By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Danvers baseball coach Roger Day will take over from Shawn Thornton as the new athletic director at Pope John in Everett.

Thornton, who is in his second year at Pope John after eight as St. Clement's athletic director, is leaving at the end of this school year to take an administrative role at the Clarence Edwards Middle School in Charlestown.

This past winter, Thornton was honored at the District H Athletic Director of the Year and also as the MIAA girls' basketball Coach of the Year. He will step down as girls' basketball coach as well.

Day was elected to the Massachusetts State Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in January, and with more than 400 career victories, he is one of the winningest coaches in state history. His team was 19-2 going into Tuesday's Division 2 North quarterfinal game against Reading.

In addition to coaching, Day recently retired as a physical education teacher at the Holten Richmond Middle School in Danvers.

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

Senior Ben Bowden of Lynn English, who signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Vanderbilt University this fall, was elected the 28th Gatorade Player of the year for High School baseball in Massachusetts, becoming the first Bulldog in school history to earn the honor.

During his senior year at English, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound lefty posted a 4-2 record with a stifling 0.67 ERA on the mound for the Bulldogs (8-10). In 52 innings pitched, Bowden struck out 84 batters, scattering 29 hits and 10 walks. He even held up at the plate, owning an on-base percentage of .459 while racking up 13 RBI in support of his team.

Jason Tarasuik, head coach of rival Marblehead High, had only praise for Bowden and his skill from the hill. Marbelhead faced off with English twice this past season and lost both meetings.

“When Bowden hits his spots, he’s unhittable,” said Tarasuik. “He has a dominating fastball, he changes speeds and hits his locations. He has a great presence on the mound.”

The award, handed out each of the past 28 years, recognizes the best high school athletes in the nation. Bowden is now also a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Baseball Player of the Year award to be announced in May.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

It’s been a rainy week throughout New England and the weather has led to more than a few Massachusetts baseball games suffering from rain outs.

The teams that had both bad weather and bad results were No. 5 Walpole and No. 10 Billerica. Last week, both teams were riding high in the top 20. This week, the Rebels went 0-2, losing to both Norwood and No. 9 Braintree. Meanwhile, the Indians went 1-2, losing to Lowell and Malden Catholic with a win against Tewksbury in between. Walpole and Billerica will be high seeds in the tournament when the pairings come out on Tuesday, but neither is entering it with a ton of momentum.

A team that made the most of a lackluster week for baseball was No. 19 Xaverian. The Hawks got their 10th victory of the season this past week, which means the defending Division 1 champions will be in the state tournament this year. Xaverian knocked off Central Mass. power St. John’s (S) 8-4 this past Tuesday before defeating Millis, 10-6, Thursday. The Hawks’ season struggles cannot be forgotten but that doesn’t make them any less of a scary team going into the postseason.

It took No. 8 North Reading 17 games to suffer its first loss, a 2-1 decision to Masconomet on Saturday. The loss dropped Frank Carey’s crew one spot from last week, giving Danvers the No. 7 spot after a 2-0 week. The Falcons defeated Winthrop and Marblehead by a combined 13-2.

Also moving up a spot was No. 3 Newton North after an undefeated week.

The top 20 added four newcomers to the bottom four spots. No. 17 Central Catholic currently leads the Merrimack Valley Conference and No. 18 Medford clinched the Greater Boston League title this week. No. 19 Bishop Fenwick is also leading the Catholic Central. The Crusaders’ consideration was also helped by its upset of Peabody.

Former top 20 teams in Lincoln Sudbury, Acton-Boxborough, and Malden Catholic all lost at least two games last week.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

No. 1 St. John’s Prep continues to roll along this season, taking down Xaverian and St. John’s of Shrewsbury before traveling to Chelmsford and Catholic Memorial for road victories. The Eagles easily retain their top spot this week.

As for No. 3 Peabody, the Tanners move up in the rankings despite a lopsided 6-1 loss to No. 16 Beverly this past Wednesday. What aided Peabody were two losses this week by then No. 3 Newton North. The Tigers dropped two of their three games last week, losing to unranked Weymouth and Woburn respectively.

With the victory over the Tanners, Beverly qualifed for the state tournament and cracked into the Globe Top 20 this week. The Panthers haven’t lost since the first of the month and could easiliy continue to rise up the rankings in the coming weeks. Another team making its top 20 debut is No. 19 Acton-Boxboro. The Colonials defeated Concord-Carlisle and Easton of Pennslyvania this week by a combined scored of 19-7.

A team notably missing from the top 20 this week is defending Division 1 champion Xaverian. The Hawks are just 6-8 on the year and have lost four of their last five contests. An argument could no longer be made for Xaverian among the top 20 teams in Eastern Massachusetts.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

St. John’s Prep went undeated this week so the Eagles retain the top spot in the Globe Top 20, but there was some movement throughout the rankings. Walpole creeped up to the No. 2 after Billerica and Newton North suffered losses this past week. No. 16 Chelmsford rocked the Indians at home last Monday (14-6), the same day the Tigers lost to Natick (9-8).

Walpole scored 13 runs in each of its three games last week, beating Needham, Natick and Weymouth. Thanks to the Newton North loss, both No. 3 Newton North and Walpole now own the same 9-1 Bay State Conference record. BC High also dropped down a few spots to No. 6 after suffering a tough 2-1 loss to No. 17 Lincoln-Sudbury. The past two Wednesdays have not been kind to the Eagles with a loss to St. John’s Prep a week before falling to the Warriors.

No. 19 Silver Lake moved into the Top 20 and probably should have been last week considering the Lakers are 11-1 and first in the Patriot League. The Lakers debut one spot ahead of still struggling No. 20 Xaverian. The Hawks took another loss against St. John’s Prep last Wednesday after falling to BC High two days earlier. It’s been a rough season for the 5-7 Hawks and there’s only so many more losses they can record before exiting the top 20.

See the full Globe baseball Top 20 here.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

1. Chelmsford knocks off Billerica – The Lions went to Billerica’s home diamond Monday and knocked off the previously unbeaten Indians. Chelmsford struggled out of the gate against pitcher Robby Gambale but put everything together in the third inning. After watching the Lions collect three extra-base hits and drive in nine runs in that inning, there’s no reason to leave them off ths list.

2. Down goes Newton North – Newton North also saw its undefeated streak end Monday, losing to Natick, 9-8. The Tigers committed five errors and couldn’t finish a rally in the ninth inning. Newton North had the tying run on base but couldn’t drive it in. The Tigers got close to keeping their undefeated streak alive ... but a loss is a loss.

3. Walpole next on Natick’s list – The Rebels are not undefeated, as Newton North was, but they’ll take on Natick today in what should be a fun game at the Redhawks' home diamond. The Rebels' only loss in their 9-1 season was on the road against none other than Newton North. Natick will be looking not only to improve its 2-5 league record but also knock off the No. 1 team in the Bay State’s Herget Division after knocking off the top one in the Carey Division.

4. Xaverian fighting to get to .500 -- While Walpole and Natick are jockeying for position in the Bay State Conference, Xaverian will be hoping to get back to .500. The Hawks have split their last four contests. They defeated Natick and Brockton before dropping two straight games against Catholic Memorial and BC High. Xaverian will have to knock off the new top dog in the Catholic Conference, St. John’s Prep, to get to 6-6 today. The Hawks have their work cut out, but a win against the Prep would be a huge confidence boost.

5. North Reading continues dominance – While the list of undefeated teams in the state continues to dwindle, North Reading continues to march on. The Hornets trounced Trition, 10-0, in their latest game after defeating Hamilton-Wenham, 7-2, on April 25. The closest call came April 23 against Masconomet, a 6-5 victory. Other than that, it’s been relatively smooth sailing for North Reading, with little reason to doubt the team going forward.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

St. John’s Prep takes over the new No. 1 spot in the top 20 after defeating BC High, 6-5, last Wednesday on the road. Newton North is still undefeated at 10-0 but the the Prep’s schedule against the likes of BC High and Xaverian gave them the edge this week over the Tigers.

As for the fourth and fifth-place spots, it was a hard call between BC High and the Rebels of Walpole. Walpole has played more games (currently 9-1) than the Eagles but if strength of opponents gave the Prep the edge we had to apply that same principal to the close battle for fourth and fith place.

Danvers moved up three spots from last week after going 2-0 since last Sunday. The Falcons are 6-0 on the year, joining Newton North, Archbishop Williams and North Reading in the undefeated top 20 teams club.

As for Coyle & Cassidy, the Warriors might not be undefeated but they are leading the Eastern Athletic Conference at the moment. With an 8-1 overall record paired with an undefeated league mark, the Warriors climbed to the 11th spot this week.

Looking toward the bottom of the rankings, Xaverian stays in the top 20 despite a less-than-stellar record so far this year. Much like last year, the Hawks have struggled to start this season with a 5-4 record. They split their two games this past week, defeating Brockton last Monday but losing to Catholic Conference rival Catholic Memorial on Wednesday. It’s getting harder and harder to keep the Hawks on this list based on anything but name and their Division 1 title from a year ago.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

1. Top two Catholic Conference teams face off Wednesday – Today the battle of the Catholic Conference Eagles will take place at BC High. No. 2 St. John’s Prep will take on its rival in an effort to knock off undefeated BC High. The Prep has played double the amount of games that 4-0 BC High has, but the opening game loss kept it from the Globe Top 20’s first place spot. This is a contest that will shape next week’s top rankings and which team will sit atop the Catholic Conference.

2. Newton North continues strong season – In the Tigers’ most recent game, they pummeled Brookline 10-0 in the team’s eighth straight win. Newton North is undefeated on the season, the Globe’s No. 3 team has surrendered just 20 runs so far. Essentially, this means the Tigers have surrendered just more than two runs a game. If you’re a high school baseball coach with Newton North on your upcoming schedule, good luck to you.

3. Top schools struggle early – Xaverian won the Division 1 title last year, yet the team sits with a 5-4 record. The Reading Rockets have some of the top hurlers in the state like lefty Scott Tulley who is committed to Notre Dame. They sit with just a 2-2 record through four games this year. The Rockets and Hawks are not teams to write off due to early slumps but at some point you’d expect these two to turn things around.

4. Ashland pays tribute to Marathon victims – Fellow Globe correspondent Phil Perry wrote a great piece a few days ago about this, but for those who haven’t read it, Ashland baseball was directly affected by the Boston Marathon bombings as many were. Some of the team’s players were on site at the finish line last Monday and all were thankfully unharmed. The Clockers wrote “P4B” (pray for Boston) on their hats during practice last week in tribute to those injured and killed. Other schools around the state, like the Oliver Ames and Ashland softball teams, paid tribute in their own ways as well. Sports tend to feel trivial in times of tragedy but they also give people an outlet to come together. Ashland and other schools showed that to be true last week and continue to do so this week as well.

5. Hopkinton rallies past Holliston – Hopkinton had just one out left in the seventh inning Monday to rally past Holliston. The Hillers were down 7-6 in their last opportunity at bat in the game. They were able to score seven runs before recording their final out of the top of the seventh. Hopkinton moved to 3-3 on the season after the win and is a team to watch after an impressive victory like the one on Monday.

Alex Hall covers baseball. He can be reached at alexander.hall@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @AlexKHall.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

Undefeated BC High tops the new Boston.com baseball top 20 with some impressive wins already notched. The Eagles have scored at least eight runs in all but one game this year, with the one exception being their 2-1 victory over Malden Catholic.

Conference rival St. John’s Prep takes the No. 2 spot, with its 7-1 record so far. The Prep has played more games and thus won more than BC High, but the opening game blemish against Xaverian keeps it from the No. 1 ranking.

As for Xaverian, the No. 14 Hawks have had a tough go so far. The team has losses to Wellesley, Peabody and Newton North on its resume. While all those defeats came against teams owning a position in the first 13 spots of this top 20, you have to beat top teams when you’re the defending Division 1 champion.

Looking toward the last few spots on the list, No. 18 Reading has had a surprisingly ho-hum start to the season. The Rockets crushed Wilmington and Winchester by a combined score of 22-1 in their first two games, but have dropped two straight against Melrose and Burlington. When the Rockets are at their best, they are a dominant team, but they haven’t always brought their best this year.

View the full Boston.com top 20 baseball list

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

Here are some tidbits in high school baseball this week you should know:

1. BC High storms to top of Catholic Conference – The Eagles have jumped to the head of the Catholic Conference just four games into the season, going undefeated in that span. Norm Walsh was confident about his team’s pitching staff heading into this year and the team has shown why. BC High started the year outscoring Lowell and Brockton by a combined 19-14 before a 2-1 victory over conference rival Malden Catholic. They went on to crush Cheverus (Maine) 12-3. Xaverian is right behind the Eagles at 3-2, but a strong start nonetheless by our neighbors in Boston.

2. Xaverian turns early stumble around – Last week looking at Xaverian, the Hawks had just begun the season 1-2. It was an early stumble after Xaverian had won the Division 1 crown last year. Things quickly turned around with two straight wins against Lincoln-Sudbury and Norwood. The Hawks surrendered just six runs over those two contests as they moved a game over .500.

3. Early battle for first in Catholic Central – Archbishop Williams and Arlington Catholic have both started the season at 4-0 with St. Mary’s at 3-2 in third place. The Bishops and Cougars have both been lighting up scoreboards to start the year. St. Mary’s has suffered two losses but have outscored opponents 26-7 in its three victories. Considering the offense on all three teams, it could be a season full of high-scoring games in the league.

4. Lincoln-Sudbury falling – All Dual County League members have won at least one game this year, but Lincoln-Sudbury can’t say it has won anymore than that. The Warriors have lost to some tough opponents like Xaverian and Nashoba, but a loss is a loss and at No. 19 in the Globe preseason top 20 baseball poll, Lincoln-Sudbury needs to start putting some wins together to stay on the list.

5. Frank Carey reaches 700 wins – If you checked the high school sports blog last night, you probably already heard the news but this milestone is worth mentioning again. North Reading coach Frank Carey recorded win number 700 in a 9-1 victory over Newburyport Monday night. Carey has coached the Hornets for 46 seasons and opened the seasons with 697 wins on his resume. The Hornets have gone 3-0 to start the season and made sure to get their coach to his milestone as fast as possible.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

Longtime North Reading baseball coach Frank Carey notched his 700th career victory on Tuesday. His Hornets cruised to a 9-1 win in Newburyport, thanks to a four-hit 15 strikeout performance by senior RHP Ryan McAuliffe.

Carey is in his 46th season as the Hornets' skipper. During his tenure, the Hornets have played in seven state championship games and won five. In 2009, the North Reading High School Field was named Carey Park in his honor.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Nantucket baseball coach Bill Manchester could not think of a better way for his team to start the season. Despite chilly temperatures for the season opener, junior southpaw Will Ferreira fanned 16 batters and tossed a no-hitter as the Whalers beat Sturgis 5-0 Wednesday.

The three-year starter walked six batters, but still only needed 95 pitches for the no-hitter.

"He was cool and calm under pressure," Manchester said. "He never got rattled. Every time I thought he got jittery, he pitched stronger to the next batter. He had great command and challenged hitters."

The Whalers struck first in the bottom of the first inning when Ferreira came around to score on an Andrew Ray single. In the second inning, Dylan O'Connor drove in John Montgomery as Nantucket took a 2-0 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth, Ferreira helped himself out when he clubbed a two-run triple to stretch the lead to four.

Manchester said that the team is young this season, and Ferreira's performance certainly helped.

"It's a great way for the young guys to play relaxed when you have a pitcher throwing like that," Manchester said.

Before Ferreira drove in two runs, Manchester thought about pulling his pitcher if he allowed a hit. But once Nantucket secured the 4-0 lead, Manchester said it was a no-brainer to let him finish it out.

"Even if I wanted to take him out, which I wouldn't, he wouldn't let me," Manchester said.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

The Acton-Boxboro baseball team picked up its first win of the season Monday but it wasn’t easy. The No. 13 Colonials rallied for five runs in the bottom of the seventh as Noah Zavolas’s two-out single won it, 8-7, in walkoff fashion for A-B over Wayland.

It was the largest last-inning comeback for head coach Patrick Grucela in seven years coaching the Colonials (1-1).

“It was exciting,” said Grucela. “One of the things I try to preach is play every pitch and every out as a separate event and down four in the bottom of the seventh they didn’t give up.”

Trailing, 7-3, Billy Jackman singled to start the seventh, then Peter Zuckerman was hit by a pitch, and Joe Euele followed with a single, his third hit of the game, to load the bases. Sam Watman then singled to score Jackman to make it 7-4.

Joey Peduto hit what should have been a 6-4-3 double play, but the throw from the second baseman was wild, allowing Zuckerman and Euele to score, cutting the deficit to one.

Peduto took third on a wild pitch and Andrew Sweet drove him in with a single to tie the game at 7.

Sweet advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches, setting up the heroics by Zavolas. With two outs, the junior shortstop hit a single down the right field line, scoring Sweet to win the game.

“With our backs against the wall we realized we had to compete and then good things happened,” said Grucela.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

Xaverian, the 2012 Division 1 tournament champions, start the season as the No. 1 team in the Globe baseball Top 20. Given that so few games have been played just yet, these rankings are largely based on last year’s tournament results and the final Globe top 20 rankings from last season.

North Reading comes in at the No. 4 spot after an impressive championship run in the Division 2 tournament last year. Hornets head coach Frank Carey is looking for similar results this season and hoping the team’s pitching will be a big part of that.

“Our first two pitchers combined for 21 of our 22 wins last year. Ryley Warnock is committed to the University of Rhode Island and Ryan McCaughliffe throws around 85 miles per hour,” said Carey.

Others like No. 17 BC High is closer to the No. 20 spot than No. 4 but are hoping to move up the rankings sooner rather than later.

The Eagles and head coach Norm Walsh will have to accomplish this task winning against tough teams like Xaverian and St. John’s Prep in the Catholic Conference.

“Every game turns on one or two plays [in the Catholic Conference]. We’re focusing on making defensive plays and not making mistakes that lead to free runs,” said Walsh.

The season has only just begun and there is plenty of baseball to be played as spring begins to grace the Commonwealth. This list should give fans a good idea of which teams to be on the lookout for in the earlygoings of the season.

See the full Globe baseball Top 20.

By Alex Hall, Globe Correspondent

The calendar says that the spring season has officially begun, but the weather outside -- with snow still on the ground in some communities -- tells a different story.

Despite 50-degree day on Tuesday, the weather in March has caused fits for some high school baseball programs.

"It's gotten to the point where we have had to have practice at 6:30 in the morning until school starts because of snow cover," BC High head coach Norm Walsh said.

"Our track coach came in and asked, 'is this the worst spring you can remember?' And I said yes. I went out [last] Saturday morning to get screens for batting practice and there was ice all over the place near the storage area."

Xaverian athletic director Charlie Stevenson explained its baseball team had been practicing indoors up until last Saturday.

"It's a little cold outside but we're outside practicing [now]," Stevenson said. "As long as there is no snow, we're good. We're hoping to get the season off on time."

Spring teams were allowed to start practicing March 18. First games for all baseball teams are expected Thursday March 28.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

The MIAA's Tournament Management Committee voted Monday to approve a Super 8 tournament for baseball starting in 2014.

The vote was 7-6 in favor. The tournament, similar to the Super 8 hockey tournament that is going on this winter, will begin as a two-year pilot. After two years the MIAA will decide whether to continue with the format. The tournament will include the eight best teams in the state, regardless of division or section. The teams will be selected by an 11-person tournament seeding committee.

In January the MIAA Baseball Committee voted 10-4 in support of the tournament.

By Michelle Fenelon, Globe Correspondent

Here are some interesting tidbits on the girls' basketball scene for the week.

1. Oliver Ames is streaking -- Ninth-ranked Oliver Ames continues to roll after going 4-0 against its Hockomock league opponents. The Tigers have proven to be the team to beat in the league and a major threat in the Division 2 south. The Tigers (10-0) are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the Top 20, behind Reading.

2. You gotta see this -- The game to watch this week will be fourth-ranked Medfield at third-ranked Archbishop Williams 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Medfield enters this game on a hot eight-game winning streak, facing an Archies' (8-3) team whose three losses have all come from out-of-state opponents. This game will be not be close, but Medfield must find away to protect the ball and limit turnovers against Archbishop Williams' halfcourt defense.

3. Outside, looking in -- While Newton North is on the outside of the Boston Globe's Top 20, they made a strong case as to why they should hold a spot on the poll after beating No.1 Braintree on Tuesday. The Wamps got the better of Newton North on Dec.15, but since losing to Braintree earlier in the season, the Tigers have won an impressive 10 straight games.

4. One dynamic duo -- No. 2 Reading's senior guard/forward Olivia Healy, who is averaging 24.5 points per game, and head coach Kim Penney may be the best tandem in the Middlesex League. Despite injuries, the two are leading the No.2 Rockets to another undefeated season. And with Braintree's loss to unranked Newton North, the Rockets may be headed for the top spot in the Globe Top 20 next week.

5. Hot at the right time -- With the February only a week away, Abington picked a great time to go on a hot streak. After a tough loss to Scituate on Dec. 28, Abington has responded by dominating its competition. During the Green Wave's (10-1) five-game winning streak, they are defeating teams by an average margin of 32 points while holding their opponents to an average of 22 points per game.

Michelle Fenelon covers girls' basketball. She can be reached at michelle.fenelon@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MichFenelon.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Malden Catholic sophomore Austin Batchelor has verbally committed to Boston College. The righthanded pitcher's velocity caught the eye of recruiters at a baseball showcase at the Lynn Invitational. He was spitting out 90 miles per hour pitches at only 15 years old.

"He's a Division 1 prospect because of that drive he had back when we was a kid who wanted to succeed in the game," said Rich Gilbride, Batchelor's seven-year AAU New England Firebirds coach.

"Austin would be on the national radar so it was great [Boston College baseball coach Mike] Gambino saw a lot in him."

Batchelor, who is slated to graduate high school in 2015, platooned as a starting catcher as a freshman and broke into the Lancers bullpen rotation to help lead the team to a 14-8 season. He comes from a family of baseball players, his father Dave, is the Lancers assistant baseball coach, and his brothers Beau, Bobby and David all played at the high school and collegiate levels.

The Austin Prep transfer steered Peabody's little league team as a pitcher and shortstop to the 2009 Little League World Series. He's also an honor roll student that plays forward and guard for the Lancers' basketball team.

By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School announced today that Dave Fouracre has been named as its new head baseball coach.

A Massachusetts High School Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame inductee in 2003, Fouracre was the baseball coach at Brockton from 1988 to 2005 where he compiled a 237-151 record with the Boxers which included a Division 1 state championship in 1997.

Prior to Brockton he was the head coach for Oliver Ames High School from 1982-1987. In his high school tenure, Fouracre has guided 118 of his players to college careers and has had six former players drafted by Major League Baseball teams.

Most recently, Fouracre was a coach at UMass-Dartmouth where he spent six years. Prior to that he spent time coaching Bridgewater State and Curry College.

“We are just so excited to bring in such an experienced and successful coach who has a youthful energy and an incredible passion for the game of baseball,” said Whitman-Hanson athletic director Bob Rodgers. “Dave is the perfect fit for our program at this time and I know the kids are in for an incredible experience this spring.”

The Panthers finished with an 8-10 record last season and were 7-6 in the Patriot League where they play out of the Keenan Division.

By Jason Mastrodonato, Globe Correspondent

Plymouth North baseball coach Dwayne Follette, whose job is on the line, denied allegations Thursday that he was involved with underage drinking at a June cookout with his baseball team.

Follette would not comment further on the school’s investigation that stemmed from an anonymous letter sent to the school. The letter claimed the coach and parents saw players drinking, allowed it, and might have been drinking with them.

Plymouth Police had also been pursuing the allegations, though Chief Michael E. Botieri said there was not enough evidence to move forward with charges against Follette and the coach had been cleared by the police, for now.

"The people we’ve talked to, we have nothing to move on," Botieri said. "We have people making allegations to the school, but no one willing to step up. So at this point, we’ve concluded our investigations. It’s still open, any time someone wants to come forward right now, they can."

Pam Myette, mother of John Myette, a senior on the baseball team this spring, had hosted the cookout for the team after Division 2 state title game on June 16, in which Plymouth North lost, 5-0, to South Hadley.

Myette said the letter was filed to the school in an apparent attempt to single out Follette, even though there were two other Plymouth North full-time staff members also at the party.

"They are not being interrogated, so something is not right," she said. "Whether someone has a gripe against Dwayne, we're not sure. But you don't fire someone based on an anonymous letter."

The school released a statement announcing the internal investigation, which includes a series of interviews before the district determines the appropriate course of action for Follette, who has also been the football coach the last two years.

And though Botieri said there have been multiple allegations that have gone through the school, nothing has been filed directly to the police.

"We’re getting a lot of, ‘I talked to a person who said this,’ but that’s all we have," he said. "We can’t substantiate that because no one is willing to say they saw something."

Botieri said everyone he has heard from directly has stepped forward in support of Follette.

“I’d say 99 percent of the players’ parents were present at the party, and we’ve all signed a petition which states there was no impropriety on Dwayne’s behalf that night,” Myette said.

“We saw no alcohol consumption by the kids and we provided no alcohol for them to consume. If they obtained alcohol, which we’re not sure who may or may not have, they were going in the woods and drinking. And Dwayne was certainly not aware.”

Matt Walsh, Follette’s nephew who graduated from Plymouth North in 2011 and a former baseball player, said Follette “has never done anything like that before.”

Walsh started a Facebook page in support of his uncle, which had nearly 700 members as of Thursday afternoon. There were also more than 900 confirmed members attending a rally for the coach at the high school at 6 p.m. on Friday.

"He has brought so much tradition to everyone at North," Walsh said. "I still feel part of North and I'm in in college. But if he is no longer the coach, I will lose the love and feel like there is no tradition."

By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

The 2012 Bay State games have already begun, and there are at least eight Boston public school athletes taking part.

Four athletes hail from Boston Latin, including junior left fielder Malcolm Nachmanoff for baseball, sophomore shortstop Paige Mulry (West Roxbury) in softball, and one of Boston public school’s leading pitchers, sophomore Caitlyn Berry (Roslindale) in softball. In basketball, center Maggie Mulligan (Brighton) will also take part.

Kareem Murrell (Dorchester) and Francis DePina are competing in 9th and 10th grade boys basketball. Both players represent Snowden International.

A top scorer for East Boston, Jonathan Perez (Lowell) is playing for the boys soccer team in the games.

Just one student represents New Mission, Diandra Humphries. She's playing girls basketball.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Monday's inaugural Agganis All-Star women’s and men’s Lacrosse Classics have been postponed due to inclement weather. The games will be played on Wednesday at Manning Field – women at 6 p.m., men at 7:30 p.m.

That means the first competition in Agganis week will be the men's and women's soccer games Tuesday at Manning Field beginning at 5:30 p.m. In addition to lacrosse, Wednesday will have also have baseball and softball at Fraser Field. Thursday is basketball with two games at Lynn Classical. And Friday is the 51st Football Classic at 7 p.m. at Manning Field.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

The Xaverian baseball team finishes the season right where it started, No. 1 in the Globe baseball Top 20. Thanks to a starting rotation of Tim Duggan, Nick Ahearn and Alex Person, the Hawks rode this powerful pitching trio to the Division 1 state title.

It was an up and down season for the Hawks. After starting the season first in the Top 20, Xaverian was knocked out of the list completely after a 5-7 start which included a five game losing streak from April 23rd to May 2nd. But the Hawks showed signs of life in a three game stretch May 15th to the 21st defeating BC High, Peabody and St. John’s Prep, all teams which were in the Top 10 at one point in the season.

As the 15 seed in the South, Xaverian opened the postseason with a 9-3 win over Walpole, the team that finished the regular season as the number one team in the Top 20.
Coach Gerry Lambert said before the season that he likes to start the pitchers off slow, even if it means sacrificing wins early, so they will not burn out come tournament time. The strategy paid off as Lambert didn’t need to make a mound visit, yet alone a pitching change, as the Hawks starters pitched four straight complete games to begin the tournament.

Lambert finally had to go to the bullpen against North champion Lowell, but Chris Hoyt’s two RBI single was the difference as the Hawks advanced to the state final against Algonquin. In that game Hoyt was the star again going 2 for 5 with four RBIs as the Hawks beat the Tomahawks 7-1 for the title.

Throughout six tournament games the pitching (11 runs allowed), hitting (35 runs scored), and coaching by Lambert proved that Xaverian’s mix of strategy and talent was the best in the state.

See the full Globe Top 20 here.

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

The Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Senior and Junior All-Star Games took place a day later than planned on Sunday, after wet grounds in Connecticut forced the postponement.

