Heep, Emilio Berndt, Adam Wainwright, Joseph Parmley and G’Nai Concannon-Garvin, baseball senior night has officially come and gone, and while Watertown came up just short against first-place Wakefield 3-2, it was a memorable night.  

The starting lineup included seniors at first (Pizzuto), shortstop (Berndt), third (Moynihan), center (Brennan) and DH (Wainwright).  On the opposite end of the spectrum, Watertown’s starting pitcher was the impressive freshman, Julian Boas. Boas ended up pitching four and third, giving up three runs on six hits, but he kept his team in the game. In relief, the equally impressive left hander Michael Caterino, also a freshman, pitched shutout ball for two-and-two-thirds innings. Wakefield’s starting pitcher threw a complete game and struck out 10. He also went two-for-four at the plate with an RBI single in the first.

Sports

Two Straight Victories for Watertown Baseball Team

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Sports is full of cliches, and baseball is no exception. You’re only as good as your starting pitcher. Your best players need to be your best players. Swing the bat. Put the ball in play and good things will happen. Well, these cliches were all on full display at Victory Field Thursday evening as Watertown took two from Wilmington. First up was the completion of a suspended game with Wilmington from April 15. The game resumed in the 5th inning and Watertown trailing 5-1. Watertown got some excellent pitching from freshman Lefty Michael Caterino, who kept Wilmington at 5 runs. In the meantime, Watertown went to the seventh inning having cut the lead to 5-4. They put the ball in play and good things did happen, tying it in the seventh and winning it in the eighth inning, as Kingston Omalade slid into home for the walk-off win. This ended a five-game losing streak and put Watertown at 4-9 on the season. Game 2

The regularly scheduled game matched Wilmington’s ace, a tall right hander with a plus fastball and curve. Watertown countered with freshman Julian Boas. This young man is very composed on the mound, and throws three pitches effectively for strikes — a fastball, curve and changeup. So, both teams were instantly good because their starting pitcher made them good. 

Wilmington’s righthander is going to Hobart in the Fall to continue his baseball career, but in the here and now in the first inning Jack Brennan led off with an infield single, moved to second when Emilio Berndt was hit by a pitch, and scored when Jayden Pineda delivered an excellent swing that resulted in a line-drive, opposite field single to score the first run of the game.

Sports

Watertown Baseball Faced Powerful Melrose Team at Victory Field

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Friday afternoon Varsity Baseball played their second game in three days, and looked to get back on the winning track after a Wednesday loss at Wakefield by the score of 11-2. Visiting the Raiders was a Melrose team with a 6-3 record, and winners of five in a row. Watertown sent their ace to the mound, senior righthander Lucas Pizzuto, who had pitched deep into all his outings so far this season, including an impressive 8-inning performance Friday night April 18 versus Stoneham, a game Watertown won 5-4. 

On this day, though, Pizzuto lacked a bit of his usual reliable control, and he just couldn’t get his curveball moving or throw it for strikes. It didn’t help that Melrose swung the bats early and often, spraying the ball all over the field. Pizzuto ended up only pitching two innings and giving up four runs. But baseball is a team game, and this was a team loss, final score Melrose 10 – Watertown 0.

Sports

Watertown Baseball Earns Walk-Off Win Against Stoneham

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Watertown Baseball got a walk-off 5-4 win in extra innings over Stoneham Thursday night at Victory Field. The 8-inning classic matched up two teams desperately looking for their first league win of the 2025 season, and in Stoneham’s case, their first win period. 

Both teams sent a good pitcher to the mound to try and make it happen. Stoneham’s right-hander had a decent fastball, a very good changeup and a pretty darn good slow curve. The Raiders sent their early-season ace Lucas Pizzuto to the mound. The senior right hander already had a win and a no-decision, that coming during an excellent outing against Burlington last Friday night where he pitched 6 innings and left with the game tied 4-4. (Watertown lost the game 5-4 in heartbreaking fashion, giving up an unearned run in the top of the 7th, and then getting runners on base in the bottom of the inning but not being able to push them across the plate.)

It was a beautiful April night for baseball, cool but not cold, clear skies, and most importantly no wind! Stoneham struck first with two runs in the second, courtesy of an RBI-single by the their nine-hitter in the lineup, followed by a bomb of a triple hit by the leadoff hitter to drive in the second run. Watertown answered back in the bottom of the second with a run by playing small ball. Jayden Pineda walked to lead off the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kingston Omalade, and then Adam Wainwright (remember that name) singled over the second basemen’s head to drive in Omalade. Watertown tied it at 2-2 in the third inning. A leadoff walk once again hurt Stoneham, this time to leadoff hitter Jack Brennan. He moved to second base on a fielder’s choice, and then exhibited some great baseball acumen on the base paths!