Revenge is sweep for L-S

Senior tricaptain Lucas Rathjens (right) goes in for one of his 20 kills, leading Lincoln-Sudbury past Natick in the Central semifinals. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

Revenge was clearly the motivation for the Lincoln-Sudbury boys' volleyball team in yesterday's matchup with Natick, which beat L-S in last year's Division 1 Central final.

The Warriors (20-1) turned the tables on the Redmen with a sweeping 3-0 victory in a Central semifinal at Sudbury. L-S won 25-22, 25-19, and 25-23.

L-S will face Milford in tomorrow's Central final at Westboro High School.

"I absolutely knew it was a possibility," said L-S coach Bunny McClung about sweeping the Redmen. "This is the strongest team I've coached; they've got a lot of good things going on. Natick is a very strong program [but] we probably have more experience on the court."

The Warriors are stacked with seniors (eight) and juniors (seven). Natick has two seniors, nine sophomores, and three freshmen.

"It's about experience, so that's why we lost," said Natick coach Peter Suxho. "We didn't have enough experience against Lincoln-Sudbury. Plus, they played home and we played away so that, too, makes a big difference."

With the score deadlocked at 23 in Game 3, L-S caught a break as a Natick kill attempt soared out of bounds, giving the Warriors the serve and a chance to close out the deal. On an intense back-and-forth volley, L-S setter Danny Letizi (34 assists, three aces) set up Drew Corwin (10 kills), who smashed it for the winner.

"There was no question in my mind that Danny would give me the set that I needed to [get the kill]. I just really wanted to get the game [and match] over with," said tricaptain Corwin. "I saw a double block, I really don't think that fazed me . . . one of the passers in the back row made a great pass, Danny just needed to get that set up for me."

Natick (18-2) didn't make this an easy sweep for the Warriors, though. Trailing, 17-8, in Game 1, the Redmen put together some scoring runs to get back in the game. Senior cocaptain Elio Jaho rattled the L-S back row, serving a couple of aces in between a nasty kill registered by fellow senior cocaptain Jeremy Siden (11 kills) to make the score 22-21.

But the Warriors got out of the jam on a kill by senior tricaptain Lucas Rathjens (20 kills), a Natick error, and a Letizi tip that dropped to the floor untouched.

Baseball
Division 1 North: Tim Bilecki's five RBIs propelled No. 22 Newton North to a 16-15 win over No. 11 Peabody in 12 innings . . . Scott Weisman had eight strikeouts and smashed a two-run home run in Acton-Boxboro's 8-3 win over Lawrence . . . St. John's got big performances from Trevor Manzie (3 for 4, five RBIs), Jordan Edgett (2 for 3, three RBIs), and Chris Carmain (2 for 3, two RBIs) in its 12-0 win over Cambridge . . . Justin Mansfield had two home runs and six RBIs in Arlington's 19-11 win over Gloucester . . . Winning pitcher Taylor Robinson smashed a two-run home run in Haverhill's 8-1 win over Lynn English.

Division 3 North: Nick Conti threw seven strong innings and Ryan Beliveau picked up the save as St. Mary's defeated Rockport, 6-5 . . . Hunter Gordon had three RBIs in Swampscott's 11-2 win over Greater Lowell . . . Andrew Rainville went 3 for 4 with two RBIs in North Shore's 20-4 win over New Mission . . . Joe Dell'Erario propelled Weston's 22-6 win over Northeast by collecting two hits and three RBIs.

Softball
Division 1 North: Kathryn Darveau was 4 for 5 with three RBIs and a home run in Reading's 18-12 victory over Andover. Jamie Spano went 2 for 4 with five RBIs in the win.

Division 1 South: After an RBI single from Stoughton's Ashley Painter in the bottom of the seventh forced extra innings, Sara Detore's bases-loaded single in the ninth lifted the Black Knights past Mansfield, 4-3 . . . McKenzie and Morgan Sumner led Milton to a 6-0 win over Wareham. McKenzie went 2 for 3 with a two-run home run, and Morgan made three big defensive plays - including a diving catch on a fly ball in the third . . . Jackie O'Neil tossed a three-hitter and Toni Zagami had a single, double, and triple in North Attleboro's 5-0 win over North Quincy . . . Brittany Eldridge scattered five hits and fanned seven in Bridgewater-Raynham's 8-2 win over Natick.

Division 2 North: Gayle Miner threw a perfect game for top-seeded Concord-Carlisle in its 5-0 win over No. 16 Bedford. Miner, a freshman, fanned 11 . . . Allyson Noyes's two-run single in the bottom of the 11th lifted Arlington Catholic to a 13-12 win over Melrose. Lauren Lepore was 4 for 5 in the win . . . No. 13 Belmont beat fourth-seeded North Andover, 12-0, behind a complete game from Kayla Hoyer. Marissa DiCienzo went 4 for 5 in the win with three RBIs and two stolen bases . . . Jennie Lacola blasted two home runs in Stoneham's 16-1 win over Marblehead.

Division 2 South: Casey Halajian racked up 17 strikeouts in Archbishop Williams's 4-2 win over Holliston in 12 innings. Erica Knowles and Laura McElroy each went 3 for 6 for the winners . . . After falling behind, 8-0, after three innings, Abington's six-run fourth inning fueled an 11-10 comeback win. Kristen Reynolds was 3 for 5, while Marie McCormick and Kelsey Cheney each went 2 for 4 with two RBIs.

Division 3 North: Kara Thomas went 2 for 3 with five RBIs in Mystic Valley's 18-5 win over Fenway . . . Kristin Gunn fanned 14 and allowed four hits in Greater Lowell's 10-0 win over Trinity Catholic . . . Kelliann Kirby threw a one-hitter with three strikeouts, and added three hits in Marian's 15-0 win over Mount Saint Joseph's.

Boys' lacrosse
Division 2 East: Matt Schairer's three goals and five assists propelled King Philip past Wayland, 16-7. Nate Robeson made nine saves for the victors.

Division 3 East: Bob Keohane collected two goals and two assists and Tim Lapointe netted a hat trick in Tyngsboro's 8-7 win over Austin Prep. Cody Serrao potted the winner with about four minutes to play . . . Greg Reynolds netted eight goals and Alex Ferris added four in Scituate's 17-5 win over Swampscott . . . Cohasset drubbed Arlington Catholic, 13-2, behind Mark Flibotte's four goals and two assists, and Dan Driscoll's two goals and two assists.

Girls' lacrosse
Division 1 South: Margie Fulton's three goals and six assists powered Wellesley past Notre Dame of Hingham, 16-7. Caroline Bunting (three goals, three assists) and Blake Dietrick (four goals, two assists) also had strong showings.

Division 2 North: Shannon Hartford's six goals and six assists highlighted Georgetown's 15-9 win over Pentucket.

Globe correspondent Maggie Cassidy contributed to this report.