The senior game, played at 11:30 a.m. was a close one, but the senior all-stars fell to Connecticut, 5-3.

In the junior game that shortly followed the Massachusetts all-stars took down Connecticut, 7-2 thanks to four early runs in the first inning.

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

The Massachusetts senior all-star baseball team will face the Connecticut senior squad, on Saturday at noon at Plainville High School. The junior all-star game will follow at 3 p.m.

The roster for Massachusetts features: INF Nolan Mediros (Coyle-Cassidy); OF Max DiTondo (Marshfield); OF Ryan Olmo (Attleboro); INF Brendan Skidmore (Franklin); INF Regan Aghdam (Burncoat); OF Peter Franchi (Lynnfield); P/1B Matt Tulley (Lowell); INF Cody Hall (Wachusett); OF Manny Powers (Malden Catholic); P/OF Anthony Perry (St. John's); 3B/P Joelfi Arias (Central); P/3B Lee Albertson (Westfield); P/OF Brian Goossens (Minnechaug); P/C Brandon Walsh (No. Andover); P Jason Harper (Northeast); C Nick Greenleaf (Monument Mountain); 1B/C Matt Mortimer (Worcester Academy);

The coaches will be Erik Mandell (Minnechaug), Rich Discenza (Westfield), and Mike Kennedy (Westfield).

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

Three days ago, the Georgetown baseball team hoisted the school's first Division 4 state championship trophy at LeLacheur park in Lowell after defeating Harwich, 11-1. On Friday afternoon, the Royals lined up at Harry Murch park to welcome home another hometown hero: Air Force Colonel Kevin Kennedy.

Kennedy, escorted by three police cars, a fire truck, and two ambulances was surprised by family, friends and the rest of the Georgetown community after serving a one-year tour in Afghanistan.

"This turnout is outstanding, it says a lot about the town and how they support our military," said Kennedy, who has served 22 years. "Coming back to a welcome like that is a little overwhelming, but that's alright. I have two sons that play in the baseball leagues in town and it's great to see that the high school team won it all. It's pretty impressive."

Humbled by Kennedy's kind words, Georgetown baseball coach Justin Spurr says that this event was simply about giving back to the community.

"I made sure [the players] all walked up to him and said thank you because he's a big supporter of the youth program and what we're all about," Spurr said. "It's good for the kids to see something like this. In all that they do and what they want, it's just good to see why they can actually do it."

Kennedy will serve on the Air Staff come mid-July at the Pentagon.

By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

Saturday will mark the end of another exciting year of high school athletics as the baseball and softball state championships will be decided in six games, all being played in Worcester.

BASEBALL
All games will be held at Fitton Field on the campus of Holy Cross.

Division 1: Xaverian (17-8) vs. Algonquin (16-9), 7 p.m.
As the regular season came to a close, you would have had to have been clairvoyant to predict this final. The Hawks of Xaverian finished with a 12-8 regular season and were seeded 15th in Division 1 South while the Tomahawks of Algonquin finished 11-9 and were seeded 10th in the Central. Now it comes down to a test of wills as two stubborn teams get set to collide for all the marbles.

Division 2: South Hadley (11-13) vs. Plymouth North (18-7), noon
Plymouth North is in search of its third Division 2 title in the last five years. They have outscored their opponents 32-7 in five games leading up to the final. After reaching the Division 2 finals two years ago, the Tigers were hungry to get back, but probably figured it would be tough to do after a 7-13 regular season. But their schedule was loaded with Division 1 opponents which will have them ready to go in this one.

Division 3: North Reading (20-4) vs. Mt. Everett (17-8), 3:30 p.m.
North Reading returns to the Division 3 title game for the first time in 26 years seeking a fifth state title under head coach Frank Carey. Three of the five Hornets’ tournament wins have been by one run. Mt. Everett was impressive on its way to becoming the first Western Mass team to reach the D3 title game since 2007. The Eagles rolled over their opponents, outscoring them 31-4 in four games.

SOFTBALL
All games will be held at Worcester State University.

Division 1: Milford (25-0) vs. Malden (24-1), 7 p.m.
A veritable ‘Clash of the Titans’ awaits as arguably the two best teams in the state go toe-to-toe. Milford has been on the doorstep of a state title the past two seasons and the way the Scarlet Hawks dominated opponents on their way to a perfect season shows just how hungry they are to get it. The Golden Tornadoes will be looking for their first ever state title and proved their worth after gutting out one-run wins in the Division 1 North and EMass finals. A matchup of two genuine aces: Gatorade Player of the Year Shannon Smith (Milford) and Kiara Amos (Malden).

Division 2: Grafton (23-1) vs. Abington (23-2), 4 p.m.
In yet another big softball matchup, the Division 2 title game will feature top-seeded teams hungry for glory. Grafton is loaded with talent that has won state titles in the past through youth softball programs in the town. The Green Wave of Abington are making their first ever title appearance.

Division 3: Case (18-7) vs. Turners Falls (20-4), 1 p.m.
Case will be looking to avenge a 1-0 heartbreaking loss to Turners Falls in last year’s final. The Cardinals started the season 0-4 but managed to put it all together and get going at the right time. The Indians will be looking to string together back-to-back titles which would give them four Division 3 crowns over the last six seasons.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Rosters for the annual North vs. South All-Star baseball game were released Thursday. The contest will be held Monday at Fraser Field in Lynn beginning at 7 p.m.

The North's 15-player roster includes pitchers Dan Dymecki (Wellesley, Phillips Andover), Matt Lounsbury (Matignon), Jason Harper (Northeast), Matt Tulley (Lowell), and John Jennings (Newton South). Position players include Steve Girolamo (Peabody), Chris DeLouchrey (Brighton), Gehnsy Troncoso (Salem), Sam Steeves (Latin Academy), Mac Cook (Reading), Peter Franchi (Lynnfield), James Machado (Dracut), Manny Powers (Malden Catholic), Brandon Walsh (North Andover), and Jack LeClair (Waltham).

North coaches are Madison Park's Mike Viggiano and Tewksbury Ron Drouin.

The South roster is 16 strong and includes six pitchers, Zach Schindler (Silver Lake), Luke Nagle (Pembroke), Javier Lozada (New Bedford), Patrick Delano (Braintree), Kevin Kwedor (Marshfield), and Koby Mitchell (Bishop Connolly). Also playing for the South are Brendan Skidmore (Franklin), Adam Fournier (Dartmouth), Sam Jordan (Dover-Sherborn), Evan Mondor (Dighton-Rehoboth), Sean O'Neill (Norwood), Casey DeAndrade (East Bridgewater), Max DiTondo (Marshfield), Ryan Olmo (North Attleboro), Joe Walsh (Taunton) and Bobby Melley (BC High).

South coaches are Marshfield's Bill Battis and Dartmouth's Jeff Sylvia.

By Ryan MacInnis, Globe Correspondent

With Tuesday’s 11-1 Division 4 state championship loss to Georgetown, the Harwich baseball team and their fans chanted, “We are Harwich” one last time. It was the team's final game playing as Harwich. Next year, the school will merge with Chatham.

The two schools will merge on July 1 to become Monomoy Regional School. The plan was voted on Dec. 7, 2010 with the aim to attract new students along with students within each school system to a unique state-of-the-art school.

In January, the MIAA gave Monomoy the “OK” to start an athletic program but Harwich and Chatham will not be housed in the same building until 2014. Both schools would have less than 10 athletes on six or more teams next year, according to the Cape Cod Chronicle, which played a factor in the association's approval of the new athletic program.

Teams that have already been combined at Harwich and Chatham include ice hockey, field hockey, cross-country and football. The baseball team and the rest of the teams from Harwich and Chatham will be combined next year as Monomoy, according to Harwich athletic director Paul "Spanky" Demanche.

After collecting a hat trick in Latin Academy’s 4-3 victory against East Boston in their game during Frozen Fenway this past winter, Kevin Moran delivered an encore performance at Fenway during the Boston City League All-Star game.(Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Even though Kevin Moran collected a hat trick in Latin Academy’s 4-3 victory against East Boston in their game during Frozen Fenway this past winter, he was still nervous when he stepped to the plate at Fenway Park in the first inning of the Boston City League All-Star Game.

“I think it was a bit more crazy because you see the Red Sox play here, I’ve been to a few games already this year,” Moran said after helping the North All-Stars defeat the South, 11-4, in a game that was called after six innings due to darkness. “I still had the same nerves as when I played here in hockey, but it was crazy. It was truly something.”

Moran helped break open the game in his first at-bat with a three-run triple to give the North a 4-0 edge in the opening inning. The North followed with two more runs in the inning.

“That was crazy, just to get to touch all the bases, it was a true crazy feeling,” said Moran, who also played in Latin Academy’s 35-7 loss to Nantucket Division 5 Super Bowl. ”The first pitch I was up there I was like, 'I have to swing at it,' because no matter what my nerves were going crazy. But it was awesome. I was so pumped.

“It was unreal, just a great senior year. I couldn’t ask for anymore, it’s been awesome.”

The game is organized by the Boston Center for Youth & Families and held in partnership with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and sponsored by the Boston Red Sox.

North scored another two runs in both the third and fourth innings before South finally got on the board with a run in the fourth and in the fifth.

In the fifth, South's Frank Rosabal (Charlestown) hit a hard shot to the left field for South that Latin Academy’s Vincent Lopriore snagged over his head.

Lopriore’s throw to first base hit Rosabal in the foot after he rounded first. The umpire called Rosabal for interference and declared it a double play and the inning over.

“He overran the man on first, then there was a question of how many outs there were and I didn’t want to push the envelope because of the light and the darkness,” said South coach Paul Duhaime, who coaches at the Burke.

“I wanted to continue to play ball. When we play young people form the city this is about giving young people the opportunity to be here at Fenway Park and we’re grateful that the Sox gave us the date."

South added its final two runs in the sixth inning before the game was called.

“It was great to get some runs because I think when you get runs at the end of the game it shows that the team didn’t give up,” Duhaime said. “Here at an all-star game there’s no give up. What I liked about today is everybody was upbeat, they were talking with each other, they were helping each other out and they were just doing the best they could do."

On Sunday morning, the North softball all-stars defeated the South, 27-5, at Cobe Field in the Fens. Both the softball and baseball all-star teams attended the Red Sox game against the Washington Nationals later in the afternoon.

“Even though we didn’t win the games the girls were still happy and excited about playing,” South softball coach JoAnne Lee Nieves, who coaches at the Burke, said. “And a lot of them came to the Red Sox game and I think that was probably a first for a lot of them so all in all it was a good day.”

South Boston senior Yaritza Ortero, who hit a home run in the final inning of the all-star game, said she attended her first Red Sox game Sunday.

“It was amazing, I made my dad proud,” she said of her home run. “It was really good, I liked the experience.”

But Ortero said she was disappointed that the softball teams didn’t get to play in Fenway.

Lopriore, who is a junior at Latin Academy, said he hopes the game returns to Fenway next year.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said of playing in Fenway. “Hopefully it’s not my last game here.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

The Boston City League All-Star Classic will return to Fenway Park on Sunday for the first time since 2008. (Globe file photo)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

When the lineups for the City of Boston All-City Baseball Classic were announced at Fenway Park in 2008, longtime Madison Park baseball coach Michael Viggiano was surprised to see the Cardinals’ star centerfielder, Joel Figueroa, stand up in the grandstand with a confused expression on his face.

“They announce Joel Figueroa and he stands up, he’s two sections over from me, he’s probably in section 16 or 17,” Viggiano recalled recently. “He’s supposed to be in the dugout to play. What a golden opportunity lost.

“So that was a funny story.”

A rainout the following year forced the all-star game to be moved to Harvard’s O’Donnell Field, where it was also played the last two years. Viggiano, who coached the game at Harvard twice, said it was a struggle to get full participation at Harvard due to a lack of interest, a lack of transportation and conflicts with graduations and proms.

Full participation shouldn’t be an issue when the all-star game returns to Fenway Park for the first time in three years at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The game is organized by the Boston Center for Youth & Families and held in partnership with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and sponsored by the Boston Red Sox.

Latin Academy baseball coach Anthony Bernazzani will coach the North squad while Burke coach Paul Duhaime will lead the South.

Duhaime said he’s coached at Fenway a couple times since the game was first played there in 2002.

“It’s just a great experience,” he said. “Fenway as we know is the cathedral of all the ballparks so it’s going to be a great experience. I enjoy going there as an adult, coaching, being there and going on the same field as all the legends were on.”

Bernazzani said he's never been the head coach of the all-star game, but he's coached as an assistant.

“Most of coaches in the city go and we all kind of coach collectively," he said. "It’s an honor to be elected by my peers to be a head coach of this game, so I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great game for all the all-stars to get together; the best players in the city to showcase their ability.

"It's great we can do it at Fenway Park. It’s a dream for all of them. It’s great we can make it happen this year at Fenway.”

The game has been rained out on a couple occasions at Fenway. Sunday’s forecast includes a 20 percent chance of rain.

Despite the excitement, Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still said there is still a faction in the city that lobbies him every year to have the game played at the centrally located Boston English High in Jamaica Plain, where the city championships are held annually.

“They consider it a nice, close, easy to get to venue,” he said. “Some people just don’t venture out of [their neighborhoods] as much as they should, but you gotta give that opportunity to the youngsters. The opportunity to sit in the dugout, to experience a piece of Fenway Park is something you will talk about the rest of your life.”

Boston English senior catcher Jessey Valdez is glad the game isn’t being held at his home field when he plays for the South squad on Sunday.

“Sounds like it will be fun, catching there, throwing people out there, getting a couple hits,” Valdez said after Still announced during the city championships that the game will be played at Fenway. “Last year the game was at Harvard. Fenway is a little different. Not everyone gets to play there.”

Valdez’s coach at English, Modesto “Mo” Gomez also said he’s glad the game is returning to Fenway.

“It’s more about the kids,” he said. “I remember when I was first able to coach a base there I felt like them. I know the emotions that go through it.”

Latin Academy pitcher Sam Steeves said he played an RBI tournament at Yankee Stadium two summers ago, but he’s never played at Fenway Park.

“I’m pumped, I’m excited,” he said.

That is likely to be a shared sentiment among Steeves’ fellow all-stars, who aren’t likely to make the same error as Figueroa.

“I nominated him, I might have phrased it wrong by saying ‘I put you in for the all-stars’ instead of saying ‘You are in the all-star game,’ Viggiano recalled. “I don’t know if it was a miscommunication on that or not.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The rosters for Sunday's Boston City League baseball and softball All-Star Classics have been released.

The baseball game will be played at 5:30 p.m. at Fenway Park while the softball game will be at 10 a.m. at Cobe Field in the Fens.

Admission to both games is free.

The games are being organized by the Boston Center for Youth & Families and held in partnership with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and sponsored by the Boston Red Sox.

Latin Academy baseball coach Anthony Bernazzani will coach the North squad while Burke coach Paul Duhaime will lead the South.

Latin Academy softball coach Rocco Zizza will coach the North team and Burke's JoAnne Lee Nieves will coach the South.

Here are the rosters:

Baseball
NORTH: Sam Steeves,Boston Latin Academy; Vinvent Lopriore, Boston Latin Academy; Chris DeLouchrey, Brighton; Jonathan Marrero, Brighton; Danny Auch, East Boston; Manny Martinez, East Boston; Donnell Hightower, South Boston; Frederick O'Brien, South Boston; Kevin Arroyo, Madison Park; David Mercado, Madison Park; Shawn Jaglall, O'Bryant; Jose Vasuez, O'Bryant; Jonathan Bonilla Deleon, West Roxbury; Yendry Guerrero, West Roxbury.

SOUTH: Shaylim Blackwell, Burke; Mark Benjamin, Burke; Frank Rosabal, Charlestown; Alberto Melo, Charlestown; Amie Elmeghni, Dorchester; Manuel Pizarro, Dorchester; Jeffrey Pena, Fenway; Jonathan Vega, Fenway;Leonel Mojica, Boston International; Darwin Ruiz, Boston International; Jancel Cardenas, Snowden; Lewis Medina, Snowden; Jessey Valdez, Boston English; Nelson Barreiro, English; Johamin Vicioso, English.

Softball
NORTH: Rachel Wells, Latin Academy; Rachel Kerrigan, Latin Academy; Virginia McAughey, Latin Academy; Nicole Sandell, Brighton; Alison Davey, Brighton; Dioni Daley, Charlestown; Timesha Leary, Charlestown; Angela Trinh, Dorchester; Shyla Fitzpatrick, Dorchester; Gena White, New Mission; Maxiel Guerrero, New Mission; Kristen Padgett, South Boston; Yaritza Otero, South Boston; Marissa Serrette, West Roxbury; Selena Gonzalez, West Roxbury;

SOUTH: Bradley Sanchez, Boston International; Radhaisa Arias, Boston International; Brenda Calderon, Burke; Renee Pierre, Burke; Mackenzie White, East Boston; Nicolette D'Andrea, East Boston; Kiary Ortega, English; Olga Pena, English; Rachelle Pierre, Fenway; Nehemie Auguste, Fenway; Betsy Maysonet, Madison Park; Krystal Edwards, Madison Park; Evelyn O'Tolle, O'Bryant; Iryelis Lopez, O'Bryant; Tania Ortiz, Snowden; Ana Ortiz, Snowden.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

The moment Ben Waldrip first stepped on the diamond at Medford High, he caught the attention of Mike Nestor.

“Ben was a large, tall gifted athlete who was still coming into his own and really didn’t develop as a pure first baseman and hitter until his sophomore and junior year,” said Nestor, then an assistant coach with the Mustangs, and now the head coach.

“He worked tirelessly at his hands and at his hitting. His attitude and work ethic were by far superior.”

That relentless drive and hard work paid off has paid off for Waldrip. A 6-foot-6, 245-pound first baseman at Jacksonville State, he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round (318th overall) of Major League Baseball's first-year player draft on Tuesday, one of five players with local ties to be selected.

Waldrip, who hit .330 with 18 home runs and 61 RBIs this season, was previously selected by the Atlanta Braves (42nd round, 2010) and the Kansas City Royals (40th round, 2011).

Waldrip, the MVP of the Greater Boston League as a senior, started his collegiate career at Saint Anselm in the Northeast-10 fore a season at Cypress Junior College.

Malden Catholic grad Dario Pizzano, the Ivy League's Player of the Year as a junior at Columbia, went to the Seattle Mariners in the 15th round (461st pick overall).

This season, starting all 44 games in left field, the 5-9, 200-pound left-handed hitter batted .360 with four homers and 36 RBIs. The Globe's Player of the Year in 2009 for coach Steve Frecker at Malden Catholic, Pizzano was a .364 career hitter at Columbia.

“He’s a great worker and a great person,” Columbia coach Brett Boretti said. “He’s really made himself into a really strong hitter and has worked on all facets of his game, and he’s been our best hitter for a few years since he’s been here.

“He’s real consistent at the bat and gotten the most out of his ability and he’s very excited about opportunity that lies ahead.”

Boston College senior shortstop Anthony Melchionda (Thayer Academy/Braintree) was chosen by the world champion St. Louis Cardinals in the 14th round (450th overall). At BC, he was a .310 hitter this season with 35 RBIs and led the Eagles with 39 runs scored.
He ranks sixth all-time in career hits (205) for the Eagles.

At Thayer Academy, Melchionda was named MVP of the Independent School League (ISL) as a senior.

Tewksbury High grad Scott Oberg, a senior right-hander at the University of Connecticut, went to the Colorado Rockies in the 15th round (468th overall) after posting a 5-0 mark (with a 0.99 ERA) out of the bullpen for the Huskies. The 6-2, 205-pound Oberg has a 14-2 career record in Storrs.

He was a two-time Globe All-Scholastic in 2007 and 2008, and was also named the MVP of the Merrimack Valley League both seasons.

"I was thrilled when I heard my name called," Oberg told the Globe's Ryan MacInnis. "[The Rockies] had called a couple of times throughout the draft, so I had a good feeling they were going to take me. ... I've been waiting for this day my whole life."

A number of others received calls on Wednesday, headlined by Southern New Hampshire junior southpaw Tim Flight of Portsmouth, R.I., taken with the 547th pick (17th round) by the Yankees. Flight (9-1, 1.30 ERA) was the ABCA Division 2 Pitcher of the Year.

* LHP Nate Koneski (Holy Cross/Dennis-Yarmouth HS); Mariners, 21st round (581)
* RHP Steve Perakslis (University of Maine/Abington HS); Cubs, 21st (644)
* RHP Travis Dean (Kennesaw State/Worcester Academy/Newton South); Rangers, 22nd (696)
* Tucker Healey (Ithaca/Needham); Athletics, 23rd (709)
* LHP Andrew Leenhouts (Northeastern/Franklin HS); Giants, 23rd (718)
* OF Rhett Wiseman (Buckingham, Browne & Nichols, Mansfield); Cubs, 25th
* 1B Chris Shaw (Lexington HS); Mets, 26th (800)
* RHP Dennis Torres (UMass-Amherst, Central Catholic); Orioles, 28th (852)
* OF Michael Yastrzemski (Vanderbilt/St. John's Prep); Mariners, 30th (911)
* LHP Brent Suter (Harvard); Mariners, 31st (965)
* LHP Andrew Ferreira (Harvard/Bishop Hendricken/Rehoboth); Twins, 32d (970)
* 1B/C Jon Leroux (Northeastern/Auburn); Mets, 32d (980)
* LHP Chris Pickering (Rhode Island); Giants, 32d (988)
* RHP Pat Delano (Braintree HS); Red Sox, 35th (1081)
* C Jacob Kapstein (Tiverton, R.I.); Tigers, 35th (1084)

They join University of Memphis pitcher Dan Langfield of Somerset, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round (109th overall).

Langfield compiled a 7-6 record with a 2.79 earned run average in 93.2 innings this season. He wrapped up his career with 252 strikeouts, ranking third all-time in program history.

Langfield tweeted:

"Couldn't be happier where I ended up playing college for the U of Memphis. Now moving on to the Cinci Reds! Can't wait! #gotigersgo #Reds"

Langfield, a member of Somerset's Division 2 state championship team in 2006, was an Eastern Athletic League all-star as a senior in 2009 when he struck out 118 in 57.1 innings with a 5-2 mark and 0.85 ERA.

He is following in the footsteps of his father, Paul, who pitched at Providence College before brief stints in the minors with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers.

Update: Rhett Wiseman was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 25th round of the MLB Draft (764th overall).

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

On Monday night, BB&N senior Rhett Wiseman had friends over to watch the MLB Draft. After the first 60 picks concluded day one and Wiseman’s name wasn’t called, the center fielder was not disappointed. When day two of the draft was also completed and Wiseman still was not selected, it was something he expected.

“Teams knew what it was going to take to sign me,” said Wiseman. “You set a number and stick to it. I wasn’t going to lower what I value myself at. I knew my number may be too high so I was ok with not getting drafted.”

With the new collective bargaining agreement making it hard for MLB teams to sign players drafted after the 10th round to contracts greater than $100,000, Wiseman knows his number will not be met. It means that instead of turning pro, Wiseman is now 100 percent sure he will be attending Vanderbilt University in the fall, the school at which he committed to a baseball scholarship his sophomore year.

“I hopefully have the three best years of my life ahead of me at Vanderbilt and hopefully in three years I will have the chance to be drafted again,” said Wiseman.

The choice was not an easy one.

“This past week and a half has been really tough and emotional. During the season you think of how awesome it would be to get drafted, but it’s not real until two days before when you have to make a tough decision,” said Wiseman. “If you tell teams a price you stick to it.”

This summer Wiseman will play for the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League along with other college players. During the Rox 56 game schedule, Wiseman will accumulate 200-250 at bats.

“It will be my first time facing college pitching every night,” said Wiseman. “It will put me in midseason form for when I go to Vanderbilt.”

Medford native Ben Waldrip was drafted Tuesday in the 10th round of the MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. Waldrip just completed his senior year at Jacksonville State University, hitting .330 while leading the team in home runs (18) and RBIs (61).

The slugging first baseman played at Medford High and was named the Greater Boston League MVP after hitting over .400 in his senior season. He was a GBL all-star for three years finishing his high school career with a .357 batting average and 12 homers. He also lettered in football and basketball at Medford.

Last summer Waldrip played for the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape League. He was named the starting first baseman for the Eastern Division All-Star team and was second on the Cape in home runs (6) and RBI (23) while batting .276 on the season. Waldrip also played two summers in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the North Shore Navigators and was named an NECBL All-Star in 2009.

By Lorenzo Recupero, Globe Correspondent

Somerset native Dan Langfield, a senior pitcher at the University of Memphis, was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round of Major League Baseball's First-Year draft on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound righthander, the first player from Massachusetts taken in the draft, was the 109th pick overall, the highest selection by a Memphis player since 1997.

Langfield compiled a 7-6 record with a 2.79 earned run average in 93.2 innings this season. He wrapped up his career with 252 strikeouts, ranking third all-time in program history.

He tweeted "Couldn't be happier where I ended up playing college for the U of Memphis. Not moving on to the Cinci Reds! Can't wait."

Langfield, a member of Somerset's Division 2 state championship team in 2006, was an Eastern Athletic League all-star as a senior in 2009 when he struck out 118 in 57.1 innings with a 5-2 mark and 0.85 ERA.

He is following in the footsteps of his father, Paul, who pitched at Providence College before brief stints in the minors with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers.

Saturday is a good day to be a volleyball player.

Due to the inclement weather, most tournament events scheduled for Saturday have been been postponed. The baseball, softball, lacrosse games and tennis tournaments have all been effected.

Most games are scheduled to resume Sunday or Monday. The MIAA had previously moved the state track championship, scheduled for Saturday, to Monday.

Look for updates on postponements on the MIAA website.

By Liz Torres, Globe Correspondent

Buckingham Browne & Nichols center fielder Rhett Wiseman was named Massachusetts Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year, the first-ever student athlete to be selected from BB&N.

Wiseman led the Knights (16-5) with a .444 batting average, eight home runs, 24 RBIs and 26 runs scored. The 6-foot-2 senior is a First Team Rawlings/Perfect Game All-American and three-time First Team All-League honoree.

His accomplishments have earned Wiseman the nation's No. 42 senior by ESPNHS. The student-athlete demonstrated leadership off the the field as the president of his class along with his participation in fundraisers to benefit the American Cancer Society.

Wiseman has committed to Vanderbilt University on a baseball scholarship.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

After winning the Boston City League championships on Monday, Boston English earned a No. 4 seed in the Division 2 North state championship bracket and home field advantage in the first round.

The Blue & Blue (13-5) will host Gloucester at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

“It’s good for the fans, they get to watch the team play and [it's good for] the kids too,” English High coach Modesto “Moe” Gomez said of having home field advantage before noting that he’s glad the game is not in Gloucester. “[We] might’ve had to take a plain to get up there. That’s far.”

Gomez said he doesn’t have the “slightest idea” about how good of a team No. 13 Gloucester (10-10) is but he said he will start junior pitcher Johamin Vicioso, who earned the victory in the city championships semifinal.

“He’s a very good athlete, he would’ve pitched on Monday if I let him,” Gomez said. “He’ll be ready for it. … We’re on a roll right now. The kids are playing well. I’m glad we don’t have to wait too long [to play], that way we can just keep playing.”

Latin Academy, who lost to English 5-3 in Monday’s city championship tilt, will also play in the Division 2 North bracket against No. 7 Burlington (12-8). The No. 10-seeded Dragons (11-9) will play at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Burlington.

In the Division 1 North bracket, No. 15 Latin School (11-9) will meet No. 18 Central Catholic at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

In the Division 3 North tournament, No. 15 Brighton (9-9) will host No. 18 Saugus (7-13) at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Madison Park (7-10) snuck into the Division 3 North bracket as a No. 17 seed and will play at No. 16 Stoneham (9-11) at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Finally, Boston International and Fenway will compete in Division 4 North.

No. 4 International (12-6), who lost to English in the semis of the city tournament, will host the winner No. 5 Trinity Catholic and No. 12 North Shore Tech at 4 p.m. on June 4.
No. 7 Fenway (10-8) will host No. 10 Georgetown at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe

Boston English junior Jomar Ventura (No. 6) celebrated with his teammates after collecting the winning hit in the Boston City League championship on Monday.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

When the ball bounced off the tip of Jamar Ventura’s glove in the fourth inning of the Boston City League championship game on Monday morning, the first thing that went through Boston English High’s junior right fielder was that his coach was "going to kill him." The second thought that crossed his mind was that his coach would be even more mad if he didn’t get the ball as quick as possible.

Thanks to Ventura’s hustle, the error only scored one run but it still gave Latin Academy a 3-1 lead. And to his surprise, his coach and teammates could not have been more supportive after he got back to the dugout.

“I was upset, it was a line drive and it was curving and I went in to get it and it bounced off my glove and after that I just ran to get the ball because if not [English High coach Modesto “Moe” Gomez] would’ve killed me again.

"They were telling me 'Forget about it, next inning, next ball you'll catch it.' Even my coach he didn’t yell at me. He just told me 'Next inning make up for it and I made up for it."

Ventura more than made up for the error in the fifth inning.

His two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the inning scored English’s third and fourth runs of a four-run rally and secured the 5-3 victory — the Blue & Blue’s third city championship since the tournament was reinstated in 2007.

“I just saw the ball coming and I swung,” Ventura said. “Once I saw it go through the fielders I was just happy, relieved I got a hit. ... It really felt good."

Gomez said the play epitomized what he has been preaching to his team all day.

“I told them all today we had to let it out today, we couldn’t make excuses,” Gomez said. “And that’s what [Ventura] did. He made the mistake and it didn’t matter and he had to get the ball and that’s what he did. When he came in I told him to ‘Forget about it. There’s nothing you can do about it now just come back the next play and that’s what he did.’

“He came up big. I’m glad that he stuck it out. He didn’t labor on it.”

Going into the fifth inning, Latin Academy pitcher Vincent Lopriore had only given up one hit and an unearned run. After Lopriore secured the first out of the inning, Frankely Gonzalez doubled to center field before four batters were walked and two runs scored to tie the game at 3-3.

Then, on a 3-and-2 count, Ventura single to left to score Wanderson Pinales and Jessey Valdez to take the 5-3 edge.

“Vince got a little rattled, walked a couple guys and was getting squeezed a little bit and just lost his composure for a second,” said Latin Academy senior shortstop and pitcher Sam Steeves, taking a break from fielder ground balls with his dad after the loss.

“That’s all it takes and they got the two runs.”

Gomez said it’s difficult for a high school athlete to put an error behind them and come up big at the plate, especially with as boisterous of a crowd that was at the city championships.

“That’s what I tell all of them, no matter what happens you still gotta keep going on,” Gomez said. “Things aren’t going to be easy in life and today was a big testament to that. We failed but we didn’t fail. We had to come back and keep playing.

"I’m glad he showed his toughness right there.”

Both Gomez and Ventura said the play and the victory gives them a huge amount of momentum going into their first-round state tournament game against Gloucester at 4 p.m. on Thursday at English High in the Division 4 North bracket.

“We’re just going to keep on winning and try not to lose and keep the momentum,” Ventura said. “We haven’t lost in a while so hopefully we will keep on winning. This will give us a boost up I think we have a chance to win if we keep on playing like this.”

Ventura is also happy that he has made his mark with the Blue & Blue (13-5), which also has players from New Mission High since they don't have their own team. Ventura said that might change next year when New Mission moves from their current school in Mission Hill into the old Hyde Park High building.

“It was a lot of pressure, I was really nervous," he said of his final at-bat. "I was just happy to make contact and once I saw it go over their heads everything just went away. I don’t know, I was so happy.

“I’m just happy to be able to win with the team that I started with.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The Boston City League baseball all-star game will return to Fenway Park next month after a short hiatus at Harvard’s O’Donnell Field.

The annual City of Boston All-City Baseball Classic will be at 5:30 p.m. on June 10 at Fenway Park.

The game is organized by the Boston Center for Youth & Families and held in partnership with the Boston Scholar Athlete Program and sponsored by the Boston Red Sox.

The game was held at Harvard the last two years. Three years ago it was scheduled to be played at Fenway but had to be moved to Harvard due to inclement weather. It was last played at the iconic ballpark in 2008.

In the last three years the all-star game has struggled to garner full participation due to a lack of interest, lack of transportation to Harvard or conflicts with graduations and proms.

Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still said Fenway Park should help remedy participation issues.

“Fenway Park is a lure because it’s Fenway park, you have people coming from all over the world to sit in Fenway Park,” Still said during a telephone interview on Tuesday morning. “To have a chance to play there as a youngster and baseball person, that’s overwhelming.”

Still announced that the game will be back at Fenway during the Boston City League championship baseball game on Monday morning at Boston English High.

On Tuesday morning, he said he hopes the weather cooperates this year.

“[Fenway is] very tough to get but when we’re able to I say take advantage and let’s do it,” he said. “I hope they are able to get on the field and represent."

The BSA’s new Athletic Director, Chris Rooks, said “It’s an amazing opportunity for the kids.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Latin Academy’s ace pitcher Sam Steeves pitched in the Boston City League semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon against East Boston and won’t be available for Monday’s championship against North conference rival Boston English. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Latin Academy’s ace pitcher Sam Steeves pitched in the Dragon’s city championship semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon against East Boston and won’t be available for Monday’s championship against North conference rival Boston English.

The Dragons (11-8) defeated the Central conference champion Jets 12-3 as Steeves (4-2) got the win by striking out 10 batters and allowing five hits in six innings.

But Steeves, who pitched twice against North conference champions Boston English during the regular season, will not get the ball in the title game at 10 a.m. Monday at English High.

“At this point in the season we’re down to a three-man rotation, it was his turn to come up,” Latin Academy coach Anthony Bernazzani said of Steeves after Saturday’s game. “You gotta win today to get to Monday. It was his turn in the rotation. He’s been our best pitcher and you gotta go with your No. 1 to get to Monday.”

Junior Vincent Lopriore will pitch Monday while Steeves plays shortstop.

Bernazzani said Steeves won’t be available to pitch in relief either.

“It’s not the smart thing to do, you’re setting him up for injury,” he said of Steeves. “Although he would [pitch] in a second. But I would never do that to him.”

English and Latin Academy split their season series. English won the first meeting, 5-4, on Jessey Valdez’s walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning on April 25. Steeves struck out Valdez, his friend and American Legion teammate, in the last at-bat to clinch a 6-3 victory in Latin’s May 16 meeting with English.

“Vince is also a very good pitcher so we’re excited,” Steeves said when asked if he was disappointed about not pitching on Monday. ‘We’re really comparable on the mound anyway and it’s a different look. As long as we get our bats going early like we did today, we’ll be fine.”

Latin Academy scored six runs in the opening inning against Eastie on Saturday.

“That’s what we talked about, coming out early and scoring a bunch of runs and playing tight the rest of the way,” Bernazzani said.“We played a lot of close games [this season] so hopefully we know what to do in a close game. We preached, focus on every single pitch.”

Bernazzani and Steeves said they fully expect Monday’s game against English to be close.

“We’re not done, we gotta get the big one on Monday,” Steeves said. “We’re trying not to get too excited about this one because English is much better than East Boston. The game is going to be tough. English is a good team.”

East Boston finally got on the board on Saturday in the fifth inning when senior infielder Kevin Lara hit a base hit but advanced the third when the throw to first was overthrown. He scored after a wild pitch hit the backstop.

The Jets (7-11) added another two runs in the sixth inning when sophomore Michael
Theriault hit a 2 RBI double that brought home junior Manuel Martinez and freshman John Cinelli.

“I was glad that we didn’t quit,” East Boston coach Phil Brangiforte said. “Latin Academy is a good team. They hit the ball well. We struggled to hit the ball but we turned it on at the end there. We hung tough. We’re a young team and we’re looking for good things.”

Offensively, Latin Academy was led on Saturday by infielder Brendan Woods who was 3 for 4 with an RBI. Sophomore outfielder Edward Funes was 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Lopriore, who will pitch Monday’s championship game, was 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs.

“Two good teams are going at it for the city title,” Bernazzani said. “That’s how it should be.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Boston English High prevailed against Boston International on Saturday afternoon despite senior outfielder Anthony Aviles (above) being tagged out at home plate in the second inning. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Boston English’s baseball team punched its ticket to the city championship final on Saturday afternoon for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008.

The Boston City League North conference regular season champions beat the South conference champs Boston International 11-4 in the first semifinal of the day at English High.

English will meet its North conference rival, Latin Academy, in the championship game 10 a.m. Monday, also at English High. Latin Academy defeated Central conference champion East Boston, 12-3, in the day’s second semifinal.

Saturday also marked first-year English coach Modesto “Moe” Gomez’s first trip to the city championships.

“It’s an accomplishment,” said Gomez, who coached at Hyde Park for eight years. “That, as a coach, is what you want, to take a team to the championship game. That’s the kids' accomplishment. The kids did it, not me.”

The game had all the makings of a slug fest after International took a 3-2 lead in the first inning.

English struck first when sophomore outfielder Wanderson Pinales had an RBI triple to score sophomore shortstop Frankley Gonzalez. Senior designated hitter Bryanne Toney knocked in Pinales with a single.

International (12-4) responded when junior left fielder Nelfry Velez knocked in senior second baseman Frank Angeli Rosario and freshman shortstop Frank Rosario. Freshman catcher Darwin Ruiz sent Velez home on a sacrifice ground out.

But English broke open the game with five runs in the second inning to take a 7-2 lead. Senior catcher Jessey Valdez’s two-RBI triple scored Pinales and sophomore infielder Miguel Calderon.

“They were killing me outside and low,” Valdez said of grounding out in the first inning. “My second at bat, I just focused on the outside pitch and killed the at bat.”

English could have had two more runs in the second inning but had base runners thrown out at third and at home. Senior outfielder Anthony Aviles hit what should’ve been a triple before Gomez waved him home.

“I was being a little bit aggressive,” Gomez said. “That was my fault, sending [Aviles] home. I just wanted to keep aggressive and force the game against Boston International because they came out swinging their bats so I didn’t want to let them get too comfortable.

“They started off well. The game settled down for both teams in the middle innings but they started out with a bang.”

Valdez was a little worried when English didn’t pick up the two extra runs.

“At first they had a really good turn up so when Anthony [Aviles] got that triple but he got thrown out at first, that got us a little worried,” Valdez said. “At the beginning of the game, we kept scoring and they kept scoring so we thought it would be a good game. Later in the game I was wondering what happened because they have a good lineup and a lot of good hitters.”

Boston International lost in the semifinals of the city playoffs last year as well.

“This is a young team, almost everyone coming in was new except for my pitcher and second baseman,” International coach Christian Irizarry said. “We hope next year we will be here with more experience.”

First, International will try to make a run in the state tournament this spring.

“Now we’re going to put more effort and heart into the states,” junior first baseman Junior Perdomo said.

Senior third baseman Bryan Toney went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI for English.

Junior pitcher Johamin Vicioso got the win after allowing five hits, striking out four batters and walking three in six and 1/3 innings.

English’s ace, junior Nelson Barreiro, struck out two in 2 and 1/3 innings of relief pitching.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

A week after winning the 500th baseball game of his career, BC High baseball coach Norm Walsh was suspended by the Dorchester school, ‘‘for the remainder of the season for inappropriate use of language,’’ according to athletic director Jon Bartlett.

Walsh will continue as a teacher at BC High. He has been replaced by his assistant, John Lynch, who coached the team at the Eagles game at Quincy Friday.

Walsh, a 1970 graduate of BC High, recorded his 500th win when the Eagles beat Malden Catholic May 17. BC High won the Catholic Conference title this spring and is one of the favorites in the MIAA Division 1 tournament, which starts next week.

Walsh was inducted into the BC High Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2009, the same year his team won their second straight state championship.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Only one thing is certain when the city league baseball playoffs begin Saturday -- there will be a new champion in Boston.

With defending champion Madison Park on the sidelines, the 2012 title is up for grabs. In the first of two games at Boston English in Jamaica Plain, the host Blue & Blue will face Boston International at 10 a.m., followed at 1 p.m. by Latin Academy against East Boston.

English takes the field with an 11-5 record and is led by City League All-Stars Nelson Barreiro, Wanderson Pinales, and Jesie Valdez. English has won six of its last seven games. Boston International is 8-4 and will look to its all-star trio of Junior Perdomo, Frank Rosabel, and Nelfy Velez.

In the second game, LA enters semifinal action at 10-8 and is led by Vincent Lopriore, Sam Steeves, and Brendan Woods. The Dragons have lost their last two games. East Boston is 6-6 and will turn to all-stars Conner Henry, Manny Martinez, and Michael Theriault.

Saturday's winners advance to the city title game Monday at 10 a.m. back at Boston English.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Boston English, Latin Academy and East Boston have clinched spots in the Boston City League baseball championships, according to a Boston schools’ athletic department official.

Boston International can clinch the fourth and final spot in this weekend’s championships by taking one game in a doubleheader against Charlestown on Thursday. If Boston International loses both games, however, Fenway High would sneak into the championships, the official said.

The top two teams from the North conference qualify for the city championships while the top teams from the Central and South conferences go to the championships.

In the North conference, Boston English finished in first place while three other teams (Latin Academy, Madison Park and Brighton High) tied for second place.

The tiebreaker for second-place in the North came down to run differential, which is the third in a series of tiebreakers. Latin Academy’s run differential was nine while Madison Park's was zero and Brighton’s was negative nine.

Brighton failed to qualify despite squeaking out a 4-3 victory against Latin Academy on Wednesday.

The semifinal games will be played at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday at English High while the championship game will be played 10 a.m. on Monday, also at English High.

The athletic department will announce the softball city championship matchups on Friday afternoon.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Cat Calsolaro, Globe Correspondent

The unranked Norwood High Mustangs (13-5) took down the state's top baseball team Wednesday night in decisive fashion.

Senior Sean O'Neil pitched a complete game in a 4-0 win against visiting Walpole, for his third victory of the season.

O'Neil was aided by the defense of center fielder Peter Kelly, who made two spectacular diving catches.

The only other loss for Walpole, which has the Bay State League wrapped up at 17-2, was a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Brookline (12-8).

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe

Latin Academy pitcher Sam Steeves dives into third base during a loss to Brighton on Wednesday afternoon at English High.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

With a trip to the Boston City League tournament on the line, the Brighton baseball team had to pull out a 4-3 win over Latin Academy on Wednesday afternoon at English high school, but they're status is still up in the air.

With the victory, the Bengals aren’t guaranteed a spot in the tournament. They're currently tied with the Latin Academy. A set of various tie-breakers will determine which team makes the tournament. Had Brighton lost, the Bengals would have been eliminated from the city's postseason.

“I don’t understand how the tie-breaker go. It has all kind of mumbo-jumbo,” Brighton coach Bill Mahoney said.

The Dragons scored two runs in the seventh inning before Brighton was able to stop the bleeding and claim the win.

The Bengals got off to an early start, scoring a run in the first inning, stringing together two hits, a hit batter and aggressive base running to score.

Latin Academy answered in the bottom half of the first. Pitcher Vincent LoPriore (3 for 4, 2 RBIs) singled in first baseman Kevin Moran who reached after getting hit by a pitch.

Brighton pitcher Chris DeLouchrey settled down after the first, getting 1-2-3 innings in both the second and fourth frames. He finished the game with seven innings pitched and 12 strikeouts. He allowed six hits and walked five.

“We had the big guy on the mound, he’s a force,” Mahoney said. “He was good when he had to be. He had two strikeouts in the seventh and was cruising and then all of a sudden they had a chance to win the ballgame.”

The Bengals added a run in the second off an RBI single from leadoff hitter Jesus Soto. They scored two more across in the fifth, taking advantage of walks and miscues from the Dragons defense. Randi Herrera (0 for 3) picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

“We don’t score a lot of runs as a team,” Mahoney said. “Four is what we have been scoring the last few games.”

DeLouchrey and the Bengals were on cruise control heading in the bottom of the seventh frame, and the star pitcher struck out the first two batters.

But Latin Academy hung tough, stringing together three hits and a walk to net two runs. Moran picked up an RBI on a single up the middle and LoPriore picked up his second RBI with a single to short right field.

Mahoney called a timeout to speak to DeLouchrey.

“I told him to look into the bullpen and see our relief pitching, and there is nobody there,” Mahoney said. “So it’s all your game.”

With runners on second and third, two outs and a trip to the city tournament on the line, the senior pitcher came through, striking out the final batter to cement the victory.

Brighton needs to win one of its next two games to qualify for the state tournament.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Tuesday's full slate of Boston schools' baseball and softball games has been canceled due to inclement weather, wreaking havoc on the race for the city championships. The softball and baseball city championships are slated for this weekend but mother nature is making it difficult to determine who will be playing.

In softball, East Boston (9-6, 8-0) and O’Bryant (7-5, 7-3) are poised to represent the North conference in the city championships while Latin Academy (9-10, 7-0) and South Boston (9-3, 9-3) and Dorchester (8-3, 8-3) are fighting for the South conference slot.

The forecast isn’t much better for Wednesday, when Brighton and Latin Academy are slated to square off in a baseball battle that could be the key to determining who represents the North conference in the baseball city championships.

In baseball, the top two teams from the North conference qualify for the tournament so
English High is also in the running to make cities.

The top team from the Central and South also qualify for cities. East Boston is looking like the runaway leader in the Central conference while Boston International and Fenway are battling to represent the South conference.

International (8-3, 5-1), which has already had eight or nine rain outs this year, has several conference games to make up this week. They are slated to play a double header against Charlestown on Thursday and back-to-back games against Snowden and Burke on Friday.

Boston International coach Christian Irizarry said he has plenty of pitching to get his team through the nonstop schedule of games.

“I have five arms besides my regular pitcher,” he said. “So for our league we are pretty good in terms of pitching.”

Fenway (9-7, 7-3), which clinched the state tournament for the first time in eight years on Monday, feels like they deserve to be the South representatives in the city tournament, especially because they defeated Boston International, 8-4, on Saturday. International beat Fenway 6-5 earlier in the season.

First-year Fenway coach David Walsh said his team would go to cities if the tiebreak came down to runs scored.

“We would definitely do damage in the cities,” he said. “If we don’t get in at least I know we’re in states.”

If the remainder of Boston International’s league games are rained out, it’s unclear how they will be counted in the standings.

“If I don’t play anyone because of the weather why should [Fenway] be on top?” Irizarry said.

The baseball city championship semifinals will be at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday at English High. The title bout will be on Monday at 10 a.m.

The softball semifinals will be at 11 a.m. at Clemente and Cobe Fields in the Fens. The championship game will be at 10 a.m. on Monday at Cobe Field.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

Xaverian's baseball team extended its win streak to five games and earned a postseason berth after toppling Catholic Conference powerhouse and No. 5 ranked St. John’s Prep, 2-0, Monday at home.

The Hawks (10-1, 3-4) have now downed another ranked team this week along with No. 6 BC High and No. 16 Peabody.

"This was a big win for us because before the season one of our big goals it to pick up the 10th win and play into the postseason,” said head coach Gerry Lambert. “Hopefully we can finish up strong and can carry the momentum into the post season.”

Senior pitcher Tim Duggan (3-1) recorded five strong innings, scattering five hits while collecting six strikeouts to earn the win. He showed poise in the fifth inning when he struck out an opposing batter on a full count while facing a bases loaded situation with one out.

Duggan (1 for 3) also showed his versatility early on after singling to left field to knock in senior captain and second baseman Chris Hoyt, who drilled a leadoff single early in the first inning.

“You count on your seniors to be the backbone of your team,” Lambert said. “They are the ones that have carried us to the level of success that we have had this season and Tim has been one of those terrific competitors.”

In the bottom of the fifth, first baseman Mike LaVita singled to center field to lead off the inning and advanced to second base after a sacrifice bunt by senior Mark Stefaniak. With two on, sophomore catcher Andrew Elliott laced a single to right field to drive in Lavita to put the Hawks up 2-0.

Stefaniak entered the sixth inning to relieve Duggan and recorded his first save of the season after giving up two hits and striking out two batters in two innings to hold off the Prep.

“When we were 5-6, I thought we were in trouble, but at a certain point you have to stop the bleeding, and you have to understand that when you play a tough schedule you have to make sure you qualify for the post season,” Lambert said. “This win was a strong testament to the team’s mental toughness. Now we have been able to put that losing streak behind us and move forward with positive momentum.”

The Hawks look to continue their win streak against Catholic Conference rival Catholic Memorial Tuesday.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Fenway stole 12 bases en route to defeating Charlestown, 8-2, at Ryan Field Monday afternoon to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in eight years.

The Panthers (9-7, 7-3 Boston City League South) even stole home. Junior infielder Eddie Santos avoided the tag at the plate to tie the game at 2 in the fifth inning.

“It’s mad exciting,” said Santos, who logged three steals on the day. “It’s really exciting. You’re out there on third and you don’t know when coach will tell you to run. You don’t know when you’re going to get the call. If his windup is slow you just go. It’s not expected. Nobody thinks you are going to steal home plate.”

Anyone who has watched Fenway, however, should expect it from Fenway.

The Panthers, who average 10 stolen bases a game, have stolen home 10 times this season and have only been caught once.

“We’re aggressive on the base paths,” Santos said. “That’s how we win games. If we run bases well it’s always going to be a good game. It brings us momentum and it changes the game.”

Santos started the game on the mound but was replaced by senior pitcher Jeff Pena after he allowed Charlestown senior pitcher Frank Rosabal to knock in runs in the first and third innings. Rosabal recorded the loss for the Townies (5-8, 5-6) after striking out 10 batters, dropping to 3-4.

“That was the strongest he had pitched this year up until that last inning there,” said Charlestown coach Matt Sances. “There was a couple of errors there. He almost carried us.”

Fenway sophomore outfielder Julian Gonzalez knocked in Pena in the sixth inning to go up, 3-2, Fenway broke open the game in the final inning with five runs, including Pena’s 3-run triple.

“I was just winging it, I had to hustle it out,’’ Pena said. “I was a little winded — I’m not going to lie. I felt like we needed those runs.”

Pena entered the game with his team down, 2-1, with the bases loaded in the fourth and no outs. He struck out nine in four innings, including the first three batters he faced. Charlestown also left the bases loaded in the sixth.

Sances said he's proud of his team, which features seven underclassmen.

“This is a big jump, there’s a big — obviously — skill level jump as you get older in baseball,” Sances said. “It’s tough for freshman to play against seniors in there. The fact that they even hang in the games is a credit to how they play.”

Pena improved to 6-3 and has struck out more than 80 hitters. He said he's looking forward to being the underdog in the state tournament.

“That’s a big deal to us because we haven’t been in eight years,” Pena said. “I feel like we can do it though, I don’t feel the pressure [of being the ace]. I feel the pressure is on the other team to beat us.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe

Brighton senior pitcher Chris DeLouchrey has struck out 75 batters in 38 innings this season. The former Dedham High pitcher has used baseball to help him overcome several obstacles in his personal life.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

After giving up 11 hits in a 12-8 season-opening loss to West Roxbury, Brighton senior pitcher Christopher DeLouchrey responded by striking out 18 batters in his next outing against Boston English and 15 in the outing after that against the defending city champs, Madison Park.

“He only stuck out 10 today; poor, poor performance,” Brighton High coach Bill Mahoney chided his ace after an 11-0, 5-inning mercy against West Roxbury May 3 at Rogers Park.

Brighton's coach for the last 12 years went on to say that the senior is probably the best pitcher the Bengals have ever had.

“[His stats] are wild, off the charts," Mahoney said as DeLouchrey blanched beside his coach. "He throws strikes, he’s got movement; if you got movement and you throw strikes and you got location you are probably going to win two out of three games.

“The problem is he puts our outfielders and infielders to sleep. Who wants to play with him when he’s striking everybody out? They’ve got gloves on their hands; they want the ball hit to them."

The 17-year-old West Roxbury native, who pitched the last three seasons for Dedham High before moving back to the city, has had a wild start to his first season with Brighton, in which he’s struck out 75 batters in 38 innings.

“It’s been crazy, I didn’t expect my second game to be 18 Ks, it just happened like that. I didn’t think I was going to get that big in that short of a time," said DeLouchrey (3-3, 1.51 ERA). "It feels good, it feels good to be noticed.”

Brighton (7-7 overall, 3-4 Boston City League North) will put DeLouchrey on the mound on Wednesday against Latin Academy with a spot in the City Championships on the line.

Brighton lost to the Dragons, 3-2, this past Thursday but a victory on Wednesday would force a tiebreak. The Bengals also need to win two of their last four games to qualify for the state tournament for the 13th consecutive year.

“I deal good with pressure,” said DeLouchrey, who also has 14 hits and 11 RBIs in 35 at bats this season. “I think that’s why I’m good at pitching. I don’t really let stuff get to me. When I’m on the mound it’s nothing. It’s me and the catcher.”

In fact, DeLouchrey has dealt with far more adversity off the mound than what he will ever have to deal with on the field. The last decade has been tumultuous for his family, filled with more tragedy than most teenagers could bear.

When he was 7-years-old, DeLouchrey’s estranged father died of a drug overdose. After the third grade, the Parkway Little League star moved to Dedham with his mother, her new husband and his half-brother.

DeLouchrey continued to thrive in Parkway Little League but he struggled to fit in, all the way through his junior year in high school. Last year, DeLouchrey’s mother was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and also got divorced. The family lost their home in Dedham and moved back to West Roxbury.

And if that wasn’t enough for one teen-ager to handle, DeLouchrey’s 21-year-old cousin,
Stephanie Harrington of Braintree, was hit by two cars in Weymouth and died just days before Thanksgiving last year.

“He was going to take her to the prom, just because they are good friends,” DeLouchrey’s mother, Diane DeLouchrey, said. “I know that put a damper on him. … It’s been a tough year for all of us. I give him a lot of credit for standing so strong as he has.”

DeLouchrey’s mother put him in Little League when he was 5-years-old and has supported him ever since. She threw batting practice to him until he could hit the ball so hard that it “whizzed” by her face and she bought him a backyard pitching machine and batting cage.

She said her son didn’t get much playing time when he started playing Little League until a coach named Jim Galvin recognized his abilities.

“Then he started,” she said. “You should see all the trophies he got; golden gloves for how insane he pitched.”

As an 11-year-old he played on a team that battled the Walpole Little League squad that went to the Little League World Series in 2007. DeLouchrey has also played a game in Yankee Stadium and traveled to Japan for a tournament.

“He really is something else, he’s a great kid and I’m not just saying that because I’m his mother,” Diane DeLouchrey said. “He’s got enormous heart.”

For his own part, DeLouchrey said he doesn’t know what his life would be like if it wasn't for baseball.

“Usually kids that go through all this end up doing drugs and all this other stuff," he said. "Baseball, I knew if I wanted to play I had to stay away from drugs and I had to stay focused. Baseball is my main focus point. Without it I don’t know where I’d be right now.”

Baseball has certainly helped him assimilate at Brighton High. DeLouchrey said he initially thought going to school there would be “terrible.” But now he flashes a smile when talking about how his classmates ask him in the hallways how many strikeouts he had the previous day.

It also helped that a few of his teammates from his club team, the Boston Astros, attend Brighton High. They introduced him to the other baseball players in the school, including senior catcher Jonathan Morrero.

“Our chemistry hit right when I met him, our chemistry was there,” Morrero said. “We just spent a lot of time together, whether off the field or on the field, we spent a lot of time together learning his pitches, learning where he throws, where his sweat spots are, knowing where he wants it.”

For the last few months DeLouchrey has been living with his aunt, Barbara Nahim, while his mother recovers. Nahim said it’s been amazing to see how this season has transformed her nephew’s demeanor and has picked up the entire family’s spirits.

“It’s incredible because my boys, as well as his brother, he’s their idol and they want to follow in his footsteps,” she said. “They want to play Parkway baseball as well. They just want to be just like him. He’s just an incredible kid. He’s an incredible baseball pitcher and an incredible player all around.”

Nahim and her husband are helping DeLouchrey navigate the application process for schools next year. She said she thinks he would benefit from an extra year of high school at a prep school. Vermont Academy has accepted DeLouchrey but isn’t offering financial aid, Nahim said. She said they are waiting to hear back from Bridgton Academy in Maine.

Fitchburg State, MassBay Community College and UMass-Boston have also expressed interest in DeLouchrey.

Mahoney, the former Boston University coach, said DeLouchrey could eventually play Division 1 baseball.

“Right now he can play Division 2 or 3 and I’d say after one year he could probably be pitching for a Division 1 team,” Mahoney said. “He’s still raw. He’s a thrower not quite a pitcher yet. We talk a lot about preparation, mechanics, and sequence of pitches. We’re trying to get him acclimated to be a pitcher. He’s getting there.”

For DeLouchrey, getting to college is not just an opportunity to extend his baseball career, but it is a bridge over troubled waters.

“Baseball, when I play it, it takes my mind off everything,” he said. “It’s just me and my team. I just forget about everything that happened outside [of baseball]. I just focus on what’s going on right now. It’s what I like to do and I don’t want anything to get in the way or stop me from playing.

“With what went on in my life,” he continued, “doing this is a chance to get away from all that and make everything better if I could go college and come up from all these tough times … and do something better with my life.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

The fourth annual "Strike Out Colon Cancer" tournament ended the same as last year's. Malden High poured the runs on Madison Park at East Boston Stadium, winning 13-1 in a five-inning game cut short by the mercy rule.

Behind junior Austin Teal's third-inning grand slam and junior Nick Powers's 3 for 3 day -- which inlcuded a double, triple, and home run -- Madison Park wasn't able to catch up. Teal was awarded the tournament's MVP award.

Golden Tornadoes coach Kevin Carpenito doesn't think his team's season has been based mainly on its hitting, though. In fact, he thinks his three pitchers -- senior Bradley Applin, Powers, and junior Chuck Gibson -- hold the key. Applin pitched and got the win in the Golden Tornadoes semifinal victory.

"They've carried us all season," Carpenito said. "They're all quality starters, and hopefully they can get us some wins in the state tournament this year."

The Golden Tornadoes won their semifinal game over Newton South, 5-2, while the Cardinals knocked off host East Boston in the second semifinal matchup, 9-6.

The Golden Tornadoes pitching proved to be overpowering, as Gibson was impressive. The righty pitched all five innings, allowing one hit -- a home run -- while striking out seven and walking none. Carpenito's team went into the game expecting nothing short of a trophy, though.

"[The team] just expects to win all the time," Carpenito said. "We take it one game at a time."

The nonleague win brings Malden's overall record to 13-5.

East Boston coach Phil Brangiforte started the tournament four years ago after his wife, Carrie, was diagnosed with colon cancer. The tournament has already raised $20,000 towards colon cancer research at Boston Medical Center, according to a Boston.com article from May 17. Carpenito knows his team isn't just playing to win during the two-day tournament.

"It's for such a good cause," he said. "[Brangiforte] does a good job and also raising money. I'm sure it's not easy."

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

For the second straight week Walpole (16-1) sits atop the baseball Top 20. The Rebels went 2-0 last week to extend their winning streak to nine games. Franklin (15-1) also went undefeated last week to stay at No. 2.

Lowell (13-3) jumped two spots to No. 3 after finishing off a 2-0 week with a win over No. 6 BC High (13-5) on Friday. Lincoln-Sudbury (15-3) comes in at No. 4 after a 3-1 week and St. John’s Prep (13-4) rounds out the Top 5 after the Eagles won their only game last week against Gloucester.

Dighton-Rehoboth (15-1) finally lost last week but rebounded with a win against Bishop Feehan. The Falcons come in at the No. 7 spot this week. Reading (12-4) and Barnstable (11-3) each went 2-0 last week and each team jumped up a pair of spots to Nos. 8 and 9 respectively.

Marshfield (12-3) lost to No. 17 Dennis-Yarmouth (13-4) to start the week but rebounded with wins on the road against Scituate and Plymouth South. The Rams round out the top 10 this week.

Coyle & Cassidy (16-2) and North Reading (14-3) each went 4-0 last week and to move up to 11 and 12 in the Top 20.

By Bob Holmes, Globe Staff

Four of the region's best NEPSAC baseball teams will square off Saturday in the annual Blackburn Tournament, the championship of Central New England. The tournament will take place at Fitton Field at Holy Cross.

At 10 a.m., No. 2 seed Worcester Academy will face No. 3 Philips Exeter followed at 12:30 by top-seeded Phillips Andover facing No. 4 Cushing Academy. The title game will be held at 3 p.m. Phillips Andover is led by former Wellesley High star and Globe All-Scholastic Dan Dymecki.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

BASEBALL

Monday: Fenway at Charlestown, at Ryan, 3:30 - The two squads are neck and neck in the standings with Fenway (7-5) just two games better than Townies (5-6). The way the two teams currently sit in the standings, they’d both make the city tournament. However, a loss could throw a speed bump into Charlestown’s road to the postseason. A win Monday is crucial for the Townies.

Tuesday: Latin Academy at Brookline, 3:45 - The Dragons are a solid 9-6 in league action, but are just 1-3 out of conference. They’ll look to pick up their second non-league victory, which will solidify them as one of the teams to beat come tournament time.

Tuesday: Boston International at English, 3:30 - Both teams are poised to make the City tournament, and Tuesday’s match-up could be a preview of the city league championship game. Look for the winner to go on a roll in the final week and bring that momentum to the semifinals on Saturday.

Wednesday: Fenway at Snowden, at Rice, 3:30 - Snowden sits at just 3-7, and Wednesday's game should be a victory for the Panthers. However, Snowden has a hard working squad and will put up a fight, giving Fenway a good workout in their last regular season game before the tournament.

Thursday: Chelsea at East Boston, 3:30 - The Jets are a 5-1 in league action but have yet to win a non-league tilt. A win over Chelsea will give East Boston a big confidence boost heading into the postseason. Chelsea won the previous matchup, 10-6.

SOFTBALL

Monday: New Mission at South Boston, at Kirby, 3:30 - Monday’s game is a good chance for South Boston to pick up a victory over the winless Titans. A win would solidify South Boston as a tournament contender.

Tuesday: Boston International at Madison Park, 4 - The Cardinals are on the cusp of making the city tournament. A win over Boston International would push them in the right direction with only one more game remaining, a tilt with Wayland on Thursday.

Wednesday: Latin Academy at Melrose, 3:30 - The Dragons are a perfect 7-0 in city league action but have struggled in its non-conference contests. They’ll look at Wednesday’s game with Melrose as a final challenge before heading to the tournament semifinals.

Thursday: South Boston at O’Bryant, at Madison Park, 3 - Both teams are in position to make the postseason, but will be fighting to win Thursday’s matchup to gain momentum heading into the postseason.

Thursday: East Boston at Brookline, 3:45 - The Jets are 8-0 in conference action but sit at 1-6 in their non-league games. They’re in position to be the top seed in the North heading into the tournament and will have Thursday’s game to work out any kinks before the semifinals on Saturday.

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe

Ever since his wife survived colon cancer four years ago, East Boston baseball coach Phil Brangiforte (right) has organized the Strike Out Colon Cancer tournament at East Boston Stadium. The tournament has already raised more than $20,000 for colon cancer research at Boston Medical Center.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

With three freshmen on his squad this year, East Boston baseball coach Phil Brangiforte is starting to have more and more players on his team that weren’t around for his wife’s bout with colon cancer four years ago.

“They don’t really know the meaning behind it and stuff but they know we wear our blue shirts and stuff,” Brangiforte said of this weekend's fourth annual Strike Out Colon Cancer tournament at East Boston Stadium.

“They have been good about it. Everybody gets up for that tournament they want to win it and stuff. We do have some players who played in it. They know what the meaning is. They hear that cancer word and it’s scary for everybody.”

Shortly after delivering their fifth child four years ago, Brangiforte’s wife, Carrie, was diagnosed with colon cancer and survived emergency surgery at Boston Medical Center. Brangiforte’s mother-in-law, Jacki Anthony — the wife of East Boston hockey coach Robert Anthony — was also treated at BMC last year when her breast cancer that was in remission for 11 years spread to her bones.

The tournament has already raised more than $20,000 for colon cancer research at Boston Medical Center. The family also runs the Deep Freeze hockey tournament every year to benefit breast cancer.

“BMC saved her life so I figured this is the way to go, they helped us so we’re trying to help them,” Brangiforte said during a post-game interview last month. “It’s definitely [bittersweet]. It always brings up memories. It’s good to see she is healthy and they did a good job. Dr. [James] Petros from BMC is a blessing.”

The two-day tournament starts Saturday and besides, East Boston, will feature Madison Park, Newton South and Malden. Madison Park, the first city league team besides East Boston to participate in the tournament, will play the Jets at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

After opening ceremonies at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Newton South will play Malden at noon. Sunday's consolation game will be at noon followed by the championship game at 3 p.m. The closing ceremony and awards will follow the championship game.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun and we look forward to going up against Madison Park,” Brangiforte said.

But Brangiforte knows the weekend is about so much more than baseball. His family and his team work nonstop selling hotdogs and hamburgers and raffle tickets to raise funds for cancer research. They also hold a silent auction.

“We’re here from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.” Brangiforte said. “My team, we [usually] play the first game, the 12 o’clock game, and we’re getting ready for a game but all those kids stay afterwards and they are helping out afterwards and they are cleaning up at the end.”

East Boston High Principal, Mike Rubin, said the school rallies around the baseball and hockey tournaments each year.

“It supports our mission in our school,” Rubin said of the tournament. “I want our student body to always be giving back and help those less fortunate than them. We do a lot of that at East Boston. It’s important for us to realize there’s people out there in the world that need help and if you are blessed you should try to help those less fortunate.”

Rubin said he especially looks forward to the baseball tournament because it’s his tradition to throw out the opening pitch with Mayor Thomas Menino.

“I do, my schedule is very busy but I make sure I’m at the the breast cancer hockey fundraiser and I’m always at this one as well,” Rubin said.

Although it chokes him up, Brangiforte said he’s not shy about telling his family’s story to his new players.

“I tell them what it’s all about and a lot of them know and they see it,” he said. “I want them to know ‘Hey, we’re not just raising money.’ But I want them to know why we are raising money. But it’s tough. would I ever had that tournament like that if my wife didn’t have colon cancer? Probably not because you don’t do things unless it affects you.

But Brangiforte said it makes his players take both life and baseball more seriously.

"I think it definitely does open them up," he said. "Those games, it’s more about those kids caring. Which they do, they are here.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe

Latin Academy senior pitcher Sam Steeves lifted the Dragons to a 6-3 victory against Boston English High on Wednesday afternoon.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Latin Academy senior pitcher, Sam Steeves, and Boston English catcher, Jessy Valdez, are such good friends that they don’t dare talk trash after playing one another on the baseball diamond.

Before striking out Valdez to secure the final out of a 6-3 victory at English High on Wednesday afternoon, Steeves gave up an extra-inning, walk-off double to his American Legion teammate on April 25.

Valdez called Steeves after hitting the game-winner last month to make sure his
future roommate for a post-grad year at Worcester Academy next year was doing OK.
.
“He tried to reassure me because I was pretty mad,” Steeves said of Valdez. “Now I have to do the same to him. We know how competitive we both are. I don’t want to rub it in.”

But that doesn’t mean that Steeves (3-1) didn’t enjoy getting revenge against their foe in the Boston City League North conference.

“I just wanted to get some redemption, pay back,” Steeves said after striking out 11 hitters and giving up four hits and two earned runs.

The top two teams in the North conference will qualify for the City Championships on Memorial Day weekend at English High. Latin Academy (9-6, 3-3 Boston City League North) still has to play the North conference-leader, Brighton, on Thursday and next Wednesday.

English (8-4, 4-3 Boston City League North) is 1-1 against Brighton.

“If we won it would have been a little more sure,” Valdez, who had two hits and scored twice on Wednesday, said after the loss. “We’ll see what happens. BLA and Brighton play twice more. This game would’ve put us in a good seat.

“We just had a bad game, a couple errors messed us up. We didn’t do the fundamental things. Hopefully next time we’ll play better. Hopefully we’ll see [Latin Academy] in cities.”

Latin Academy sophomore infielder Mark Guerard was 1 for 2 with an RBI double that gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Steeves hit his first triple of the season in the third inning before being knocked in by junior outfielder Vincent Lopriore’s sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

“He’s a clutch player for us on the field at shortstop, on the mound or up at the plate,” Latin Academy coach Anthony Bernazzani said. “He always seems to come up clutch. I have a lot of confidence in him to make plays, make the right pitch and the right play in key situations.”

English got two runs back on junior first baseman Richard Gonzalez’s 2-RBI double in the fourth inning. Bernazzani said he was nervous before his squad converted a 5-3-2 double play to get out of the inning.

“We’ve been in that situation before and we haven’t executed,” he said. “They executed bunts, steals and team defense.”

The Dragons scored three unearned runs in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead and added their final run in the sixth.

English also scored its final run in the sixth when Valdez’s path from third to home was cleared by Steeves’s wild pitch. But Steeves struck out two batters in the final inning, included Valdez, to redeem himself all around.

The victory also qualified Latin Academy for the state tournament for the first time in four years.

And Steeves hopes the game, which was moved from Latin Academy’s soggy field, is not their last at English High, even though he was a bit intimidated by the large crowd that is known to gather at English.

“The crowd here is a little nerve racking, it’s a really big fan base at English,” he said. “I never played in cities. That would be great. Our main goal was states but cities would be great too. That’s what we’re going for now.”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

Last week was a rough one for the EMass Top 20 as 12 teams lost at least once. Two teams that didn’t lose were Walpole (14-1) and Franklin (13-1). The Rebels beat Weymouth and Wellesley last week to jump up from second to first in the Top 20. The Panthers beat King Phillip, Westborough, and No. 18 Catholic Memorial (8-5) to climb two spot.

After losing to Westford to start the week, Lincoln-Sudbury (12-2) won two in a row to move up to No. 3. BC High (12-3) dropped a few spots this week. The Eagles lost to CM Monday, beat No. 7 St. John’s Prep (12-4) Wednesday, and closed the week with a loss to St. John’s (Shrewsbury) Friday.

Lowell (11-3) stayed at the five spot after a 2-1 week. The Red Raiders take on BC High Friday in what should be their biggest test this season.

Marshfield (12-2) dropped two spots to No. 6 after losing its only game to Falmouth. The Rams will take on ninth-ranked Plymouth North (10-4) in a crucial Atlantic Coast league game Wednesday.

Dighton-Rehoboth (13-0) remained undefeated after winning its only game last week. The Falcons start the week in the eighth spot in the Top 20.
Reading (10-3) rounds out the top 10. The Rockets dropped two spots after going 1-2 last week.

Newburyport (10-2) and East Bridgewater (10-2) were new additions to the Top 20, 15 and 19 respectively.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

Following are games of the Week in the city league for May 14-19:

BASEBALL

Monday: East Boston at English, 3:30 – Both teams are off to a strong start to the season, but will need to continue that success to guarantee themselves a place in the postseason. Monday's game could be a jumping off point for both teams.
Wednesday: Brighton at Madison Park, 3 – After going to the city championship game last season, the Cardinals have had a rough start this year. They can still finish on a high note but will have to get through a Brighton team that has only one loss.
Wednesday: English at Latin Academy, Town Field, 3:30 – The two squads are neck and neck for a shot at the postseason with identical 5-2 league records. The Blue & Blue have a slight advantage with a 7-4 overall record to the Dragons’ 6-5 standing. Wednesday’s game will be big for both teams.
Thursday: Dorchester at Boston International, 3:30, Fallon Field – Boston International still boasts an undefeated league record at 4-0, but Dorchester sits in third in the standings and is hungry to solidify themselves as playoff contenders. An upset for Dorchester could give them the momentum they need heading into the final week and a half of regular season action.
Saturday: Brighton at Wellesley, 12 p.m. – Brighton has a solid record at 6-1 and is sitting on top of the standings with a trip to the postseason in sight. They haven’t played any non-league games, however, and Saturday’s tilt will be a good measuring stick for just how good the Tigers are.

SOFTBALL

Monday: Boston International at Burke, Casey Field, 4 – Boston International has had a strong season with a young team of players. They currently sit on the outside of the playoff picture, but could make a late push to make the tournament. A win over a struggling Burke (3-5) could be a jumping off point.
Monday: Charlestown at Madison Park, 3 – Madison Park is coming off a big win over West Roxbury, but needs to keep raking in the victories if they want to qualify for the tournament. A win over struggling Charlestown (1-5) could be what the Cardinals need to get the ball rolling.
Tuesday: East Boston at Bishop Fenwick, 3:30 – Eastie is a strong 5-0 in conference action, but has yet to win a non-conference match-up with a 0-4 record in non-league match-ups. A win against Fenwick could give the Jets a ton of confidence heading into the final weeks.
Thursday: Dorchester at O’Bryant, Madison Park, 3:30 – O’Bryant is currently in position to make the tournament, while Dorchester sits just out of reach. The game will be more important to the Bears, but both teams could use a win as a turning point.
Thursday: West Roxbury at Snowden, Fens (Cobe), 3:30 – The Raiders have just one loss, a 14-6 setback to Madison Park. They’ll look to get back on track against a Snowden team that needs wins down the stretch in order to make the tournament.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

ROXBURY — Stepping onto the mound for the first time against Madison Park on Friday afternoon, O’Bryant freshman pitcher Fernando Burgos had the benefit of not having an intimate knowledge of the rivalry between the neighboring schools that share a campus and athletic fields.

Before their 8-6 victory against Madison Park Friday, the Tigers had only beaten the Cardinals once during Madison Park’s three consecutive Boston City League baseball championship seasons.

So when the 14-year-old pitcher inherited two base runners in the fifth inning with his team hanging onto a 7-6 lead by a thread, Burgos showed no signs of being intimidated by the kings of the campus.

He gave up a base hit to Hugo Mateo that loaded the bases. But then Burgos calmly struck out Kevin Arroyo fto end the inning.

“Come on Fernando, come on baby, give me a hug,” O’Bryant coach Ricardo Figueroa shouted before embracing his pitcher as he came off the mound.

Burgos (0-3) recorded two more strikes in the final two innings to log the save.

“It was pretty meaningful,” said Burgos, who played shortstop before being moved to pitcher, about his coach’s hug. “When you’re in a close game you need all the support you can get. The more support you can get the better you can be.

“I just had to do my best, carry my team through the rest of the game. It was a close game. They are a good team. I just had to do my best.”

The Tigers (3-8, 1-2 Boston City League Central) got an insurance run in the sixth inning to make it 8-6. After freshman Radinsky Baez drew a walk, the catcher’s attempt to pick off him off at first base sailed deep into the outfield, allowing the not-so fleet-footed third baseman to score from first.

His teammates howled as he rounded the bases and tossed him a Gatorade and gently ribbed him when he returned to the bench.

“That was tiring,” Baez said. “But it was good that we got that run. It was nice. It was a big run.”

Senior first baseman Mike Mejia went 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs for O'Bryant and sophomore starting pitcher Brandon Ruiz fanned eight batters in 4 2/3 innings.

Both teams scored two runs in the opening inning before O’Bryant scored five in the second.

Madison Park got one back in the third when junior second baseman Whilde Nunez’s triple knocked in junior center fielder Jonathan Soto. In the fourth inning, senior pitcher Dave Marcado’s single knocked in sophomore left fielder Doudy Pena and senior right fielder Hugo Mateo.

Madison Park junior third baseman Garrick Garcia’s RBI single in the fifth scored senior first baseman Manny Garcia to make the score 7-6 before Burgos entered the game and retired the side.

“Fernando was outstanding,” Figueroa said. “He did what he was supposed to do in that situation. He came through. He threw strikes. He kept the ball down. He was awesome. He’s 14 years old and he’s doing outstanding.”

Cardinals coach Michael Viggiano was glad to see his team didn’t quit despite the fact that they are 2-10 overall this season and 2-3 in the City League North standings. At one point this year the Cardinals went on a seven-game losing streak.

“We were kings of the campus and have been kings of the campus,” Viggiano said. “It’s a pride thing. [The players] see each other. They do cross paths in school and see each other in the neighborhood and play RBI [baseball] together in the summer.

“As I said, it’s a rebuilding year. You can’t stay on top forever. Some might say the mighty have fallen, but we just took one on the chin. We have a bulls-eye on our back as big as a Dunkin’ Donut.”

Burgos, who was also 2 for 4 with two RBIs, hopes that Friday’s victory is the beginning of crowning a new king on campus.

“Now when we see them in the hallways they can’t say anything,” he said.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Nearly all of Thursday’s Boston City League baseball games have been postponed due to inclement weather.

All but one city softball games, however, is still slated to be played.

Other than Malden Catholic at Madison Park and the Dorchester at Randolph, the remainder of the baseball games on Thursday's schedule have been canceled.

The Wellesley at Brighton game has been rescheduled for next Friday, with the varsity playing at 4 p.m. at Rogers Park and the JV playing at 4 p.m. at McKinney Field. The Snowden-Charlestown baseball game at Ryan Field was moved to Friday at 3:30 p.m.

The East Boston at Brighton softball game has been canceled, but the remainder of the softball schedule is scheduled to be played Thursday.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Two Boston City League baseball games and a softball game were postponed on Wednesday due to poor field conditions.

The Boston International vs. Snowden baseball game at Fallon Field and the Boston English at West Roxbury games were canceled, while the West Roxbury at Boston English softball game in Franklin Park was also canceled.

The remainder of the games on Wednesday's baseball and softball schedule will be played.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Nick Ironside, Globe Correspondent

Silver Lake coach Kenny Tocci knows his team won't quit. That’s why he wasn’t worried when the Lakers blew the 4-1 lead in the seventh inning against Hingham.

“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind we’d come back,” said Tocci, who is in his sixth year as coach. Hingham -- which won the league last year behind current senior Sean Greene’s hitting -- and Silver Lake (8-4, 6-2) entered the game tied for first-place in the Patriot League’s Keenan division.

After Hingham erased the 4-1 lead, Tocci knew the final inning would be tough. “[Hingham’s] lineup is like the Yankees; there’s no easy out,” he said.

The seventh started with Hingham’s ninth-hitter getting on base. After a few more batters reached and a run scored, Greene stepped to the plate. Hingham was down, 4-2, at that point.

“Our pitchers only made a couple of bad pitches,” Tocci said. Greene took one of those and knocked it out of the park for a three-run homer, leaving the Lakers three outs away from ending the day in second-place.

But the Lakers just wouldn’t quit.

“A million coaches would say the same thing, but I could see in their eyes that they were fired up,” Tocci said. “They were ready to go.”

The Lakers loaded the bases and scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice. Senior Matt Woodman strode to the plate and Tocci was confident.

“He was hitting the ball hard all game,” Tocci said. “I can’t remember the last time [Woodman] struck out.”

With runners on second and third, Woodman drove a pitch that skipped over the right-field wall for a ground-rule double, giving his team a 7-5 win and first-place for the time being.

“I don’t ever recall a team with this much resolve,” Tocci said. “Their chemistry is good, they’re a tight group, they exude character and I’ll bet on them any day of the week.”

Tocci made a point to praise Hingham’s resilience in the seventh inning. “Anytime you play a team like Hingham, you know you’re going to battle for seven innings,” he said. “They make you pay for mistakes.”

At the end of the day, the Lakers don’t quit mentality was too much for the defending league champions.

“I really think the sky is the limit with this team,” Tocci said. “We have a lot of good pitching and they know what they’re doing at the plate.

“They always find a way to want it more than the other team.”

Billy Owens for the Boston Globe

Dorchester senior pitcher Jeffrey Ramirez dominated Charlestown in a 5-inning mercy at Ryan Field on Tuesday afternoon.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

CHARLESTOWN — After being rained out twice this season, Dorchester didn’t mind playing through the raindrops Tuesday afternoon at Ryan Field.   

“Yeah, it was a nice day,” senior pitcher Jeffrey Ramirez said with a laugh after dominating Charlestown in an 11-1 game that ended after the five-inning mercy rule. 

Ramirez struck out six batters and only gave up two hits and three walks in four innings.

“We were worried from the start,” Ramirez said when asked if he thought the game would be played or canceled. “ I didn’t even know I was pitching today. It was a surprise as soon as I got on the bus. I’m always ready to pitch.”

He was ready to hi,t too. Ramirez was 2 for 3 with a double and four RBIs.

“He was a little front footed on most of his at-bats but he got the ball in play and that’s what we’re looking for,” Dorchester coach Rusty Young said. “With two strikes we have to put the ball in play more.”

Dorchester scored three runs in the first inning courtesy of two doubles. First Ramirez’s  double knocked in senior Paul Lewis and then freshman Jodhan Parmanand’s double scored Ramirez and senior Manuel Pizarro.

Ramirez collected two more RBIs in the second inning.

"I just hit the ball,'' he said. "That's what I do."

Charlestown’s only run came in the third inning when sophomore shortstop Michael Ring was brought home by freshman outfielder Miguel Arias’s single. Senior first baseman Marquis Bailey was 1 for 2 nut not much else flew off the Townies bats all day.

“We won  [the City League South] conference last year and this year we have five freshman so it’s a whole different atmosphere,” Townies' second-year coach Matthew Sances said of his squad (3-5, 3-4)

Senior pitcher Frank Rosabal took the loss after striking out four batters and giving up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings. Sances said Rosabal had  a sore arm.

"He usually carries us," he said. 

Dorchester defeated Charlestown, 3-2, last week despite leaving 14 men on base. Young said they were able to beat the Townies last week because  sophomore pitcher Moises Beltre struck out 14.

Now the Bears (4-5, 3-3) are looking forward to a rematch against league-leading Boston International, whicb beat Dorchester, 18-5, last month. Young said Dorchester probably can't catch Boston International in the standings because the Bears had to forfeit their first two victories of the season after it was determined that one of their pitchers was too old. Young said the pitcher did not get the appropriate waiver to play.

But Young said his team can beat International next week.

“If we play well and we play defense and we don’t walk a lot of guys and put balls in play, yeah I think we can," Young said.  "I think we can compete. It will be a good game . It’s just matter of making sure all cylinders are firing defensively and we’re not walking guys; and when the ball is put in play we make the routine [out].”

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

There was no change at No. 1 in the Globe Top 20 this week as BC High remains on top of the EMass rankings. The Eagles (11-1) only had one game last week, a 5-2 win over Malden Catholic, but they will have a tough week ahead of them with games against No. 17 Catholic Memorial , No. 6 St. John’s Prep and St. John’s (S).

Walpole (12-1) jumped up a spot to No. 2 after going 3-0. The Rebels have won their last five games. Third-ranked Franklin (10-1) also went 3-0 last week and the Panthers have not lost since their season opener against King Phillip.

After losing to start the week to No. 9 Plymouth North (9-3), fourth-ranked Marshfield (12-1) rebounded with an 11-0 win over Sandwich and a 3-1 victory against Nauset. No. 5 Lowell (9-2) was also beaten last week. The Red Raiders lost to No. 15 Chelmsford (9-4) for the second time this year.

St. John’s Prep (11-3) stays at No. 6. The Eagles had a pair of Catholic Conference wins last week against Xaverian and Catholic Memorial, but fell to St. John’s (S) Thursday.

A 3-0 week for No. 7 Lincoln-Sudbury paired with a 1-3 week for No. 12 Newton South (9-3) allowed the Warriors (10-1) to take control of the Dual County Large.

Dighton-Rehoboth (12-0) remains undefeated and moves up to the 10 spot. North Reading (9-2) jumped up six spots to No. 13 after a come-from-behind win over North Andover Saturday capped a 3-0 week.

Billy Owens for the Boston Globe

Brighton High senior pitcher Chris DeLouchrey slides into third base at Rogers Park on Thursday afternoon. He also helped his own cause by hitting 3 for 3 with an RBI in the 11-0 5-inning mercy against West Roxbury.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

BRIGHTON -- Brighton High avenged a season-opening loss to West Roxbury on Thursday afternoon by shutting out the Raiders 11-0 in a 5-inning mercy-rule game at Rogers Park.

Senior pitcher Chris DeLouchrey (3-1), who allowed 11 hits in the first meeting between the two teams, struck out 10 batters on Thursday and only allowed two hits. He also went 3 for 3 from the plate with an RBI.

"The first game I wasn't ready personally," said DeLouchrey, who transferred to Brighton after spending three years at Dedham High. "My first game for last year and the year before was always tough for me. The first game coming out I couldn't throw a strike. I wasn't throwing how I could throw. Our team, we didn't know how to play with each other. It was just a tough game because we weren't ready for it.

"[We] came out and they hit. They backed me up hitting. They backed me up fielding. No errors, nothing, they backed me up."

Brighton coach Bill Mahoney agreed his team wasn't ready to play the season opener.

"We had people playing out of positions, we had people who were injured and we didn't come up big that first game," said Mahoney, who noted that his team was able to take extra batting practice this week. "We came out yesterday on and took some batting practice, we hit and we hit and we hit. Everybody got a bucket and a half and we came out smoking today.

"So practice pays off."

That extra BP was evident immediately as Brighton batted around and scored six runs in the opening inning.

"That backed me up too, that made me feel a lot more comfortable," DeLouchrey said. "Sometimes I get worked up, but I had a lot of leeway."

Senior catcher Jonathan Morrero was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a triple.

"I thought it was going over the fence, it could have been an inside the park [home run] but I was looking at it too much," Morrero said. "It was a good pitch, a good swing I just so happened to hit that ball. There?s nothing too it."

Sophomore infielder Reynaldo Moreta was 2 for 2 with three RBIs.

"Aggressive, we came out aggressive, we jumped on them first," Moreta said.
"We gotta keep it like that. We gotta keep hitting, playing defense, defense wins games. Be aggressive all the time."

The Bengals improved to 3-2 and 3-1 in the Boston City League South conference to knock West Roxbury (7-2, 3-2) out of first place in the conference standings.

Westie coach Cliff Wilson noted that Brighton still has four conference games to go while his squad has played the bulk of its conference schedule.

"They have to play a lot of teams yet," Wilson said. "We feel we're going to regroup. We're going to be fine. We're going to come back and be very, very competitive.

"We haven't hit all week and it really hurt us. Today we were slow at the bats. We're a lot better hitting team and I just think the whole chemistry is off right now. But we're going to be heard from and we're hoping to be in the Cities before this thing is through."

Wilson said his starting shortstop, catcher and one of his best outfielders are out injured, but should be back soon.  

"The first game of the season I thought we were more prepared," he said. "We've had a lot of injuries, we've had three guys go down with injuries and it's really hurt our team. We're going to get some of these guys back.

"Six runs [in the first inning], it's demoralizing in the first inning to be down that quickly. I think our pitcher [senior Jonathan Bonilla Deleon] didn't throw the ball that badly. They just hit the ball really, really well."

While there is still a lot of baseball to be played, Brighton is happy to be in first place for now.

"It means a lot, I don't remember the last time we were in first place," Morrero said. "Probably my freshman year, we came in second [that year].  All we gotta do is keep it that way. We have a good rotation of pitchers, good infield and our middle is probably the best in the city."

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Boston schools’ baseball, softball and tennis contests slated for Tuesday afternoon were postponed due to inclement weather.

The Fenway at Charlestown varsity baseball game will be played on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. at Ryan Field. The Snowden-Boston International varsity baseball game will be played on May 9 at 3:30 p.m. at Fallon Field. The Dorchester-Burke varsity baseball game will be played on May 24 at 3:30 p.m. at Ronan Field. Latin Academy and Brighton varsity baseball will play at 3 p.m. on Friday at Rogers Field while the JV teams will play at McKinney field, also at 3 p.m. The O'Bryant-West Roxbury varsity baseball game will be played on Friday at 3 p.m.

The Dorchester-Fenway varsity softball game at the Fens (Clemente Field) will be replayed at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Snowden-South Boston varsity softball game will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at Kirby Field. The Woburn-Latin Academy JV and varsity softball games will be played on May 17 at 3:30 p.m. at Playstead field.

While the girls’ tennis match between O’Bryant and Latin Academy was postponed, the boys’ match will be played indoors at Sportsmen’s Tennis Center at 2:15 p.m.

Other scheduling notes: The Maimonides-East Boston varsity baseball game originally scheduled for April 22 will now be played on Tuesday at East Boston Stadium at 4:30 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Maimonides.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Seth Lakso, Globe Correspondent

After allowing the first two batters of the game to score, Jake Stearns settled down to toss six scoreless innings, as the 10th-ranked Eagles upset the second-ranked Rams, 3-2, in Atlantic Coast League play Monday in Plymouth.

The win was the third of the season for the 6-foot1-inch senior southpaw, who scattered six hits, while striking out six and walking five.

“Stearns is just difficult to hit,” said Plymouth North coach Dwayne Follette, of his Stonehill University-bound ace. “He can get wild at times, but tonight he settled in nicely. He throws hard -- mid- to high-80s -- and has a ton of movement on his fastball.

“He’s just a tough high school lefty,” said Follette, who has been coaching at Plymouth North for 18 seasons.

After allowing a leadoff single and walking the next batter, Stearns surrendered a bases-clearing double to Marshfield's John Ryan that put the Rams (10-1) up, 2-0.

Once Stearns settled in, the momentum swung in the Eagles' direction and RBI singles from Vinny Tavernelli and Cody Holmes had the score knotted at 2 as the teams entered the sixth inning.

Ryan Moskos led off the sixth with an infield single for the Eagles (7-3) and came around to score the eventual game-winner on an error.

The win keeps the Eagles’ hopes for a fourth consecutive ACL title alive, as they improved to 3-2 in league play, while the Rams dropped to 5-1.

“This win was big, it keeps us alive,” said Follette. “We’ve won the league title the last three years and just haven’t hit the ball well at all yet this season. Once we start hitting like we’re capable, we’ll be pretty scary.”

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

BC High’s impressive 7-2 win over St. John’s Prep (9-2) on Friday boosted the Dorchester school into the top spot this week while the Prep fell to sixth after the loss. Tommy McDonald picked up the win for BC High (10-1), pitching a complete game three-hitter.

Marshfield (10-0) continues to be hot and moves up to the two spot after a 16-1 win over Plymouth South on Tuesday and a 12-3 win against Dennis-Yarmouth on Friday. The Rams will face their toughest test so far this season at No. 10 Plymouth North on Monday.

No. 3 Walpole (9-1) lost at Brookline on Tuesday but came back to end the week beating Milton and Dedham. Lowell (7-1) and Franklin (7-1) each went undefeated last week to stay at the four and five spots.

Newton South (8-0) kept on winning with victories against Waltham, Bedford and Westford. The No. 7 Lions will have a big game against eighth-ranked Lincoln Sudbury (7-1) on Wednesday.

Oliver Ames (8-1), Braintree (6-2) and North Reading (6-2) were all new additions to the Top 20 this week coming in at 16, 18 and 19 respectively.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

Boston City League baseball and softball games of the week:
April 30 - May 5

BASEBALL

Monday: West Roxbury at Charlestown, 3:30 - The Raiders are a perfect 6-0 in league action and sit atop of the South division. Charlestown is close behind though and will be a tough test on their home turf. The Townies sit at 3-2 in the league and are in third place in the South.

Wednesday: Randolph at Boston International, 3:30 - Boston International has yet to win a non-conference game despite sitting on top of the North standings. Randolph has struggled with a 2-3 record thus far and will look to get back on the right path as they travel to Boston International.

Thursday: West Roxbury at Brighton, 3 - After a tough game against Charlestown, it won’t get any easier for the Raiders as they head out on the road again to face Brighton. The Bengals are close behind in the South division and will look to gain some ground on their home turf.

Thursday: East Boston at O’Bryant, 3:30 - East Boston has struggled thus far, opening the season at 1-4. Things won’t get much easier for them as they travel to a tough O’Bryant squad that sits just ahead of them in the standings at 2-4.

Friday: South Boston at Burke, 3:30 - The Bulldogs have yet to win a game this season, but will look to get over the hump as they host a 2-3 South Boston team. The Knights are coming off a disheartening 7-0 loss to O’Bryant.

SOFTBALL

Monday: Burke at Snowden, 3:30 - Burke has started slow at 1-3, but is still within striking distance in the North division. Snowden is two steps ahead of the Bulldogs in the North with a 3-3 record. They look to get back on track after a disappointing 9-1 loss to Dorchester on Wednesday.

Tuesday: Dorchester at Fenway, 3:30 - Dorchester is 3-0 to start the season, but the Bears still sit second behind Latin Academy. Fenway has started a slow 1-4, but will look to rebound at home.

Tuesday: Woburn at Latin Academy, 3:30 - The Dragons play a tough out of league schedule to better prepare them for the city tournament, but have yet to win a non-league game. They’re looking for their first as they host a Woburn team coming off an 8-5 loss to Winchester.

Wednesday. Latin Academy at Brighton, 3 - The Dragons are perfect in the conference but will have a tough test with a road game at Brighton. The Bengals are 1-4, but are only two slots behind Latin Academy in the South division.

Friday: East Boston at O’Bryant, 3 - East Boston hasn’t lost a conference game yet as they sit on top of the North division. But the Tigers (1-2) will look to end that streak on their home turf.

By Alexander Prewitt, Globe Correspondent

Bridgewater-Raynham coach John Kearney knew unranked his young Trojans, 3-5, entering Thursday's Old Colony League matchup against Barnstable, was looking for its identity.

It found one. The Trojans upset Globe No. 9 Barnstable (7-2), 5-4, by coming back from a 4-0 deficit to score five runs in the bottom of the ninth against the Red Raiders.

The rally was capped off by a walk-off single to left by junior center fielder Mike Bruemmel that emptied the bench and moved Bridgewater-Raynham to 2-0 in league play.

"We're trying to get a set lineup, because we do have a young team," said Kearney, in his 14th season with the Trojans. "You try to find that chemistry. Maybe chemistry is a better word than identity. You're trying to find yourselves. Against a veteran team like this, it goes a long way, to come back from four runs down."

And with wood bats, nonetheless. Before this season, the OCL voted to move away from metal bats and to nine-inning games. The Trojans have to be happy about that change.

Bridgewater-Raynham had its chances against Barnstable starter Keegan Dellacono, who shut out the Trojans through eight innings. Entering the ninth, Kearney told his team just to keep battling.

"All of a sudden, before you knew it, we had the bases loaded and he was out of the game," Kearney said of Dellacono.

After consecutive singles, sophomore Corey DiNunno, the Trojans' leadoff hitter who reached base in all five plate appearances, walked. Senior catcher Brandon Hoyle doubled in two runs, then freshman Jack Connolly, who earned the win after pitching a no-hit ninth, reached on an error, scoring one more. A sacrifice fly by senior designated hitter Brian McSherry tied things up and, after a walk that reloaded the bases, Bruemmel stepped up to play hero.

Given that teams only play six league games, a 2-0 start, not to mention one buoyed by a walk-off win against one of the area's top teams, this one should help moving forward.

"It's one of the most exciting games I've been a part of, that's for sure," Kearney said. "You hope, but you don't expect to score five runs to win it. Conference-wise, this was a huge step, a huge boost for us for us to win a quality game."

As for who the Trojans mobbed in their postgame celebration between Connolly, who scored the winning run, and Bruemmel?

"They pretty much went after Mike. He's older, so he gets priority, ya know?"

By Cat Calsolaro, Globe Correspondent

A stellar outing by Brandon Ruiz set up O'Bryant (2-5) for its second straight win, a 7-0 triumph over City League rival South Boston Wednesday afternoon.

Ruiz, the Tigers' junior ace, pitched his best game of the season, earning his first win in three starts. He allowed just one hit and struck out nine in the complete game.

The Tigers backed up Ruiz with a strong performance at the plate. Center fielder Michael Mejia led the way, going 3 for 3 with two doubles. The senior drove in four runs, including two in the bottom of the sixth on a bases-loaded single.

The win comes on the heels of a 7-0 victory over Burke Tuesday. The Tigers attempt to continue the hot streak Thursday at Latin Academy.

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

Going into his team’s game with Walpole, Brookline coach Joe Campagna had a good feeling. He felt the undefeated Rebels had a lot of pressure on them and his team could take advantage. The Warriors (4-2) did, defeating No. 3 Walpole, 4-3, at Parsons Field in Brookline Tuesday.

Senior righty Eric Dumas (2-1) picked up the win after allowing three hits and striking out four in seven innings, although it wasn’t easy.

“He struggled with control, walking seven,” said Campagna. “He pitched with a lot of guts and got outs when we needed it.”

Walpole (6-1) left 15 men on base and Brookline was getting out of trouble all game. In the first, senior right fielder Campbell Narron threw a runner out at the plate trying to score from second on a single.

“That was a big play,” said Campagna. “It kept them off the board and didn’t allow them to get that early lead.” In a game between the teams last Monday, the Rebels jumped out to a 6-0 lead and the Warriors could not recover in an eventual 6-4 loss.

In the fourth, Walpole was threatening again with two on and no outs but a timely 6-4-3 double play helped Brookline get out of the inning.

The Warriors got on the board the in the bottom half of the inning. After senior Seb Dobrow and Dumas singled to start the frame, Narron stroked an RBI double. Junior Scott Cordner then followed with a two-run single giving Brookline the 3-1 lead.

“Those are the kind of hits we haven’t been getting,” said Campagna.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Warriors got what proved to be the winning run when senior Henry Lucey singled to right driving home senior Mariano Suriel.

In the eighth, junior righty Nate Spielvogel came in to relieve Dumas. He allowed a pair of runs in the inning but held on for his second save when the Rebels stranded the tying run on second to end the game in the ninth.

It was a big win for Campagna's club.

“The kids were all smiles after the game,” said Campagna. “They knew what beating Walpole means.”

By Zach Vierra, Globe Staff

St. John’s Prep and BC High lead off our baseball Top 20 this week. Both teams have 7-1 records and seem to be evenly matched so far this season. The two teams were scheduled to play for the first time Monday at BC High before weather stepped in postponed the game. It will now be played Friday.

Former No. 1 Xaverian dropped to eight after losses to Brockton and Wellesley early in the season. The Hawks were to be tested by No. 11 Catholic Memorial Monday. The only losses for the Knights came against St. John’s Prep and BC High.

Walpole was a big mover, jumping from 15 to 3. The Rebels are 7-0 and have quality wins against Braintree and Wellesley. Lowell (5-1) and Franklin (4-1) have been solid so far and stay at spots four and five respectively.

Marshfield is the first new addition to the Top 20. The Rams look to be the class of the Atlantic Coast League with an 8-0 record, which puts them at the seven spot in front of conference rival Plymouth North. Marshfield has scored 10 or more runs three times so far and has not allowed more than four runs in a game.

Barnstable (5-1) has also not allowed more than four runs and moves up one spot to nine, while Lincoln-Sudbury (5-1) closes out the top 10. The Warriors are 3-0 in the Dual County Large and had a big 8-7 victory at BC High Saturday.

Newburyport and Reading are both 4-0 (the Rockets loss was an exclusion game to BC High) and each moved up in the standings. The Clippers are 12th while the Rockets are 13th.

Wellesley (5-2) is added to the top 20 at number 14. The Raiders started their season with a win against Xaverian and look to be the biggest competition for Walpole in the Bay State Herget division.

Newton South (5-0) hasn’t lost and should challenge Lincoln-Sudbury in the DCL Large. The Lions are new to the top 20 at the 15 spot.

Lexington (3-2) drops down from 7th to 16th after losses to Lowell and Melrose. Danvers (6-1), Dighton-Rehoboth (7-0), Peabody (5-2) and Austin Prep (6-1) are all new additions and round out the Top 20.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Most of the Boston schools’ baseball and softball games slated for Monday were canceled due to inclement weather.

The O'Bryant varsity softball game against Ursuline will be played at 3:30 p.m. at 269 Common St. in Dedham. The JV game is cancelled. And Boston International will travel to Mt. Alvernia at 4:30 p.m.

Outdoor track and boys volleyball are still on for today along with Latin Academy tennis. O’Bryant boys and girls tennis, however, are cancelled. The boys tennis match will be made up on May 4th at the Sportsmen's Tennis Club.

The Fenway at West Roxbury varsity baseball game was rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Brighton at Charlestown varsity baseball game will be made up on May 15 and Ryan Field. Snowden and South Boston's varsity baseball teams will make up their game at 3:30 p.m. on May 1 at Kirby Field.

Stay tuned for the rest of the makeup dates.

Other scheduling notes: The Billerica at Madison Park varsity and JV baseball games originally scheduled for April 12 will be made up at 4 p.m. on May 8 and the Boston English-Brighton varsity softball game originally scheduled for April 12 will be played at 3:30 p.m. on May 16 at Cleveland Circle.

The Charlestown at New Mission varsity softball game originally scheduled for April 12 was moved to 3:30 p.m. on May 8 at Sheehy Park. The JV and varsity Madison Park at East Boston softball games originally scheduled for April 12 will be played at 3 p.m. on May 3.

Justin A. Rice covers Boston Public school athletics. He can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

Boston City League baseball and softball games of the week:

(April 23- 28)

BASEBALL
Monday: Brighton at Charlestown, 3 - The two City League South powerhouses will face off for the first time of the season. Brighton is coming off a 7-2 win over Boston English and will look to carry that momentum on the road against a Charlestown team that has been up and down.

Monday: Fenway at West Roxbury, 3: 30 - The two top teams in the South go at it. Fenway is coming off a 14-1 win over Burke in which it employed the mercy rule to defeat the Bulldogs. They’ll need that offense again against West Roxbury’s solid defense.

Tuesday: Dorchester at West Roxbury, 3:30 - Both teams come into the week undefeated in league action. Kings of the South, West Roxbury will have home-field advantage but can expect a tough challenge from the Bears, who are looking to become one of the teams to beat in the league.

Wednesday: Latin Academy at Boston English, 3:30 - Both teams have started the season with up-and-down play. After picking up two wins early in the season, Latin Academy takes a four-game losing streak into the week. The Dragons look to get back to their winning ways in the road matchup against a Boston English team that is on a two-game losing streak.

Friday: Fenway at Snowden, 3:30 -- Fenway will finish their week against a Snowden squad that has had a problem scoring runs. The Cougars scored 21 runs in their only win, but only have three total runs in three losses. Snowden will look to get the bats going against a Fenway defense that will be taxed after playing three games this week.

SOFTBALL
Monday: Snowden at South Boston, 3:30 - After winning their first three games of the season, the Cougars have dropped their last two. They’ll face a tough challenge to open the week against a South Boston squad that’s riding a two-game win streak, including a 12-9 victory over Snowden last Wednesday.

Tuesday: Madison Park at Fenway, 3:30 - Fenway has struggled early in the season, but picked up a 16-4 win over Boston English to give it some confidence against visiting Madison Park. The Cardinals take a four-game winning streak into the contest.

Wednesday: West Roxbury at Burke, 3 - West Roxbury sits on top of the league at 3-0. Burke started the season strong with a 24-4, five-inning win over Fenway but has slipped in its last three games. Burke will have to bring its best in order to beat the Raiders.

Thursday: New Mission at O’Bryant, 3:30 - The contest will be the third of the week for O’Bryant, which has played some close contests, including an extra-inning loss to Brighton in the opener. New Mission lost its opener, 23-22, to West Roxbury, and is still searching for its first victory.

Friday: Bishop Fenwick at East Boston, 3:30 - East Boston is 0-2 in nonconference action. The Jets will be looking for a win that could jump-start their season. The Crusaders are coming off a 6-4 loss to Matignon after picking up their first win, a 12-0 over Austin Prep.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

EAST BOSTON — Winthrop starting pitcher Zack Mills put himself ahead of the game before he even took the mound in the opening inning on Thursday morning at East Boston Stadium.

The sophomore hit a two-run, inside-the-park home run to lift the Vikings to a 15-2 victory against East Boston that snapped a four-game losing streak.

“He hit a home run then went out to pitch; his feet weren’t even touching the ground when he went out there,” Winthrop coach Fred DeMarco said. “[It helps] when you’re a pitcher and you hit yourself a two-run home run before you even get out there.”

Mills (2-0) struck out seven in five innings and allowed one earned run. He went 2 for 4 at bat with 3 RBIs.

“It was a high pitch but I was lucky to get a piece of it,” Mills said of the home run that also knocked in senior first baseman Michael Paulson. “I got it over the left fielder’s head and I put my head down and kept running.

“It helped me because it gave me breathing room and gave us a lead in the first.”

Mills’ first victory of the season came after a relief appearance in a season-opening, 7-6 walk-off victory against Watertown. He pitched 2.1 innings against Watertown before Winthrop (2-4, 0-4 Northeast Conference) dropped four straight games.

“Oh man it’s been really tough,” DeMarco said of the losing streak. “We went through some really bad stints where we couldn’t pitch well or hit well.”

Freshman leftfielder Tyler Gillis also collected his own inside-the-park home run in the sixth inning that scored three runs. He finished the game 2 for 4. Danny Eruzione was 2 for 3 with an RBI.

East Boston (3-4, 2-0 Boston City League) scored its only runs of the game in the second and the fifth innings. First, senior Anthony Difeo (1 for 3) tripled to knock in sophomore Michael Theriault (2 for 4), who singled in the fifth to score freshman John Cinelli. Junior Manuel Martinez was also 1 for 3 on the day.

Sophomore pitcher Henry Conner (1-1) recorded the loss after striking out four batters and walking six in four innings. He gave up six runs, including two earned runs.

The Jets were also playing without two starters who were benched for missing practice. Those two players, along with two other starters, also sat out in a 10-6 loss to Chelsea earlier in the week for the same transgression.

“We’ve only played one game with our full lineup,” Eastie coach Phil Brangiforte said. “They need to come to practice and do what they need to do to play ball. I think we have a good team when we’re together. We just need to stay together.

“We couldn’t string anything together. We made a couple mistakes and the kids get down on themselves. They don’t realize if you get a hit in three out of 10 at bats you’re hitting .300. They strike out and they think it’s the end of the world. It’s not.”

Winthrop hosts Beverly at 4:30 p.m. on Monday and East Boston plays at Maimonides at 2 p.m. on Sunday before traveling to Madison Park at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

All but three City League teams had the day off Wednesday, but all three that did play struggled against nonleague foes.

The East Boston softball team failed to get on the board and suffered a 12-0 loss against Lynnfield. The Jets will have a second chance to take down the Pioneers at the end of the month.

The Latin Academy baseball team dropped a 6-3 decision to Norwell. Senior Nick Volpe struck out six Dragons in six innings and freshman Tommy Larason got the save for the Clippers. Senior shortstop Brett Morgan was the difference on offense, going 3 for 3 and scoring three runs.

And finally, the Dorchester baseball team lost, 11-4, to Austin Prep. The Bears remain undefeated in conference play.

In the latest episode of High School Weekly, the Element Productions crew profiles BB&N senior outfielder Rhett Wiseman. Wiseman is one of the top baseball prospects in the country and a potential first-round draft pick in the MLB First-Year Player Draft this upcoming summer.

High School Sports Weekly profiles the student-athletes from around the region who make high school athletics so compelling. Check out High School Weekly on Facebook. See past episodes on the Boston.com High School Sports video page.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

BOSTON — Needham junior Cory Michelson earned his first varsity victory Tuesday, beating host Boston English, 12-6.

“It’s good to get it off my chest, get it done with,” said Michelson (1-1), who allowed 1 hit in three innings while striking out 2 and walking 4. “I really wasn’t feeling it but I was able to get out of the jams I created for myself. It was all walks, they weren’t hitting well.”

Needham scored three runs in the first inning and four in the third before going up, 12-0, in the fifth. The Rockets were led by senior outfielder Marco Ciavattone, who went 2 for 2 with three RBIs and junior infielder Haydn Cooper was 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Boston English got on the board in the fifth when shortstop Miguel Carldon’s double knocked in center fielder Wanderson Pinades. Carldon scored on a wild pitch. In the seventh, Carldon hit another RBI double — this one over the center fielder's head — that also scored Pinades.

English took advantage of several errors to score three more runs in the seventh.

“The coach said ‘Let’s go, let’s go’ and we did the best we can do,” Carldon said of his team’s offensive spark at the end of the game. “He said ‘You guys can do this.’”

English assistant coach, Victor Figueroa, who filled in as head coach, said the team has been waiting for its bats to come alive for two games.

“The last two games we left about 14 or 15 runners on base,” he said. “We needed that and the fielding was better today. Eventually we will get it together, our offense, defense and pitching. Overall it was a good game. We had fun and that’s what it’s all about.”

Needham (2-3) broke a two-game losing streak against English (2-3).

“It’s always great,” Needham coach John Freitas said of Michelson getting his first victory. “He’s a junior and unfortunately this is his second start and he’s thrown quite a few pitches. He gutted it out. He had a little extra when he needed it. We took advantage of walks and errors but a win is a win.

"We’ll take it after losing two in a row.”

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

Chelsea scored in each inning to complete a 10-6 victory over non-conference foe East Boston fueled by an outstanding pitching performance by senior O’Danys Urbaez.

The three-year starter protected his home turf, striking out 15 batters in six innings of work. He gave up five hits and four earned runs while walking one.

“This is his first start of the season; he had some arm trouble early so this is the first time he has really been stretched out,” Chelsea coach Alan Beausoleil said. “When he’s around the strike zone, he’s hard to hit.”

Chelsea put two runs up in the bottom of the first to collect an early lead. After a leadoff walk, the Red Devils strung together two hits while capitalizing on miscues by the East Boston defense. Sophomore third baseman Carlos Vega picked up one of his five RBIs on the day to push the second runner across the plate.

East Boston managed a run in the second to cut the Chelsea lead in half. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, the runners moved over on an infield fly play before senior catcher Danny Auch hit a sacrifice fly. He finished the day two-for-two with 2 RBIs.

But the Red Devils scored one run in each the second and third innings to keep the pressure on the Jets.

“Just the offensive game plan is when you get a pitch to hit, you have to be ready to swing and that’s what our guys were doing today,” Beausoleil said. “We weren’t going to be overpowered, their pitcher was around the plate, so we knew he was going to throw it in there so we had to be ready.”

East Boston’s best offensive inning came in the top of the fourth where they netted three runs.

Shortstop Ramon Quinenes led off with a triple and was pushed home by a single from Martinez. Auch came to the plate later in the inning with two on and one out, the senior hit a single up the middle to drive home the two runners and tie the score at four.

Chelsea retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame, picking up two more runs, the second of which was walked in by Jets pitcher Mike Theriault. The sophomore went 4.2 innings, giving up four hits and five earned runs with four walks. He struck out nine.

“We try to have balance throughout the lineup, try to make sure that whether you’re the nine hitter or the one hitter, that everyone is ready to go,” Beausoleil said. “Everyone is counted on to contribute and that finally came through today.”

Theriault was relieved by southpaw Anthony Difeo. The senior went 2.1 innings, giving up four runs on two hits and two walks while striking out four.

Chelsea kept East Boston off the board in each the fifth and sixth innings.

“(Defensively) it’s much easier when the pitcher strikes out (15) guys, you don’t have to make a lot of plays,” Beausoleil said. “But when he had to make the play, we play the play so that’s what we focus on.”

The Jets went into the top of the seventh down 10-4. They faced Red Devils reliever Seison Reyes, who allowed East Boston’s final two runs of the game.

Difeo led the seventh off with a double and later scored on a 2-out RBI single from Quinenes. Martinez picked up his second RBI of the morning, pushing Quinenes across the plate with an RBI single up the middle. That was as close as the Jets would get as Reyes (1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 K) struck out the final batter to end the game.

East Boston falls to 3-3 on a morning when head coach Phil Brangiforte said four starters were on the bench after not showing up to scheduled practices.

Chelsea improves to 2-2 and 1-1 in the Commonwealth Conference.

Justin A. Rice for the Boston Globe

Fenway pitcher Jeffery Pena recorded the win against Burke Friday afternoon, striking out 10 batters. He also contributed with the bat, going 2 for 3 with three RBIs

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Fenway High took out its frustrations from Tuesday afternoon’s 15-8 loss to Dorchester on Burke on Friday afternoon, earning a 14-1 win at Clifford Field in a game called after five innings.

“We got pretty beat up against Dorchester,” winning pitcher Jeffery Pena (1-1) said. “We just came in with a lot of anger; we had to let it out. We got it out of our system. Revenge is out, we’re no longer mad.”

After scoring two runs in the first, Fenway (2-2) took out most of that anger in an eight-run second inning in which it nearly batted around the order twice.

Burke didn’t fold its tent, though. Burke faced just three batters in the third, with a double play ending the inning. Jonathan Vega popped out to senior center fielder Mark Benjamin, who then doubled off Fenway catcher Henry Miranda at second base.

Then freshman pitcher William Martinez — who struck out five batters and walked eight — fielded a comebacker to get out of the inning.

Burke (1-4) got its only run in the fourth inning when Adam Ortiz knocked in Shaylin Blackwell on a fielder’s choice.

“The way I try to work with these young people is to continue to stress fundamentals, stay together, working as a unit and playing hard,” Burke coach Paul Duhaime said. “A lot of times baseball to me is like life and there’s quite a bit of adversity and if you can work through adversity you’ll have success.

Burke’s only win of the season this year was when Dorchester forfeited in the season opener. Last year Burke went 1-15. But Duhaime said his goal is not to necessarily win games but to help his players go to college. He boasted that Blackwell is going to Iowa State and Benjamin will attend Framingham State, Southern New Hampshire, or Salem State.

“My second goal is I want them to be solid citizens in the classroom and my third goal is to get them to respect the game of baseball,” Duhaime said.

Fenway said its goal for this season is to make the city tournament after it missed the tournament last year by one game following a loss to Snowden in the final game of the regular season.

“We use that as motivation, we talk about that a lot,” said Pena. “We were one game away and we blew it against Snowden so it’s still in the back of our mind that game.”

Fenway catcher Henry Miranda went 2 for 5 with four RBIs. Two of those RBIs came at the start of Fenway’s big second inning.

“Basically I just told our guys to be very patient with this kid, he’s not throwing very hard,” first-year Fenway coach David Walsh said.

Walsh, a 2003 Fenway graduate, said he is pleased with his team's offensive approach, especially its ability to draw walks and hit with two outs.

“We’re very fast, we like to be aggressive on the bases,” he said. “We had some big two-out hits; something we have struggled with is hitting with two outs. Just timely hitting was the key today besides Jeffery throwing a good game.”

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

(April 16-20)

BASEBALL

Monday: Cambridge at O’Bryant, 11 -- O’Bryant is looking for its first win of the season as it takes on Cambridge for the second consecutive game. With home-field advantage and familiarity with the Falcons, the Tigers should be able to turn in a solid effort.

Tuesday: Needham at Boston English, 12 -- English has opened its season strong, winning two of three, with the only loss being an 8-7 decision against Cambridge. The Blue & Blue will face a tough test as they take on their first nonconference opponent. Needham lost in the first round of the tournament last year, but started its season strong with a 7-3 victory over Dedham.

Tuesday: East Boston at Chelsea, 10 – East Boston is coming off a 4-2 victory over O’Bryant Wednesday as it travels to nonconference opponent Chelsea, which has had an up-and-down seasonr.

Wednesday: Boston English at Latin Academy, 3:30 – English gets another tough test when it takes on the Dragons in a road matchup. Latin Academy put up a convincing 11-1 win over a solid Madison Park team last Wednesday and is looking to build on that success.

SOFTBALL

Monday: Canton at Latin Academy, 10 – The Dragons have started their season 3-2, with two of their losses coming against nonconference opponents. They’ll look to pick up a home win against a Canton team that is still looking for its first win.

Tuesday: Burke at Madison Park, 3 – After winning its opener Burke has dropped two straight. The Bulldogs look to get back on track against the Cardinals, who dropped their first game, but followed that with back-to-back wins.

Wednesday: Boston International at Charlestown, 4 – Boston International has gotten off to a strong start after a 14-5 campaign last spring. They took the season’s first matchup against Charlestown, 25-13.

Wednesday: West Roxbury at Burke, 3 – This shapes up as an offensive battle. West Roxbury collected 39 runs in its first two games of the season. Burke scored 24 runs in a win to open the season and then 19 more in two losses.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Some Boston Public Schools baseball and softball games rained out on Thursday afternoon have been rescheduled, according to an athletic department official.

The Burke and South Boston varsity softball teams will play at 3:30 p.m. on May 9.

Snowden and Dorchester's varsity squads only will play at 3:30 p.m. at Roberts Field on May 22 while the Charlestown and Boston International varsity squads will now play at 3:30 p.m. at Fallon Field on May 24.

Also Burke's softball team had to change its April 23 game against Dorchester to May 21. That varsity game will be played at 3:30 p.m. at Roberts Field. O’Bryant will play Fenway at Clemente Field in the Fens at 3 p.m. on May 11.

O'Bryant's baseball game against Randolph and Latin Academy's game against Newton South have yet to be rescheduled.

The following softball games will be rescheduled as well: Charlestown at New Mission; O'Bryant at Fenway; Randolph at Dorchester; Madison Park at East Boston and Boston English at Brighton.

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

High school principals and athletic directors have until next Wednesday to nominate student athletes for the 16th annual Massachusetts Student-Athlete Citizenship Awards Ceremony on April 24 at Northeastern University.

This awards ceremony and program are designed to recognize Massachusetts high school student-athletes who have demonstrated excellence in three disciplines: academics, athletics and citizenship. The ceremony will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Curry Student Center Ballroom at Northeastern University.

The theme of this year’s event is “How Can Student-Athletes Make a Difference in the Community?”

The event, which is being sponsored by Sport in Society at Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association, is open to schools in Districts A, B, C, D, E and H.

Each school can nominate two male and two female students that merit this recognition and have participated in community service. One faculty member, coach, or parent representative should also be willing to provide transportation and accompany the students.

For more information contact Ted O’Reilly at 617-373-4025 or m.oreilly@neu.edu.

Justin A. Rice can be reached at jrice.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeJustinRice or @BPSspts.

By Ryan Mooney, Globe Correspondent

It was a good sign for Newton South coach Ron Jordan that John Jennings was able to throw 60 pitches over four innings, giving up only one run on two hits while striking out seven. He hadn't thrown all spring due to arm soreness. But the senior UMass-Amherst commit was back to form for the Lions’ season opener.

However, it was his offensive performance that had Jordan in disbelief.

Jennings homered with two strikes in three of his four plate appearances -- good for six RBIs -- in the Lions’ 10-1 victory over Wayland.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve never seen a kid hit three homers like that and dominate on the mound like that,” Jordan said.

After a solo shot in the third inning, Jennings went yard in consecutive innings during the Lions’ seven-run outburst over the fifth and sixth innings.

“He’s a heck of a player. We’re going to have to rely on him in our league,” Jordan said. “It was a good sign to see him go out there and throw four innings.”

Jennings mostly plays first base when not on the hill for the Lions -- Jordan likes to rest his arms as much as possible during the regular season -- but is also a viable option at third. He pitches and plays both corners of the diamond for AAU Northeast.

But perhaps the biggest testament to his athleticism besides what he does in the summer is what he does in the fall. Jennings is ranked as a top-50 field-goal kicker in the nation, and can also punt and put the ball in the end zone on kickoffs. He plans to walk onto the Minutemen football squad when he arrives in Amherst.

“Tremendous athlete. And if you looked at him, you’d say he doesn’t look it,” Jordan said. “But he really he is ... he can even screw around on the basketball court and do very well out there ... he’s very, very athletic.”

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

West Roxbury rallied from a two-run, fourth-inning deficit to take a 10-8 victory over Madison Park in a rematch of last year’s Boston City League baseball championship game.

“We just talked about the character of the team and I told them, I said, ‘I didn’t know the character of our team yet’,” said West Roxbury coach Clifton Wilson.

“We kept plugging, we never gave up.”

Senior pitcher Jonathan Bohilla-Delon pitched a complete game and also went 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Two of Bohilla-Delon’s RBIs came from a two-run home run to give West Roxbury its ninth and 10th runs in the top of the seventh inning.

Bohilla-Delon, a righthander, allowed five hits and five earned runs while walking six batters and striking out nine in seven innings.

“He was awful early, but showed tremendous mental toughness and really kept us in the game, and then he hit the two-run home run to win the game,” said Wilson.

FULL ENTRY

Xaverian's Nick Ahearn returns to a deep pitching staff for the No. 1 Hawks. (Debee Tlumacki / File photo for the Boston Globe)

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

With the baseball season beginning, the Globe's baseball Top 20 is largely based on how teams look on paper. Returning players and last season's success are the main reasons for the choices. But once teams get on the diamond and play a few games, the true top 20 will begin to form.

For now, Xaverian takes the top spot. Head coach Gerry Lambert has four pitchers returning that should play key roles. They include senior southpaw Tim Duggan, senior right-hander Nick Ahearn and junior righties Alex Person and Austin DeCarr. This deep pitching staff is a main reason why the Hawks are at the top spot.

Senior second baseman Chris Hoyt will leadoff for Xaverian and should be one of the best hitters in the lineup. Junior outfielder Aidan Desrosiers should also add some pop to the middle of the order.

BC High and St. John’s Prep come in at Nos. 2 and 3 and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see one of these teams at the top by the end of the season. The Catholic Conference will be tough as always.

BC High will be led by senior catcher Bob Melley who Lambert described as the best player in the Catholic Conference.

St. John’s Prep coach Pat Yanchus said pitching will also be the strength to his team. He will rely on junior RHP Dustin Hunt who transferred from Andover along with junior Brandon Bingeo who also plays shortstop. Senior outfielders Anthony Capuano and Andrew Donahue will return in the lineup for the Eagles.

Lowell is our No. 4 team. Again experience played a key role in this pick as the Red Raiders have 13 seniors this season and won the Merrimack Valley Conference two years in a row.

At No. 5 is the defending Division 1 South champions Franklin. They have four seniors that will play important roles. Catcher Reed Turgeon and shortstop Brendan Skidmore are both three-year starters, while pitchers Tyler Buck and Bobby Chaiton have pitched multiple innings in the past for head coach Dave Niro.

Plymouth North is the first Division 2 team and the defending state champions should be tough to beat. The Eagles have pitchers who have been on the mound in high pressure situations including Alex Rozak who won the state final last year and senior Cody Holmes who has saved seven tournament games in the last two years.

A couple teams to watch are Barnstable and Lynn Classical who come in at Nos. 10 and 12 respectively.

The Red Raiders went 10-6 last year and return all of their defensive starters.

Lynn Classical snuck into the tournament last year at 10-10 but made it to the Division 2 final, losing to North Andover. The Rams are only graduated their shortstop from last season and will have 10 seniors on the team.

One team to watch that didn’t make the Top 20 is North Reading. Head coach Frank Carey only has two seniors on the team but he likes what he sees from his squad this year. With more than 600 wins and a spot in the National High School Baseball Hall of Fame, Carey knows what he is talking about.

For now, these rankings are based on off-the-field observations. It will be interesting to see how the rankings shake up once teams get on the field for a few weeks.

See the Globe baseball Top 20.

By Nick Ironside, Globe Correspondent

Lynn English’s junior southpaw Ben Bowden had a perfect Saturday at Seaside Park in Marblehead.

Bowden threw a perfect game, secured in the final inning by senior center fielder Randeley Lora’s spectacular over-the-shoulder catch. The Bulldogs went on to win their season opener, 5-0, over the Magicians.

Lora’s catch was clutch, but the day belonged to Bowden.

“It’s such a thrill,” said Lynn English coach Joe Caponigro, who has been at the school for nine years. “It was outstanding, and I’ve never been part of a perfect game.”

Marblehead’s assistant coach Tom Roundy, who kept the scorebook for the game, described Bowden’s performance as “incredible.”

Bowden recorded 14 strikeouts in seven innings, fanning six consecutive batters at one point.

Caponigro said the Bulldogs' inexperience last year contributed to a first round knockout in the playoffs. This season he thinks the pitching staff has matured and will play a big role in where the team finishes.

“I think we have a solid pitching staff and we’ll go as far as they can take us,” he said.

At 6-foot-4, 200-pound Bowden is an imposing figure on the mound. The southpaw, who has been clocked throwing as high at 89 miles per hour, has already received interest from several Division 1 college programs. He also went 2 for 2 with a single and a double. He was walked twice -- once intentionally – and left Caponigro more than impressed with his opening day performance.

“[Bowden] was snapping off his curveball and his fastball was moving,” Caponigro said. “He’s got a major league changeup and everything was working for him today.”

By Phil Perry, Globe Correspondent

John Magliozzi's decision to honor his commitment to the University of Florida was not a difficult one.

The Milton resident and recent Dexter Academy graduate was drafted in the 35th round by the Tampa Bay Rays and was looking to sign for a bonus "in the $1 million range." The Rays never came close, though, and the standout righthanded pitcher's decision was made for him.

"[The Rays] said they couldn't go there," Magliozzi said. "I had a certain number that my family and I were dealing with. We knew they weren't going to get there and so we said 'That's fine,' and decided to go to school."

At 5-foot-10, Magliozzi has a fastball that hovers in the low 90-mph range and he hit 97 miles per hour at the Aflac All-American Baseball Classic last summer. He was named a Louisville Slugger Preseason First Team All-American before his senior season at Dexter.

Magliozzi had a feeling he would be enrolling at Florida as soon as negotiations with the Rays began. According to him, the Rays never offered anything outside of the "$100,000 range."

He recently returned to Milton after spending six weeks in Gainesville, Fla. where he took two classes and worked out five days a week with Gators strength coach Paul Chandler. He'll return to campus on Thursday to be ready for classes which begin on Aug. 23.

"I can't wait," Magliozzi said. "I really wanna have the opportunity to win an SEC Championship and a National Championship."

By Phil Perry, Globe Correspondent

Andrew Chin's ultimate goal is to wear a Major League uniform, but next spring he'll suit up at Boston College.

The recent Buckingham, Browne and Nichols graduate from Newton has decided that he will not sign with the Toronto Blue Jays, who drafted the talented lefthander him in the fifth round of the MLB First Year Player Draft in June. Instead, he will enroll at BC. The deadline was Monday at midnight.

"I just feel like the costs would outweigh the benefits if I were to sign," said Chin.

"I feel like I can just go to college, have a good time, learn a lot, mature, and then try my luck again in a couple of years."

The Blue Jays final offered a $275,000 bonus and tuition for college, a significant ways off from the $1 million and tuition sought by Chin and his family.

Chin is still grateful he was drafted in the first place. He lost his entire senior season at BB&N to an elbow injury and is now 13 weeks removed from undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

He has begun working out at BC and continues to rehab at Mass. General. He plans to begin throwing lightly in three weeks.

The BC coaching staff was excited to hear Chin's choice.

"They're definitely happy I'm coming," Chin said. "Everybody wins in this case."

By Cat Calsolaro, Globe Correspondent

In a must-win situation to keep its state title hopes alive, East Side Post 201 of Worcester came out swinging against Lowell Post 87 Thursday afternoon at Riverside Park in Hudson.

Bryan Perez scattered seven hits over eight innings and Steve Flynn (5 RBIs) belted an eighth-inning grand slam as East Side rolled to an 11-1, mercy-rule win, forcing a winner-take-all nightcap.

There was no stopping East Side. Ysander Figueroa, a rising sophomore at Assumption College, ripped three hits and knocked four runs and Flynn added two more RBIs as Post 201 hung on for a 10-7 victory, securing a trip to the Northeast Regional tournament in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. East Side (27-8) will play the New York state champion Thursday morning at 9:30.

“We wanted to get on top early to make it difficult for [Lowell]," said East Side manager Mark Peters.

Regan Aghdam (4 innings), Perez (4 innings), and Figueroa (1 inning) shared the work on the mound. Lowell finishes 22-7

By Mike Carraggi, Globe Correspondent

Dan Giovacchini’s star has always shone bright on the local and regional level. But now, the Globe All-Scholastic and Brown University-commit from Lawrence Academy is getting his due nationally.

Giovacchini is one of eight finalists in consideration for the first ever AAU High School Sullivan Award. The award is meant to recognize the country’s premier high school athlete, with an eye towards academics and character.

Last season in football, the 6-foot-3-inch linebacker/running back stood out even among several of his Division 1-bound teammates, winning the Independent Schools League MVP award en route to a second-straight undefeated regular season and league title. He also was a league all-star as a guard/forward in basketball, where the Spartans are a year removed from a flawless season and championship. Giovacchini completed the trifecta by being given Honorable Mention in each of the last two baseball seasons as a center fielder and catcher. Lawrence Academy baseball took the ISL championship in the spring.

Save the quartet of championships, this honor is as high as any he has received.

‘‘My favorite memories are probably winning the titles,’’ he said. ‘‘But this is up there, it’s pretty awesome. It’s a great way to end my high school career.’’

At Brown, Giovacchini will focus on football and play as much basketball as he can.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

The Lincoln-Sudbury Warriors (24-4) ended the baseball season right where they started – at the No. 1 spot in the Globe baseball Top 20.

After being ranked the preseason No. 1 team in Eastern Mass., the Warriors lost two of their first three games. But pitcher Adam Ravenelle helped L-S turn it around and guided them to their third Division 1 state championship in seven years.

At No. 2 was Plymouth North (23-2), who won its second Division 2 state championship in the last four years.

Falling at No. 3 was Franklin (15-9) who was this year's cinderella and ran all the way to the Eastern. Mass finals, falling to Lincoln-Sudbury.

Acton-Boxboro (18-6), who fell to Lincoln-Sudbury in the North finals and St. John's Prep (15-6), who fell to LS in the quarterfinals, rounded out the top five.

The biggest slide from the regular season was Lexington, who entered the tournament at 20-0. But the Minutemen were one-and-done after they fell to Acton-Boxboro in the second round and ended the season at No. 10.

Newburyport (22-5) cracked into the Top 20 for the first time all season, after 40-year coach and 616 game winner Bill Pettingell led the Clippers to its first Division 3 state championship in his time with the team.

Somerset (17-5), who lost to Plymouth North in the Division 2 South finals, also cracked the top 20 for the first time all season at the No. 15 spot.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

The Portsmouth (N.H.) baseball team (17-0) extended its national win streak, winning its 80th straight game in a 10-0 defeat over Sanborn Regional in the first round of the New Hampshire Division 2 state tournament Thursday.

Senior right-hander Keegan Taylor allowed just two hits over four innings, while striking out six.

Senior center fielder Aidan O'Leary and junior catcher Connor McCauley had three hits each to fuel the 10-run shellacking.

Portsmouth will look to extend its streak Saturday when they battle Laconia in the quarterfinals Saturday.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

In the final Globe baseball Top 20 of the regular season, Lexington stayed on top with a 20-0 record, completing the only perfect season in Eastern Mass. Plymouth north (18-1) stayed put at No. 2, and Lincoln Sudbury (17-4) moved up a spot to No. 3.

North Andover (18-1) and Everett (17-3) eached moved up a spot to round up the top five, and St. john's Prep (14-5)jumped to No. 6 after beating BC High (13-6), who dropped to No. 7.

Catholic Memorial (14-6) and Xaverian (11-8) lost two games, but CM moved up to No. 8 with the movement in front of them, while Xaverian moved down one spot to No. 9.

Abington jumped three spots to No. 10, as Danvers fell out of the top 10 spot to No. 12.

Acton-Boxboro jumped in at No. 15 (15-5), and Sharon broke into the top 20 at No. 19 after finishing the season on a 9-1 run (15-5).

The MIAA released the baseball seedings for the state championship tournament today. Here are the seedings by division and region. Games start as early as June 2. For first-round matchups, check out Wednesday's edition of the Globe or go to MIAA.net.

Division 1

North
1. Lexington (20-0) 1.000
2. Lincoln-Sudbury (18-2) .900
3. Everett (17-3) .850
4. Peabody (16-4) .800
5. Lawrence (15-5) .750
6. Medford (15-5) .750
7. St. John's (15-5) .750
8. Acton-Boxboro (15-5) .750
9. Lowell (14-6) .700
10 Central Catholic (12-6) .667
11. Chelmsford (13-7) .650
12. Cambridge R&L (11-7) .611
13. Malden Catholic (12-8) .600
14. Newton South (12-8) .600
15. Andover (11-9) .550
16. Malden (11-9) .550
17. Westford Academy (10-10) .500
18. Boston Latin (10-10) .500
19. Lynn English (10-10) .500
20. Newton North (10-10) .500

South
1. Walpole (17-3) .850
2. North Attleboro (15-5) .750
3. Marshfield (14-6) .700
4. BC High (14-6) .700
5. Catholic Memorial (14-6) .700
6. Braintree (12-6) .667
7. Barnstable (10-6) .625
8. Durfee (12-8) .600
9. Franklin (12-8) .600
10. Silver Lake (12-8) .600
11. New Bedford (12-8) .600
12. Mansfield (12-8) .600
13. Needham (11-9) .550
14. Bridgewater-Raynham (11-9) .550
15. Xaverian (11-9) .550
16. Quincy (10-9) .526
17. Taunton (10-10) .500
18. Norwood (10-10) .500
19. Attleboro (10-10) .500

Central
1. Milford (16-4) .800
2. Doherty (15-5) .750
3. Wachusett (15-5) .750
4. St. John's (15-7) .682
5. Nashoba (13-7) .650
6. Burncoat (12-7) .632
7. Westborough (12-8) .600
8. Leominster (12-8) .600
9. Quabbin (12-8) .600
10. Shepherd Hill (11-8) .579
11. Tantasqua (11-9) .550
12. North Middlesex (11-9) .550
13. Shrewsbury (10-10) .500
14. St. Peter Marian (9-9) .500
15. Holy Name (8-10) .444

West
1. East Longmeadow (17-3)
2. Agawam (16-4)
3. Westfield (14-6) 4. Chicopee (13-7)
5. Taconic (15-5)
6. Cathedral (13-7)
7. Amherst (12-8)
8. Holyoke (11-9)
9. Northampton (11-9)
10. Minnechaug (10-10)
11. Central (11-9)
12. West Springfield

Division 2

North
1. North Andover (19-1) .950
2. Reading (16-4) .800
3. Danvers (16-4) .800
4. Triton (14-6) .700
5. Beverly (14-6) .700
6. Marblehead (13-7) .650
7. Burlington (13-7) .650
8. Melrose (14-8) .636
9. Arlington (11-9) .550
10. Masconomet (11-9) .550
11. Tewksbury (10-10) .500
12. Wilmington (10-10) .500
13. Gloucester (10-10) .500
14. Belmont (10-10) .500
15. Lynn Classical (10-10) .500
16. Dracut (8-12) .400

FULL ENTRY

By John McGuirk, Globe Correspondent

In Worcester, Greater Lowell established a team record in victories in a season as the Gryphons jumped out to a huge lead early and managed to hold off Worcester Tech 7-5 Monday in the first round of the Large School Division of the Vocational State Baseball Tournament.

Starting pitcher Curtis Hamilton went the distance, allowing seven hits while striking out 12. The senior righty, who is headed to the University of Southern New Hampshire next season, suffered one bad inning when the Eagles put up four runs in the third. However, Hamilton (5-2) was able re-group and yielded just one run the rest of the way.
Greater Lowell (19-2 and winners of 15 straight) will face the winner of the Diman Regional Voke/Whittier Tech game for the vocational title Tuesday at a time and site to be announced. The Eagles end their regular season at 18-3.

"Except for one inning Curtis was on," Gryphons coach Dave MacLaughlin said. "I'm pleased with the way our kids came out and took advantage of the situations they had. Give Worcester Tech credit though because they hit the ball very well. Even some of the outs they got were balls that were hit hard."

Greater Lowell took a 1-0 lead after the opening frame and would extend its advantage to six following a five-run third behind a pair of two-run singles off the bats of Hamilton and Nik Powers. In the bottom of the frame, the Eagles scrapped back as John Boyd drove in a pair with a triple. Nick Matthews also produced a run-scoring triple and Mike Mastrototaro followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit to 6-4. The Gryphons would add a run in the fourth on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Matthews. Worcester Tech plated a single run in the fifth thanks to a Boyd RBI single.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

Senior Middlesex League co-MVP Will Marcal led Lexington baseball to a perfect 20-0 season after fanning 12 batters in seven innings to beat Lowell, 8-6.

The Brown bound pitcher improved to 8-0 on the season. He also notched two RBIs for a total of 23 on the season.

“He was an all scholastic and the league MVP last year,” said Lexington’s head coach Tom O’Grady.“ "He is one of the best pitchers in Eastern Mass. He has got the heart of a lion and he is a fierce competitor.”

Lowell held on to an early lead after two innings but Lexington turned to their strong lineup to lift them from a 4-1 deficit.

Senior third baseman and tri-captain Demitri Monvoukas drilled a two-run homer, his fourth of the season, in the bottom of the second to drive in junior catcher Connor Murray. Monvoukas returned in the fifth inning to help the Minutemen take a fragile 5-4 lead with a crisp line drive to right field to drive in senior designated hitter Charlie Guthrie for his 23rd RBI of the season.

"We have gotten down early this year in some games but we have a very good hitting lineup,” O’Grady said. “I knew we could come back. We have proved it when we have been down and have come back pretty strong.”

In the top of the seventh, Marcal struck out the first batter then walked the following two. He followed it up by striking out the last two hitters to close the game.

“I think when it was all said and done it was a relief to go 20-0. It is pretty special thing. It is not an easy thing to do,” O’Grady said. "We have great senior leadership. We have a lot of kids that have played since they were freshman and they are an extremely talented group of players.We are very proud but we also want to improve in our performance in the tournament from last year.”

The Minutemen are seeded first in the Division 1 North State Tournament for the second straight year. They were knocked out by the same Lowell team in the first round of the state tournament last.

Lexington extends their regular season win streak to 35 victories.

By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

With a hefty lead in hand, Reading sophomore Scott Tully reared back on a 3-2 count and fired a fastball past the batter for his 92d strikeout of the season, setting a school mark for a season in a 16-2 victory Wednesday over Woburn at Woburn High School.

"He has the talent and tools to be one of the very best we've had," said Peter Moscariello, Reading's coach of 33 years.

Tully, a lefthander, finished the game with 11 strikeouts, bringing his season total to 97 in 52 2/3 innings. The previous mark was set in 2009 when former Globe All-Scholastic Ben O'Shea struck out 91.

Tully has a 7-1 record. He has three strong pitches in his repertoire, including a hard fastball, a solid changeup, and a recently developed curveball that has become stronger throughout the season. As a freshman he went 7-2 with 75 strikeouts.

"He is a young kid, has the competitive drive, and is willing to work at it," said Moscariello. "It's going to be enjoyable to watch him over the next couple of years."

With the victory, Reading (14-4) closed out its Middlesex League schedule in second place behind top-ranked Lexington.

"I'm proud of [the 14-4 record] and proud of the kids," said Moscariello. "They've worked hard, are playing their best ball now, and they're having fun."

The Rockets have two nonleague regular-season games remaining, this weekend as part of the Dick Scanlon Invitational in Wilmington.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Not much changed in the Globe baseball Top 20 in the last week except for a few shakeups with some Catholic Conference teams beating up on each other.

Of course, Lexington still holds the No.1 spot with a 16-0 record, powered by senior pitcher Will Marcal (6-0) and junior first baseman Chris Shaw (7 HR, 31 RBI).

Catholic Memorial (13-6) dropped from No. 4 to No. 7 after losing two games last week, followed by St. John's Prep (11-5) at No. 8.

Yes, St. John's Prep has a slightly better record. However, CM has taken down the Eagles in two games this season, prompting the higher ranking.

Xaverian (11-6) falls in at No. 9 after losing to CM earlier in the week and Malden Catholic (7-8) moves up from No. 19 to No. 16 after beating CM during the week.

The biggest jump of the week came from No. 6 Everett (12-2), which jumped five spots after dealing St. John's its fifth loss of the season.

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

Portsmouth's (N.H.) baseball team tied Homer high school in Michigan for the national record with 75 consecutive wins after defeating Sanborn Regional 2-0 Monday.

At 12-0, Portsmouth stands alone in first place in Division II. The school has won the last three state championships in New Hampshire.

The record setting game was halted in the top of the sixth inning due to the abysmal weather in the area.

“Sanborn was terrific. [Tyler] Johnson, is one of the best pitchers we have seen,” said Portsmouth head coach Tim Hopley. “They have got a great team and they gave us all we can handle today.”

The poor weather did not slow down Portsmouth’s starting right-handed pitcher Keegan Taylor. The Northeastern bound senior allowed two hits and fanned nine over five innings including the side in the fifth. Taylor is now 6-0 on the season and 20-0 in his three years as a starting pitcher.

Portsmouth led early after junior outfielder Connor Macauley (2 for 2) reached base on a single up the middle then scored a run off a throwing error in the first inning. Portsmouth followed up a run scored off an infield grounder in the top of the third.

Portsmouth is scheduled to play Pembroke Academy on May 25 in hopes of breaking the record set back in 2005.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

There was a little bit of bustlin' and justlin' in the Globe baseball top 20 this week. Lexington holds onto the top spot with an unblemished 15-0 record.

Plymouth North moved up from No. 3 to No. 2, but the big shuffling came from the Catholic Conference. BC High (9-5) moved from No. 4 to No. 3 after beating St. John's Prep (11-4) last week.

St. John's Prep also fell to Catholic Memorial (12-4), falling from the No. 2 spot to No. 6. Filling in at No. 4 is Catholic Memorial, and Lincoln-Sudbury rounds out the top five.

Walpole (12-2) cracked the top 10 this week at No. 9 after previously sitting at No. 15.

Danvers lost last week but rounds out the top 10 with a 13-2 record and a strangle hold on the Northeastern Conference.

Everett (10-2), Chelmsford (12-3), and Oliver Ames (10-3) all lost last week but moved up thanks to Walpole jumping spots. Everett sits at No. 11, Chelmsford at No. 12 and Oliver Ames at No. 14.

Abington (11-1) moved up four spots to No. 13 after a successful week and St. Mary's fell seven spots to No. 17 with three losses last week while Lowell dropped to No. 18 after losing two.

Breaking back into the Top 20 after a hiatus since Week 1 is Malden Catholic (5-9) at No. 19. Don't be surprised if MC makes the tournament.

By Jake Seiner, Globe Correspondent

The standings in the Catholic Central Small division are tight this year. For at least one team in the hunt -- second-place Trinity Catholic -- the games have been even closer. Wednesday night was no exception.

The Falcons (7-7, 6-2 CC Small) overcame an early 7-1 deficit to conference leader Lowell Catholic (7-5, 6-1), picking up the win, 8-7, on Kyle Manning’s bases-loaded, walk-off single in the seventh inning.

The win is Trinity’s fourth walk-off win of the year, and fifth one-run league win.

“A lot of our league games this year have been very close,” Trinity coach Craig Genualdo said. “All four of our walk-off wins have been against league opponents. It’s a very competitive league.”

Trinity began to claw out of the 7-1 hole with a run in the bottom of the fourth, and backed that with two in the fifth and three in the sixth. Joe Brennan relieved starter Brett O’Keefe in the sixth and struck out five in two scoreless innings. Brennan’s scoreless top of the seventh sent the contest to the bottom of the frame still square at 7-7.

Trinity’s seven-hitter, George Wells, started the inning by reaching on an error. Danny Logan followed by drawing a walk, then Jose Sanchez took a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for Manning.

That bottom of the order production is nothing new for Trinity. Genualdo thinks Wells, Logan, and Sanchez have been key for his squad, which lacks elite-level hitters for the CC Small. Wednesday the trio combined to go 4 for 9 at the plate with three walks and three runs scored.

The Lowell Catholic pitcher fell into a 3-0 hole to Manning, but worked the count to 3-2. Manning fouled off a pair of 3-2 pitches, then pulled a single into left field to score Wells and clinch Trinity a key conference win.

“Kyle’s a junior who’s really coming into his own this year,” Genualdo said. “He started for us the last two years but he was kind of a ninth-hitter type of guy. After two games this year, we moved him to the leadoff spot. Even when he’s made outs, they’ve been productive outs. He hits the ball hard and has long at-bats. He’s really a prototypical leadoff hitter.”

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

We're approaching the second half of the baseball season and there's no doubt things are heating up. Here's a look at the latest Globe Top 20 updates.

Lexington remains undefeated at 11-0 and takes over the top spot from St. John's Prep. SJP slides to No. 2, while Plymouth North fills in at No. 3 with a record of 11-1. Rounding out the top five is BC High (7-4) at No. 4 and Catholic Memorial (10-3) at No. 5.

Although CM has one less loss than the Eagles, BC High has the edge in the rankings with a win over CM at the end of April.

The biggest change came from Danvers, which cracked into the Top 20 this week at No. 9 after a 9-1 first half to the season.

Also breaking into the rankings for the first time this season is No. 15 Walpole (9-2), No. 17 Abington (10-1) and No. 20 Taunton (7-4).

Lawrence returns to the Top 20 after a hiatus since the season's initial rankings. The Lancers sit at No. 16 with a 9-3 record.

By Jesse Liebman, Globe Correspondent

It may have been a breezy afternoon, but Triton baseball head coach Richard Dube would not lay blame on any gusts of wind to explain his team's 15-14 victory over Masconomet on Friday.

"It was a little windy, but nothing that would have been huge," Dube said. "Maybe it was the proper aligning of the stars."

The Vikings scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally from a seven run deficit, after a series of walked batters and wild pitches from the Chieftans enabled Triton to complete its comeback.

Masconomet had jumped out to an early lead, and then broke the game open in the sixth, scoring six runs. That set the stage for the Vikings' recovery. Senior Nick Beaudoin came in to pitch for Triton in the sixth. Beaudoin only ended up surrendering one hit the rest of the game.

"At that point we were only down by a touchdown," Dube quipped. "So Nick shut them down the rest of the way."

In the bottom of the seventh, a series of miscues by Chieftans' pitcher Ben Panunzio led to the bases being loaded up. Sophomore catcher Cody Wolcik was walked, scoring the tying run for Triton.

"Cody had a good at bat," Dube said. "He had been struggling a bit at the plate. He's a catcher who gets whacked around a bit, so it was nice to see him there."

With the bases still loaded, redemption came full circle for the Vikings when starting pitcher Tim Cashman, who had been yanked earlier in the game and moved to center field, was hit by a pitch, giving Triton the win.

"Tim has been one of our leaders all year," Dube said. "I felt confident with Tim at the plate."

The Vikings (6-4, 3-1), resume play Tuesday against Wilmington.

By Braden Campbell, Globe correspondent

After giving up three runs to West Bridgewater in back-to-back innings, déjà vu started to set in for Norfolk Aggie.

The Rams had been whipped, 30-1, by the Wildcats in West Bridgewater in the teams’ first meeting April 7 -- but this time, on their home field, the Rams made it a battle.

“You would question our ability to come back against a strong team like that,” said coach P.J. O’Toole. “But I think we were pretty confident.”

Joe McCarthy hit a two-out single in the fourth to bring in two. Jeff Boyle, Sam Lawlor and Evan Witherbee hit three consecutive doubles in the fifth to cut the lead to two. After a wild, error-filled sixth inning, Rams were up by a run.

Half an inning later, though, they again trailed by a score. According to their coach, his kids were unfazed.

“After that happens, you always feel a little down,” said O’Toole. “But they were ready to get the bats and get after them in the bottom of the seventh. Our confidence was still high.”

Norfolk Aggie’s Tommy Bonome singled to start off the inning. Alan Harrington then bunted, and after a botched throw to first, pinch-runner Gabe Whittemore came around to tie. Harrington advanced to third.

Pinch-hitter Colin Edgerly hit a grounder down the third base line, scoring Harrington and giving the Rams the hard-fought 9-8 win.

The comeback brought the Rams to .500 and kept them on pace to make their first state tournament appearance.

They’ve accomplished this feat despite bringing around 13 kids to each game, O’Toole said -- but he doesn’t look at his small roster as a handicap.

“We’re challenged in some ways by the numbers,” he said. “But the kids give it all they’ve got, all the time.”

By Jesse Liebman, Globe Correspondent

The Portsmouth (N.H.) High School baseball team continued its winning ways and pushed its winning streak to 70 games following a tight 4-3 victory over visiting St. Thomas Aquinas (N.H.) on Monday.

Senior Keegan Taylor pitched the complete game for the Clippers, allowing only two earned runs while striking out 10 and holding the Saints to just three hits. Taylor, who already has committed to playing at Northeastern University, also helped power Portsmouth's offense, driving in the game-winning RBI with a triple in the third inning.

Portsmouth (7-0), winner of the previous three Class I state championships, is now only five wins away from tying the national record for consecutive wins by a high school varsity baseball team, currently held by Homer (Mich.) High School.

The Clippers resume play on Wednesday when they host Pelham High School.

By Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

Life isn’t easy for a baseball team in the Catholic Conference. Both top-ranked Catholic Memorial and third-ranked Xaverian experienced that fact firsthand last week, as each team entered yesterday's showdown coming off a loss.

Yesterday afternoon was Xaverian’s turn to right the ship as it traveled to West Roxbury. The Hawks prevailed, 2-0 in what was a pitchers' duel right to the end.

The Hawks got all the offense they’d need in the first inning. The tandem of Tim Duggan and Austin DeCarr punched out nine and scattered four hits en route to shutting out one of the more potent offenses in Division 1.

Junior Chris Hoyt chopped an infield single that wouldn’t quite roll foul to lead off the first inning. Derek Reddy promptly laced a single to right field that skipped by the right fielder and rolled to the wall, scoring Hoyt and leaving Reddy at third with no outs after the two-base error.

However, Knights' co-ace Matt Goreham promptly shut the door on Xaverian, not allowing a ball out of the infield to strand Reddy at third.

Both teams had their chances throughout the middle innings, but Goreham and Duggan continued to make key pitches when it counted most.

In the fifth inning the Knights used a walk, an error, and an infield single to load the bases with one out. CM then hit a fly ball to right fielder Derek Reddy that Todd McDonald tried to tag-up on.

Reddy launched a laser on the fly to catcher Gerard Florentino, who tagged McDonald out with five feet to spare.

“It was easily our defensive play of the year,” said Hawks coach Jerry Lambert.

CM threatened again in the sixth, loading the bases once again, this time against sophomore fire-baller DeCarr. The young right-hander, whose fastball tops out in the high 80s, recovered to strike out the side and finished off the seventh inning by fanning two more.

“It not as easy spot for a sophomore to be in a Catholic Conference game,” said Lambert. “But he ended up striking out the side, with a few walks sprinkled in. We have a lot of confidence in the kid.”

Hoyt -- 2 for 4, two runs scored -- capped off his stellar game with a monster shot over the high fence in left in the top of the seventh.

The win snapped a two-game skid for Xaverian and gave the Knights their second consecutive loss after they fell to BC High this Monday in extra innings.

Things don’t get any easier for the Hawks, who face eighth-ranked BC High on Monday and No. 2 St. John’s Prep on Wednesday.

By Anthony Gulizia, Globe Correspondent

Pain is only temporary – just ask St. John’s Prep senior pitcher Pat Connaughton.
 
Connaughton, who missed the first two weeks of the season after spraining his left ankle moving furniture with his father, took the mound for his first start of 2011 and pitched a no-hitter as St. John’s Prep (6-1) beat Arlington 5-0 Monday.
 
“It was fun, I was looking forward to [the start] for a few days,” Connaughton said. “As the week progressed, I started practicing my mechanics and it worked out well. It’s the first time I’ve ever missed any games in my Prep career for any sport.”
 
The right-handed, Notre Dame bound hurler struck out 15 batters and walked just two, while touching 94 miles per hour on the radar gun.
 
“I just threw strikes,” Connaughton said. “If I can throw strikes, then it makes things more effective. I’m able to throw the ball a decent speed, and I throw more pitches because it makes the hitters more selective. If I’m not throwing my fastball for strikes, it makes it easier for them.”
 
Since the injury, Connaughton was working very closely and diligently with athletic trainer Matt Lovett, who is in his first season at St. John's Prep.
 
“There was a lot of good therapy,” Lovett said. “We were real conservative and we had him in a boot. But once he was able to start doing some stuff we did some whirlpool, some exercising and some range of motion. I would do some massaging to get the additional swelling down.”
 
Connaughton did not hit in the game as he is still having some trouble with lateral movement, and he sat out of Prep’s double-header with Hopkinton Tuesday.
 
“I told him he would be able to pitch before he was able to hit if you can stabilize it landing wise,” Lovett said. “But I don’t think he’s ready to start running the bases and I tested him Sunday and he still had a hitch in his step. He improved greatly, but still wasn’t ready for [running].”
 
Fortunately for the Eagles, they are done with games for the rest of the week and Lovett said they can expect to have Connaughton back full strength by Monday.
 
“He just works hard and it shows,” Lovett said. “If you’re able to play through a little bit of pain, I’ll do the best I can to get you back on the field. He’s just a very tough kid, and it will serve him well in the future.”
 
Senior catcher Tyler Coppola was behind the plate for Connaughton’s no-hitter, the first he’s ever caught and had nothing but praise for the performance.
 
“It was great, he was throwing right to the mitt and pounding the zone,” Coppola said. “His curveball was working and it was hard for [Arlington] to hit him.”
 
Coppola, who has been starting since his sophomore year, has caught Connaughton for three years.
 
“He’s been amazing all three years,” Coppola said. “He definitely came in this season throwing harder. He was around the high eighties as a sophomore, but now he’s just at a whole new level.”
 
Connaughton, an Arlington native, said that the no-hitter was not only special because it was the first of his career, but because it was against his hometown.
 
“When I first sprained my ankle, I kept making jokes to my friends that I was going to come back against them,” Connaughton said. “It was fun, I knew every single kid on that team. I knew a majority of the people in the stands whether it was my friends or family. It was a nice day – a perfect day for baseball.”

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

Senior pitcher Mike Weisman gave up two earned runs and finished with 12 strikeouts in seven innings to lead North Andover over 5th ranked Malden Catholic, 7-5 at home Friday.

“We were very happy beating a big D-1 school,” said North Andover’s head coach Todd Dulin. “They have a really good team and some kids who could hit the ball hard.”

The Lancers exploded to a 3-0 lead in the first inning after first baseman Sean Glabicky nailed two-run homer to left center. After a Scarlet Knights’ error, the Lancer’s No. 5 hitter, third baseman Anthony Carbone, hit a double to drive in a run.

“After the first [inning], Mike was pissed off and gathered himself and started rolling the curve ball,” said Dulin. “In the second inning, he struck out three. In the third inning, he struck out two and you could kind of tell he was in a groove.”

The Columbia bound pitcher is known for his clutch performances after having gotten a save at the North Sectional championship against Reading last year at LeLacheur Park, Dulin said.

The Knights rallied in the second inning to tie the game 3-3.

Junior first baseman Daniel Laorenza had a single and then the Lancers put runners on second and third after an error. Senior Center fielder David Foote got an infield single that drove in Lorenza, and senior third baseman Dom Nicolosi for the tying run.

“Every time they scored we seemed to answer,” said Dulin.

The Knights(2-1) finally got the lead in the sixth after nine batters went to the plate after a series of walks. Shortstop Cam Couillard drilled a double to leftfield that drove Foote and senior leftfielder Jason Keshian to put the Knights up 6-5.

Couillard would then walk home after the Knights loaded up the bases and held onto a 7-5 lead.

Foote finished 3 of 3 from the plate with one RBI and two scored runs.

By Braden Campbell, Globe correspondent

Dennis-Yarmouth freshman pitcher Mike Morlock pitched a scoreless frame against Sandwich on Monday in his first varsity appearance. Morlock was everything his coach could ask for.

In his first varsity start against Duxbury yesterday, Morlock was that, and more. In five innings, the lefthander struck out four Dragons, keeping the visitors hitless.

“He was great,” said coach Paul Funk. “He gave us everything he had. It was a really good effort.”

Senior Dan Creel took over for Morlock in the sixth, preserving the no-hitter as the Dolphins took the 5-0 win to improve to 3-0.

Funk said the decision to pull Morlock was tough. By the end of the fifth, Morlock had given up four walks and narrowly escaped from a few jams. The Dolphins were up by only three. He decided to put the game in more experienced hands.

“[My pitching coach and I] looked at each other and said [Creel] is our best guy, he’s rested ready to go,” Funk said. “Let our best finish it.”

Funk said Morlock wasn’t disappointed.

“He knew exactly what he had done -- he put us in a position to win,” Funk said. “We always say there’s only one stat that really matters and that’s the win column.”

And, Funk added, Morlock has earned his spot in the rotation.

By Jesse Liebman, Globe correspondent

Despite winning the Division 4 state championship last year after going 19-6, Cohasset boys' baseball coach Pete Afanasiw knows his squad isn’t likely to sneak up on many opponents in the South Shore league this season.

On Monday, his players turned a few heads as the Skippers rallied from a two-run deficit in the decisive seventh inning to defeat Norwell, 5-4.

The game initially did not feature much action, as both teams sized each other up.

“It was pretty uneventful through the first three innings,” Afanasiw said.

The Clippers (2-1) got on the board in the third, thanks in part to three singles. The gap widened by the fourth, and though Cohasset managed to come back, Norwell scored another two runs off of senior pitcher Drew Cobin.

Meanwhile, Norwell pitcher Jordan Jenkins was enjoying a sterling outing.

“Hopefully you get to the point where you’ve gone through the batting order twice, and by the third time, your players have seen the same pitcher,” Afanasiw said. “By then he’s a little fatigued and the batters are familiar with his style.”

By the bottom of the seventh, Cohasset was familiar with Jenkins’s repertoire, and the Clippers pounced. Leadoff hitter Shane Haggerty started the rally with a triple, and then senior shortstop Andrew Goetz drove in Haggerty with a triple of his own.

Haggerty, a sophomore, started all 25 games for Cohasset last year, and his presence at the top of order gave them the boost they needed to get going.

“He’s basically our sparkplug,” Afanasiw said. “He's got excellent speed; with him we'll get guys in scoring position and it just clicks.”

Third baseman Jeff Cavanaro singled home Goetz, and Cavanaro then stole second after Jamie Faber stepped up to the plate. Faber ultimately singled to left field, and Cavanaro was held at third on the throw.

With no outs, Afanasiw patiently decided to let his lineup dictate how the game would play out.

"[Cavanaro] has exceptional speed, and we still would have had two batters at least to play with,” Afanasiw said. “I wasn't looking to win the game on that play. I'd rather be safe than sorry."

The coach’s restraint paid off, as Jamie Timothy drove home Cavanaro with a single up the middle that eluded Jenkins to complete the rally.

Although Afanasiw was pleased with his offense, he stressed that credit be given to Cobin, who pitched his second complete game of the year, the first being the Skippers’ home opener against Scituate (a 3-1 loss). Cobin struck out eight Clippers on 115 pitches.

“He battled inning after inning and kept us in the situation where our bats finally caught fire,” Afanasiw said.

With the baseball and softball seasons underway, here are some players to watch going forward.

Softball

P: Megan Rico, King Philip
P: Noelle Christmas, Plymouth South
P: Ali Maloof, Norwood
P: Sara Ropiak, Acton-Boxboro
P: Maggie Hoffman, Avon
C: Lindsey Gibbs, Acton-Boxboro
1B: Tiffanie Marsh, Tewksbury
2B: Tori Yost, Middleboro
SS: Elizabeth Murphy, Silver Lake
3B: Anna Kelley, King Philip
OF: Anna Kokos, Concord-Carlisle
OF: Emily Messina, Plymouth South
OF: Holly Eicher, Stoneham

Team chosen by Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

Baseball

RHP: Adam Ravenelle, Lincoln-Sudbury
RHP: Matt Goreham, Catholic Memorial
RHP: Pat Connaughton, St. John's Prep
RHP: Derek Reddy, Xaverian
LHP: Will Marcal, Lexington
1B: Lorenzo Pappa, Arlington Catholic
2B: Zack Apotheker, Brockton
SS: Peter Yanakopoulos, Malden Catholic
3B: John Gorman, Catholic Memorial
OF: Carl Anderson, Lincoln-Sudbury
OF: Dillon Gonsalez, St. John’s Prep
OF: Connor McDavitt, Wachusett

By Seth Lakso, Globe correspondent

Bishop Fenwick senior Mike Davis has a knack for seizing opportunities.

On Sunday the Crusader tossed his second career no-hitter, as Fenwick cruised past Matignon, 13-0, in an early season Catholic Central clash.

Davis walked only one, while striking out six. The captain hasn’t pitched that much in his career, being utilized mostly in the field because of his stellar glove. Before this season, Davis made only spot starts for the Crusaders (2-1).

“I’ve only ever used [Davis] when there’s been rainouts or delays,” said coach Russ Steeves. “He’s so valuable in the field, but these two times now, he’s come out, taken the ball, and been almost perfect.

“He’ll definitely be someone we'll look for to be in the rotation for the remainder of the season.”

As a junior, Davis no-hit Worcester North in one of those spot starts.

Fellow captain Dave Ruggiero provided the breathing room for Davis, going 5 for 5 with a double and three RBIs. He also helped turn a double play that erased the Warriors' only runner of the day.

Since 2004, Bishop Fenwick has had only three no-hitters. In limited action Davis, who’s considering an offer to play for Franklin Pierce next season, has two of them.

Current JV coach John Boyle tossed the Crusaders' last no-no, in '04, as the team went on to take home the boys’ Division 3 state championship.

After coming up just short in a pitchers duel against Cardinal Spellman to open the season, the Crusaders, who returned eight letter-winners from last year’s Division 3 North semifinalist, have rolled off two straight wins.

By Liz Cohen, Globe Correspondent

John Gorman added another no-hitter to his Catholic Memorial baseball career in a dominating 4-0 win over Wachusett.

The senior threw 14 strikeouts, allowing only one walk for the Knights in the first game of the season for both teams. It was Gorman's third no-hitter for the third consecutive season.

“He really set the tone in the first inning with three straight strikeouts," said Catholic Memorial coach Hal Carey. "The way he was throwing in the first inning, it was a pretty good sign of what was to come.”

It was a close matchup, even with Gorman’s control. Senior first baseman Matt Gorehan hit in the game's first run, grounding out to short as senior Nick Barker scored.

Gorehan added in two more RBIs in the fourth inning while junior left fielder Mike Pisano stole third before scoring on a passed ball on the same play to make it 4-0 in the sixth inning.

Boston College is already expecting Gorman next fall but plenty of scouts were out to watch him pitch, said Carey.

“He has gotten better and better every year," Carey said. "He throws a lot of strikes [and] has great command. This year, compared to last year, his velocity has improved. He consistently throws in the upper 80s.”

By Liz Torres, Globe correspondent

Bishop Stang senior Ryan Early wanted to make sure he returned with a bang.

"He hurt his back when he was 14 in AAU and finally got Tommy John surgery and lost his whole junior year," said coach Nate Charette.

In his first varsity start since his sophomore year, Early had nine strikeouts to pilot Bishop Stang's 4-1 nonleague victory over Fairhaven.

"This was his first start and he really didn't get loose until the third,'' Charette said. ""He retired his last 13 to 14 batters and got stronger as the game went on." .

With Early, who was 4-0 as a sophomore, holding Fairhaven to a run throughout four innings, Bishop Stang was able to execute its offense in the second inning, when junior second baseman Matt Farnworth scored off a wild pitch to tie the scored at 1-1.

Bishop Stang picked up momentum in the fourth after a home run over the left-field fence by junior catcher Scott Powell. Justin Harding belted another homer to give Stang a 3-1 lead.

The spring sports season is finally upon us as many high schools have already began to play games.

If you are looking for info about your favorite team or to see which teams are the best in Eastern Massachusetts, look no further. We've got the Globe Top 20s right here. (You can also find them here.)

Here are the links to our preseason Top 20s for Spring:

• Baseball Top 20


• Softball Top 20


• Boys' Lacrosse Top 20


• Girls' Lacrosse Top 20

By Craig Forde, Globe Correspondent

PLYMOUTH - After dropping three games to Duxbury last season, including the Division 2 South Final, Plymouth North wanted to send an early statement that things would be different this season and junior starter Alex Rozak made sure of it by tossing a no-hitter in a 1-0 opening day victory for the Blue Eagles at Siever Field.

"He just threw a lot of strikes out there today,'' said Plymouth North coach Dwayne Follette. "He was working his fastball and splitter and he made a lot of good pitches when he was behind."

Rozak finished with six strikeouts and allowed only one walk and was aided by the experience of four-year starting catcher Matt Walsh, whom Follette calls "one of the best players in the state."

The Blue Eagles were also stymied at the plate by Green Dragons starter Sam Jacobson, who struck out 12 and allowed no earned runs.

Plymouth North was able to muster the game's only run in the bottom of the fifth thanks to some timely substitutions. Following a David Murphy single, Ryan Moskos came in to pinch run and immediately stole second base. Connor Follette came on as a pinch hitter and pushed a swinging bunt down the third base line, but the throw to first went awry, allowing Moskos to score.

"I hoped to have a heavy hitting lineup coming into the season, but that was not the case today," said coach Follette. "Their pitcher did an amazing job out there."

The Blue Eagles didn't make things easier for themselves in the field, as two errors put runners on second and third with no outs to start the seventh inning. A suicide squeeze effort by Duxbury was snuffed out to cut down the tying run, then Rozak struck out the next batter and got the final batter to ground to short to seal the no-no.

"We were pressing a bit and trying to do too much out there today," said coach Follette. "But Alex was great for us. It was an excellent performance."

Rozak's was the first no-hitter for Plymouth North since the 2009 season, when Joey Flynn no-hit Duxbury in the final regular-season game of the season.

The team returns eight players that have have starting experience and they have won 15 postseason games over the last five seasons, which keeps the expectations high for the program.

"We have the same expectations every season," said coach Follette. "Getting to the postseason and peaking at the right time is what we strive for."

The Blue Eagles will be bolstered by a staff of junior starters that includes Rozak, Cody Holmes, and Vinny Tavernelli.

"We have a lot of pitching depth," said coach Follette. "They are young, but experienced and they came up big for us in the postseason last year."

Senior outfielders Mike Cahill, Doug Maccaferri, and Zach Zaniboni will serve as captains alongside three-time captain Walsh, who is committed to attending Franklin Pierce next year.

Nobles baseball coach and athletic director Alex Gallagher has resigned as the coach of the Independent School League's baseball team, he said in an e-mail to fellow coaches and the Globe.

Gallagher just recently took over as the athletic directer of the school.

"It has been a genuine honor to coach beside all of you over the last seven years," Gallagher wrote to his colleagues. "I look forward to following all of your teams in the months and years to come."

He cited a combination of his new job, a new assistant athletic director, and his wife expecting their fourth child as reasons for resigning his coaching position.

Junior varsity coach Andy Shumway will take over the varsity coaching position.

The Dexter School in Brookline has two student-athletes signing their National letters of intent Wednesday at noon. Barrett O'Neill of Ashland
(University of Virginia) and John Magliozzi of Milton (UFlorida) will sign and accepting baseball scholarships from their respective Universities. The pair play for coach Dan Donato.

By Emily Wright, Globe Correspondent

St. John’s Prep’s Pat Connaughton committed to Notre Dame yesterday afternoon. The two-sport athlete will be receiving a scholarship for basketball but will also play baseball.

The senior averaged 24 points and 17 rebounds per game in the 2009-2010 basketball season and considered Boston college and UCLA as well before making his decision.

“I enjoyed my visit [to Notre Dame]. My visit really made me make the decision,” Connaughton said. “And making the decision was tough. I had no idea where I was going to go until last night.”

Connaughton is “really excited” to play for the Fighting Irish and said that he’s used to playing two sports.

“That’s what I’m doing now."

By Patrick McHugh, Globe Correspondent

East Longmeadow Post 293 clinched its second American Legion baseball state title with a two-game sweep of Milton Post 114 Wednesday night at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton.
 
Two days earlier in the double-elimination tournament, East Longmeadow was trounced 16-4 by Milton. The squad recovered however, defeating New Bedford Post 1 with an 8-6 win on Tuesday, and taking two from Milton yesterday, 12-9 in the afternoon affair and 11-3 in the nightcap.
 
“I said ‘Fellas, we have to be mentally strong for 18 innings to wrap it up,’” said East Longmeadow head coach Jason Shea, who led his team to a third-place finish at the state tournament last year. “We just tried to come out and win, try and bring home the state championship, and fortunately we did.”
 
Pitcher Matt O’Neil went the distance in Game 1 for East Longmeadow, striking out seven hitters and working his way out of trouble in the first three innings. First baseman Frank Calabrese drove in three runs and scored three times himself, while third baseman James Christensen had a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning that proved to be the deciding factor. Milton catcher Josh Ellis had three hits, drove in two runs and scored himself, though his team was done in by six errors in the field.
 
Game 2 was decided in the sixth inning when East Longmeadow sent 12 batters to the plate and scored six times, with Calabrese and catcher Kyle DiFranco each picking up two-run singles in the frame. East Longmeadow racked up seven hits in the inning, matching Milton’s hit total for the game.

Steve Moyers picked up the win, going the full nine innings and striking out eight while surrendering only one free pass. Designated hitter Will Archibald had a pair of hits, stole a base and scored a run for Milton.
 
East Longmeadow (24-3), which last won a state title in 1964, will represent Massachusetts at the New England Regional tournament in Middletown, Conn., Aug. 5-9. Milton finishes 21-6-2.

The Boston Astros survived a late charge by the Connecticut Owls to secure the Triple Crown Sports US Under-18 Baseball Championship in Richmond, Va.

The Astros beat the Owls 11-10 to win their first championship since 2001.

"We work hard, are dedicated and persevere," said Astro's coach Robert Lewis. "Other teams came up to us after the tournament and were surprised to find out that we were all from the same area."

While other teams in the tournament selected players from throughout their respective states, the Astros were comprised of 10 players from Boston and five from Lawrence.

The Astros almost didn't make it to the championship game. They trailed the 220 Academy (New Jersey), 6-1, in their semifinal game with two outs in the sixth inning. However, West Roxbury's Erick Martinez jolted a triple to begin a five-run rally that tied the game. After the 220 Academy scored twice in the top of the seventh, the Astros came right back and scored three in the bottom of the inning to win the game, 8-7.

"If you looked in our dugout when we were down 6-1, you would have never known we were losing," said Lewis. "We believed in ourselves and played hard."

Some of the top players in the tournament for the Astros were Globe Division 2 Player of the Year Jamill Moquete (Madison Park) and all-scholastic Mike Calzetta (Lawrence).

In pool play, the Astros beat the Pennsylvania Bearcats, 9-4, the Connecticut Tide, 10-5, and the Richmond (Va.) Braves 10-5. They beat the Connecticut Capitals, 5-3, in the quarterfinals.

By Mike Carraggi, Globe Correspondent

Sean Cunningham hit a game-winning, two-run double in the seventh and Kevin Ziomek struck out 17 as Amherst- Pelham Regional beat Xaverian 3-2 in an expertly contested Division 1 championship game.

Alex Phelan hit a homer for the Hawks and Derek Reddy was outstanding in 6 plus innings of work.

By Jake Seiner, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL – Backed by a brilliant three-hit, one-run outing by junior starting pitcher Evan Mackintosh, the Northbridge baseball team came away from Saturday afternoon’s Division-2 state title game with a 3-1 victory over Duxbury.

Though Mackintosh’s performance will be remembered primarily for his slowing a Duxbury squad averaging more than seven runs per game, it was the lefty’s bat that got things rolling early for the Rams.

After retiring the Northbridge leadoff man, Duxbury righty Jeff Blout worked an 0-2 count to senior second-baseman Matt Consigli to begin the game.

Consigli fouled off Blout’s first two-strike offering, then mashed a fly ball that bounced about three-quarters of the way up the left-center field wall. Duxbury center fielder Tom Guilfoile misplayed the carom off the wall, and Consigli moved safely into the third.

Three pitches later, Mackintosh put the Rams up by a run by bouncing a base hit up the middle to score Consigli from third.

Blout would respond to Mackintosh’s single by striking out five of the next six hitters, including striking out the side in the second.

The righty’s fastball sat in the 88-90 miles per hour range early in the game, and he finished the evening with nine strikeouts in six-plus innings pitched to go with three walks, seven hits, and three earned runs allowed.

Throwing on three days’ rest for the third consecutive start, Blout threw 110 pitches in the outing before being lifted in favor of his twin brother, Steve Blout, in the seventh.

Before exiting, Jeff Blout’s velocity did begin to slip in the fourth inning, and in the fifth, the Rams touched him up for a second run.

Center fielder Jake Ryan led off the inning with a single to left, and after left fielder Andrew Dupre struck out looking, leadoff man Tom Murphy bombed a double over Guilfoile’s head in center, scoring Ryan and bumping the Northbridge lead to 2-0.

The Rams added a third run in the top of the seventh when a Ben Richards’ fly ball to center scored Murphy on a sacrifice fly.

Mackintosh was electric and efficient on the hill for Northbridge all afternoon, striking out nine batters in seven innings with two walks, and four hits on 102 pitches.

The junior lefty only got tougher for the Duxbury hitters to touch up as the game went on. The Dragons didn’t get a single hit in innings three-through-six, with their only baserunners coming on a hit-by-pitch and a walk.

Mackintosh struck out two batters in each of the fifth and sixth innings, and after allowing an unearned run in the seventh, closed out the game by striking out Guilfiole on three pitches.

By Evan MacDonald, Globe Correspondent

A first-inning grand slam by Mike Twitchell and a 129-pitch effort by A.J. Bashaw led Norton to a 7-4 victory over Ware in the Div. 3 state championship game at LeLacheur Park.

Twitchell’s shot over the left field wall made it 4-0, but Ware scored twice in the third on a triple by Ryan Sidur and a sacrifice fly by Dylan Lask.

Norton added three runs in the fifth on back-to-back RBI singles by Eddie Hannon and Phil Rizzo and a sacrifice fly by Tom Munger.

Ware added two runs in the sixth, but Bashaw (6.1 innings, nine hits, two earned runs, seven strikeouts) kept the Indians at bay and reliever Jeremy Wright got the final to outs to secure the win.

The victory was Norton’s third state title. The Lancers also won championships in 1980 and 1989.

Duggan ends it with a 1-2-3 inning. Prep was sloppy all the way through, and three runs in the sixth for Xaverian really helped put out a potential comeback.

Thanks for joining us, and read more about it in tomorrow's Globe, as well as video interviews on Boston.com

---------------

Galvin finally exits to the Foo Fighter's "My Hero". His replacement is sophomore closer Tim Duggan, who fellow Globe-guy Jake Seiner says possesses one of the best heaters from a lefty in the south. Of course, the last time he came into a playoff game up by 6, Bridgewater-Raynham roughed him up pretty good.

Prep picks up one to make it 12-7 in the top half of the 8th on Justin Peluso's RBI single. Some great defense by the right side of Xaverian's infield kept the damage at a minimum.

Xaverian is scoreless in the bottom half of the frame, and we head into the ninth with the Prep down, 12-7.

------------------

Fabrizio, who has been outstanding this year, didn't get much help from his defense and finished after 5.1 innings, 10 hits, 12 runs (about 8 or 9 earned, can't compute right now), 4 bb's and 4 k's.

Galvin got through the seventh unscathed, leaving a runner at third. No one seems to be warming up for Xaverian, so expect him to come out for the eighth.

Also, we just got through the first full inning in which neither scored. 12-6 going into the 8th, and Prep needs some runs.

-------

Looked like more of the same from St. John's as the Eagles. had a pair of guys on base with two outs. Galvin, who like Fabrizio must be tiring soon, wiggled out of it with a groundout.

And on cue, Fabrizio is knocked out of the game after Kyle MacDonald knocked in Kevin Aufiero to make it 11-6. Aufiero smacked an RBI triple that knocked in the Hawks' tenth run.

Joshua Baldwin, who pitched a four strong innings (and only 59 pitches) against Lawrence just two nights ago, replaced Fabrizio.

Baldwin allowed an inherited run to score on Alex Phelan's RBI groundout, and its 12-6 after six. Xaverian scored some massive runs to demoralize the surging Prep offense.

-------

The tide could be turning. After the big inning, Nick Fabrizio recorded his first 1-2-3 inning of the game. Into the 6th we go, 9-6 Xaverian.

-------

The St. John's bats seem to have been encouraged after breaking the goose egg on the scoreboard. Dillon Gonzalez reached on an infield single to start off the fifth, and Cameron Davey followed up with an RBI triple hit roughly 600 feet into left-center. Alex Markakis knocked in Davey with an RBI groundout, making it 9-3.

Galvin walked the next two batters and Kevin barry blooped a single into right, but gave Xaverian a break when he ran into an out trying to stretch it to a double without realizing his teammate had been stationed there already.

Connaughton picked him up with a huge two-out, two-run single up the middle to make it 9-5 and Kevin Davis's RBI triple into right-center made it a three-run affair going into the bottom half of the fifth.

FULL ENTRY

Eddie Campbell, a senior pitcher on the Bridgewater-Raynham high school baseball team, was drafted Wednesday by the Cincinnati Reds in the 44th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

Campbell, who is committed to Virginia Tech, checked his phone Wednesday afternoon to find a voice message from a Reds' scout, who informed him he had been drafted.

"I called my dad right away, and he had already known," Campbell said. "It was pretty cool.

“It’d definitely a great feeling. Knowing an MLB team wants you is flattering, and definitely a good accomplishment. If I end up going to college now, hopefully three years down the road, something will happen and I’ll get drafted again. I’m very excited about that.”

The scout informed Campbell that he would be treated as a draft-and-follow, and the team planned to keep an eye on his progress through the summer before deciding if it would offer him a contract and how much it might offer. The deadline for MLB teams to sign picks is Aug. 17.

Campbell is 7-2 this year for the Trojans with a 0.57 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 61 innings pitched. In his most recent outing, an 11-6 win over New Bedford in a Division 1 South state tournament quarterfinal, Campbell allowed four runs –– two earned –– in eight innings of work, striking out 12 while walking three and giving up four base hits. Campbell was also 4 for 4 at the plate and scored three runs in the nine-inning contest.

Bridgewater-Raynham's D-1 South semifinal game against Xaverian Brothers originally scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Braintree High School has been postponed until Thursday at 4 p.m. due to the rain.

Amherst High senior Kevin Ziomek was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks with the 391st overall pick in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft this afternoon.

The 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher has been regarded as the top high school baseball prospect in Massachusetts, and has a scholarship waiting for him at Vanderbilt.

He’s openly expressed his interest to play in the majors, however Vanderbilt has been heavily recruiting him, which is likely the reason he wasn’t selected until the 13th round as signability plays a huge role in the draft.

There was speculation that the Red Sox would select him and try to lure him with a big signing bonus, similar to that of the $2 million that they gave Ryan Westmoreland, the Rhode Island native, in 2008.

Here are all of the baseball seeds, released yesterday on the MIAA website. You can find the complete brackets here.

North Division 1:
1. Lexington (18-2) .900
2. Lawrence (18-2) .900
3. Lincoln-Sudbury (18-2) .900
4. Medford (16-4) .800
5. Acton-Boxboro (15-5) .750
6. Lynn English (15-5) .750
7. Peabody (16-6) .727
8. Newton South (14-6) .700
9. Everett (13-7) .650
10. Boston Latin (13-7) .650
11. Cambridge (11-7) .611
12. St. John's Prep (12-8) .600
13. Westford Academy (11-9) .550
14. Malden Catholic (11-9) .550
15. Central Catholic (11-9) .550
16. Malden (11-9) .550
17. Lowell (9-9) .500
18. Salem (10-10) .500
19. Andover (10-10) .500

North Division 2:
1. Masconomet (20-0) 1.000
2. North Andover (17-3) .850
3. Reading (16-4) .800
4. Gloucester (15-5) .750
5. Dracut (15-6) .714
6. Danvers (14-6) .700
7. Belmont (13-7) .650
8. Wilmington (11-9) .550
9. Winchester (11-9) .550
10. Beverly (11-9) .550
11. Arlington (10-10) .500
12. Burlington (10-10) .500
13. Wayland (10-10) .500
14. Marblehead (10-10) .500

FULL ENTRY

Madison Park won the Boston City League baseball championship for the second consecutive year as it knocked off South Boston Monday, 12-6, at Boston English High School.

Madison Park steamrolled Boston International, 24-0, and South Boston upended Brighton, 9-5, in Saturday's City League semifinals at Boston English.

Each Madison Park starter had at least three hits and starting pitcher Shawn Bradley threw a complete-game one-hitter that was cut short after six innings.

South Boston had more of a hill to climb, falling behind 3-0 in the first inning before quickly answering with five runs in the second frame. Southie's outburst was started by Joshua Neely's home run to the bleachers in left field.

Madison Park and South Boston will face off at noon Monday at Boston English to determine the league champion.

--

In the City League softball semifinals, East Boston beat West Roxbury 19-4 and Latin Academy beat O'Bryant 10-2 to advance to the City Championship Monday. The two teams will play at noon at Cobe Field (Back Bay Fens).

The home team will be determined by a coin toss prior to the game.

By Mike Carraggi, Globe Correspondent

Saturday at Boston English in the City Baseball Championships, the Boston City League will be showcasing why it isn't all about football and basketball in Boston.

Boston International will take on Madison Park followed by Brighton facing off against South Boston in the tournament semi-finals. The winners will play at English on Monday at noon to decide the champion.

Leading off the doubleheader at 10 a.m. will be the defending city champion and North Division champion Madison Park, which has been truly unbeatable in the city this year, compiling a 12-0 record in league games following a 5-4 extra innings victory yesterday against Brighton. Madison Park, 16-5 overall, will be up against South Division champion Boston International, which has managed to steer clear of the defending champs so far this year.

“We don't know too much about Boston International,” said coach Michael Viggiano. “ We will try to do what we have done all year. (We) like hitting the long ball, we like hitting it hard. We are tearing the cover off the ball.”

Both squads will feature a pair of league all-stars, with International boasting Victor Herrera Vasque and Welly Sanchez, and Madison Park showcasing Jamill Moquete and Anyeric Castillos.

“We call Castillos 'The Beast',” said Viggiano. “He caught two games consecutively in 90 degree weather, and is hitting the ball like Ted Williams.”

The North and South's second-place teams will provide the encore at 1, when 9-9 Brighton matches up with 14-6 South Boston.

“We faced Brighton during the regular season and played one of our best games,” said Southie coach Victor Pereira, referencing a come-from-behind 5-2 win.“That's what it's gonna take to beat Brighton.”

South Boston senior captains Joshua Neely and Eric Rodriguez were both named league all-stars, as were Brighton standouts Cesarin Baez and David Marte. Shortstop Victor Baez joins his brother Cesarin to form a lethal double-play combination that has turned 15 twin-killings in 19 games.

“We front-ended our schedule with a lot of powerful teams on the outside,” said Brighton coach William Mahoney. “We're very young.”

Brighton will pitch Freddy Soto, who has “been a Godsend for us”, according to Mahoney. Southie will counter with Algenis Vargas, a junior who has been transformed from a closer into a reliable No. 2 starter.

The outcomes of both games will decide who gets a chance to be named the best the city has to offer. Last year it was Madison Park, but this year the field is wide-open.

"It was a surprise for us, that we would be playing Boston International,” said Viggiano. “Southie, Brighton, they both have good teams. We'd love to play either one. It would be a helluva game.

“And with these kids, it's no drama,” he continued. “It's just baseball. These kids eat, drink, and live baseball.”

The teams are set for the city league semifinals, with International, Madison Park, Brighton and South Boston playing for the championship.

Here's the schedule:

Saturday May 29

10 a.m. -- Boston International (10-5) vs. Madison Park (13-5), at Boston English. Madison Park will be the designated home team.

1 p.m. -- Brighton (9-8 ) vs. South Boston (14-6), at Boston English. South Boston will be the designated home team.

Monday May 31

Noon -- City championship at Boston English. The home team will be determined by a coin toss prior to the game.

If you haven't heard much about Hopkins Academy pitcher Garrison Banas, that's guaranteed to change in the next year.

Banas has been virtually unhittable this season for the Hadley school. The junior lefty has tossed a perfect game and two no-hitters (the no-hitters were both in five-inning, slaughter rule games).

Mahar, a rival for the top seed in the upcoming Division 3 Western Mass sectional tournament, had little success hitting Banas, either, in a 3-1 defeat Monday. Banas conceded two hits and an unearned run while striking out 12 and walking none.

In nine starts this year, Banas is 7-2 with a 0.37 ERA. He has punched out 121 batters in 56.2 innings. Opponents have registered just 17 hits and 14 walks against him this year.

Hopkins Academy wraps up the regular season at Easthampton on Thursday. Banas will not pitch again until the sectional tournament. Seeding will be announced on Tuesday, June 1.

Some ins and outs of this week's Globe Top 20 baseball rankings:

• Sizzling Lawrence holds onto the top spot, cementing an unchanged Top 5 that features two teams (Oliver Ames and Masconomet) making a serious run at undefeated seasons.
• Bridgewater-Raynham makes it back into the Top 10 behind some stellar pitching by Eddie Campbell and Mike Connolly.
• St. John's Prep is the second of four new teams in the Top 20. The Eagles' list of victims is undeniably impressive.
• Lexington has taken advatage of Reading's freefall (which has coincided with a brutal Plymouth North skid) to rise up to 13th. Will Marcal (six home runs, 32 RBIs, 6-0) has been a on a tear at the plate and on the mound.

Have at it!

Looking at this week's new Globe Top 20 baseball, here are a few footnotes:

• A lot of new teams enter the rankings, meaning a lot drop out. Reading was the toughest exclusion, as it did not technically lose three in a row (a suspended game that started weeks ago was completed.) We wouldn't be surprised to see the Rockets eek their way back in next week. Same goes for an Abington squad that beat Norwell and lost to two nine-win teams.
• The Dual County League Large is loaded with talented teams. Acton-Boxboro and Westford, who meet up this week, edge Newton South and break into the Top 20.
• On one hand, Lincoln-Sudbury has no business being ranked first after losing twice since last week's rankings. On the other hand, L-S wasn't exactly taken to the woodshed by the 1962 Mets (the losses were by a combined two runs to Westford and Arlington.) We'll settle in the middle and drop them down to second. Sorry newly-crowned Catholic Conference winners Catholic Memorial.
• The No. 4 and No. 5 teams (Oliver Ames and Masconomet, respectively) are a combined 29-0. We've heard a couple of cries about the talent level, but its hard to argue with results.

By Hannah Vickers, Globe Correspondent

With a 1-0 win over Milton Academy this afternoon, BB&N improved to 17-0 on the season and ensured at least a share of the Independent School League championship title, if not the solo rights to it with three games to go.

"They're a good, solid team. Their goal coming into this season was to win the league again," said coach Rick Foresteire.

Junior Andrew Chin pitched a complete game no-hitter to give his team the win today, striking out seven batters and walking two. With the win, Chin improves to 6-0 on the season, allowing just four runs over 45 innings this year. Chin has also had 22 walks and struck out 74. This season, BB&N has outscored its opponents 127-22.

The only run of the game came off a solo homer by junior shortstop Devon Perry in the sixth inning. Perry and Chin, the top pitchers for BB&N this year, have combined to allow less than one run per game, said Foresteire. Both have verbally committed to Boston College.

Senior Alex Farkes, who will be attending Penn State next year on a baseball scholarship, caught the game, having what Foresteire called "another fine performance."

In BB&N's final three games, they have one non-league matchup and two league games against Gann Academy, Lawrence Academy, and their traditional rival Belmont Hill. BB&N needs to win at least one of its league games to have solo rights to the title.

"Their new goal is obviously to stay undefeated and finish out the season 20-0," Foresteire said.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

On Friday, Fenway High's battery showed it had a little extra juice.

The visiting Fenway Panthers came back to score five runs in the seventh inning to beat Dorchester High, 7-6. But it was the battery combination of Jeremy Ruiz and Eric Candelario that made it possible.

Ruiz tossed all seven innings on the hill and struck out 13 while catcher Candelario was key at the plate, batting 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Only three of Ruiz' runs were earned.

The Panthers, trailing 5-2 in the seventh, showed they had some fight by clawing back into the contest. Fenway took the lead for good when sophomore Brandel Delgado singled in Lewis Perez from second base.

Ruiz allowed a run in bottom of the seventh but struck out the final batter with Dorchester's tying run stranded at third base, running Fenway's record to 6-4.

By Charlie Peters, Globe Correspondent

Chelsea has had a devil of a time keeping opponents off the scoreboard recently, allowing 38 runs in their previous three games. Instead of turning to a fresh arm, the Chelsea coaching staff turned to a freshman arm, and it paid off in a big way.

Rookie right-hander Odanys Urbaez threw a three-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Pope John, marking the first time the Red Devils have given up fewer than four runs in a game this year. The gem was Urbaez' first career shutout as the power pitcher struck out 12 Tigers.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

After registering just one hit through six innings at home Thursday, the Cohasset baseball team rallied for three runs in the seventh inning before scratching out another in the eighth to defeat Harwich, 4-3.

Andres Goetz drove in Andy McKenna with a single to right in the eighth inning to win it for the Skippers (9-5). Shane Haggerty hit a two-out, two-run double in the seventh to pull Cohasset within one. He scored on a passed ball to send the game to extras.

The Skippers are one win away from qualifying for the Division 4 South sectional tournament. They host Hull on Tuesday.

In high school baseball, there is no checks and balances system. Team A beating Team B but losing to Team C (which Team B already beat) is a common occurrence. And that doesn't even bring up Teams D, E, F, and G. The baseball Top 20 is a ranking system that will be different 10 times if done by 10 different people.

That being said, feel free to leave your own versions, observations, and gripes in the comments section below.

Here are some of the methods behind the madness:

• Lincoln-Sudbury held on to the No. 1 spot, surviving a fierce charge from No. 2 Lawrence and ace Mike Calzetta. Both teams are absolutely sizzling at this point in the season.
• The toughness of Catholic Conference baseball (wooden bats and all) cannot be overlooked. That is why league-leader Xaverian finds itself at No. 5 despite five losses, and defending Division 1 champion BC High sits at 18 with a 7-6 record.
• Northeastern Conference rivals Beverly and Peabody dive into the middle of the Top 20, an inclusion admittedly overdue.
• OK, OK, we get it. Natick deserves to be in the Top 20. And here it is. We welcome all complaints from the Georgetowns and Duxburys of the world, but the downfall of the Top 20 is in the name. Only 20. See ya next week.

East Boston high school is hosting its second annual Stike-Out Colon Cancer Tournament on May 8 and May 9.

The tournament, held at the East Boston Stadium, is sponsored by First Priority Credit Union and the proceeds will be donated to the Boston Medical Center for colon cancer research.

Last year's event raised $5,000.

"This is a very important event for my family and dear to my heart," said Phillip R. Brangiforte, co-founder of the tournament, in a press release. "As many of you already know, my wife Carrie was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2008. She is a survivor and doing very well due to Dr. James Petros and the Boston Medical Center. They saved her life and for that, we are eternally grateful. We are playing in her honor as well as our former Head Football Coach John Sousa, also a colon cancer survivor."

Here's the schedule of events:

Saturday May 8th 2010

11:45 a.m. -- Opening Ceremonies
Noon -- Malden vs. East Boston
3 p.m. -- Newton South vs. Revere

Sunday May 9th 2010

Noon -- Consolation Game
3 p.m. -- Championship Game
Closing Ceremonies

Dracut hit itself out of some sloppy play early to blow out Merrimack Valley Conference rival Central Catholic, 17-5, Monday afternoon.

Kyle Adie and Jake Malandrino each hit solo homers while Seth Monbleau knocked in four runs as the Middies improved to 10-2 (5-2 in the conference.)

The Middies have yet to qualify for the state tournament despite their 10 wins because of an early-season win over Malden that didn't count. Dracut needs one more win in their 21-game schedule to qualify.

Central Catholic fell to 4-6 (3-4) in the loss.

Southpaw Casey Sweeney picked up the win after a rough second inning where he allowed four unearned runs.

Monbleau's two-out, two-run double over the center fielder's head in the third gave Dracut a 6-5 lead that ended up being all they would need. Still, the Middies piled it on in the fourth, smoking three Central pitchers to the tune of eight runs. Matt Silva, Mike Bergeron, Pat Taylor, Aaron Barbosa and Monblaeu all knocked in at least one run in the inning.

By Hannah Vickers, Globe Correspondent

Melrose junior Andy Scocca almost had a perfect game Friday when he retired the first 14 batters he faced against Lexington.

The 15th batter bested him for Lexington's only hit of the day.

"He had a very good game," coach Bill Hirschfeld said. "He had good control."

Combined with what Hirschfield called "timely hits by the offense," Scocca kept his performance going, finishing out the game for a 3-0 win.

What makes this even more noteworthy is that this is Scocca's first outting of the year. He just came back from a foot injury sustained during basketball season and had not been able to join the team until now. Last season, he went 3-1 on the mound for Melrose.

Melrose improved to 4-5 on the season with the win today.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Sophomore southpaw Nick Meninno had the best pitching performance of his young career Thursday, no-hitting the Chelsea Red Devils in a 10-0 Swampscott home win.

The sophomore struck out 15 Red Devils and walked three in the game.

It was the second strong outing for Meninno in as many weeks after picking up the Big Blue’s first win of the season last Friday against Saugus, 4-1.

With more than 32 years of coaching, it's safe to say Reading coach Pete Moscareillo has won games in which his team had to rally from more runs, overcome more errors, or squeeze out of tighter jams than the Rockets did in an 11-10 win at Melrose Friday morning. But it's tough to imagine many of them being more satisfying than this one.

Moscareillo notched his 500th career win in Reading's Middlesex League victory, becoming only the seventh coach in Massachusetts history to reach that milestone on a baseball diamond.

Ever humble, Moscareillo insisted it meant more to him that his team remained undefeated at 5-0. But he almost went into the weekend stuck on 499 as his team faced a 9-5 deficit in the bottom of the sixth before erupting for five runs (and would later add another crucial insurance run).

Pat Mahoney led the way on offense with five RBIs, twice scoring the go-ahead run for his team. Pitcher Matt Collins came out of the bullpen and pitched his way out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh. The defense committed three errors, but settled down to keep the damage at a minimum.

By Julie Gray, Globe Correspondent

The Newton South boys beat out Newton North, 7-6, marking it the first time in eight years that Newton South has overtaken Newton North in baseball.

Newton South was trailing 4-0 until the fifth inning, scoring three runs in the fifth, two in the sixth, and two more in the seventh to earn the win. Sophomore John Jennings was a key element in South's win, with two hits and three RBIs.

Senior Chris Lewis hit in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh with a base hit over the center fielder's head.

Lincoln-Sudbury junior pitcher Adam Ravenelle talks to Globe Correspondent Jake Seiner after striking out nine Xaverian batters in eight innings in a 3-2, extra innings thriller.

---

Lincoln-Sudbury's Billy Bereszniewicz talks about his walk-off single which helped his team top Xaverian in the ninth inning.

By Paul Sulzer, Globe Correspondent

Junior lefty Sean Newcomb threw a no-hitter Thursday for the Middleboro Sachems on the road against Quincy, winning 2-0.

In seven innings of work, Newcomb struck out 10 hitters and issued three walks.

The last batter of the game smacked a frozen rope to right center that outfielder Corey Bailey dove and caught to preserve Newcomb’s gem.

This spring, the Globe’s high school standings will be based entirely on game results and not on Sunday phone calls or emails from league representatives. We think the change will be a huge benefit to spring fans looking to see where their team stands every day of the week, not just on the one day standings are updated.

How does it work?

When coaches call in their games scores during the week, our database will compile the standings and they will be available 24/7 on Boston.com/schools. This is what we’ve done the past two years for football and we’re now expanding that system to include spring sports. The only information we need from league representatives are the league’s leading performers, whether hitters, pitchers, goalies, or runners.

What are the benefits of doing this?

Under the old system, standings we took on Sunday afternoons were only accurate until a team played its next game. This meant that after a big Tuesday of baseball, fans had to wait until the following Monday’s paper to see the league standings. Now, after you watch your team beat its cross-town rival and your coach calls in the score, you can go home, click on Boston.com and see the league standings.

What are the drawbacks?

If your school doesn’t call in the scores, then your record will be 0-0 all year. Even if a league representative says your team is 10-0, the only way we can make the standings agree is to get the scores of the 10 games.

How do we get you any missing scores?

Scores can be emailed to us at HSsports@globe.com. Be sure to designate the
home and away teams.

As with any new system there will be an adjustment period. But we hope you agree, accurate standings sevens days a week are better than just one.

Here's the list we have so far of commitments on National Signing day. The majority are going to play football. For those not playing football, refer to the key below:

Player	High School	College
Cam Colwell	Xaverian	Dartmouth
Alex Phelan	Xaverian	Brown
Andrew Tallman	BC High	Miami (Fla.)
Pat Crosby	Lincoln-Sudbury	Lafayette
Jordan Johnson	Brooks	BYU
Scot McCummings	Natick	UConn
Yawin Smallwood	Doherty	UConn
Anthony Carter	Marlborough	San Diego
Irvin Scott	Brookline	Holy Cross
Tyler Bennett	Northbridge	Sacred Heart
Andre Johnson	BB&N	Cornell
Derek Papagianapoulos	BB&N	a-Virginia
Quinn Cronin	BB&N	Middlebury
Blake Barker	BB&N	Harvard
Alex Farkes	BB&N	b-Penn State
Zach Latrell	Central Catholic	Brown
John Bumpus	Concord-Carlisle	Brown
Shawn Doherty	Mansfield	Bates
Ryan Pollock	Reading	Tufts
Stan Andre	Reading	UMass
Tino Perrina	Reading	Sacred Heart
Matt Carini	Franklin	UNH
Evan Bunker	Masconomet	Trinity
Chris Splinter	Masconomet	Harvard
Ryan Izzo	Walpole	c-UMass
Brian Ciccone	Manchester-Essex	UNH
Mike Delaney	Foxborough	UMass
Jack Dustin	Xaverian	Assumption
Mike Hyatt	Xaverian	Colby
Rodman Noel	Everett	Maryland
Griffin Murphy	St. John's (Shrewsbury)	Fordham
Michael Connolly	Bridgewater-Raynham	b-Maine
Stephanie Leonard	Framingham	e-Providence
Alex Bane	North Andover	UNH
Pat Barry	Middlesex	e-UMass-Amherst
Andrew Butterworth	Central Catholic	e-Bryant>
Chris Pratt	Nobles	e-Colby
Dylan Cowley	Nobles	e-Colby
Will Donovan	Catholic Memorial	e-Duke
David Robinson	Needham	e-Haverford
Adam Morollo	BB&N	e-Haverford
Kaeghan Kelly	BB&N	e-Hobart & William Smith
Ciaran Nugent	BB&N	e-Lehigh University
Leon Brown	Roxbury Latin	e-Notre Dame
Brett Canepa	Hingham	e-UMass-Amherst
Josh Gosselin	Reading	e-UMass-Amherst
Jay Messenger	BB&N	e-Tufts
Nick Woolf	Winchester	e-Tufts
Nick Vozella	Brooks	e-Union College
Justin Kirchner	BB&N	c-Colgate
Jordan Johnson	Brooks	BYU
Christie Donovan	Brooks	c-Virginia
Chapin Duke	Brooks	f-Boston College
Marina Moschitto	Brooks	e-Dartmouth
Justin Sencabaugh	Malden Catholic	b-UMass-Amherst
Lowell Abbott	Brooks	e-Connecticut College
Kelsey Albright	Brooks	g-Brown
Albert Nascimento	Brooks	h-Middlebury
Derek Murphy	Brooks	h-Bates
Nick Galanos	Brooks	c-West Point (Army)
Bobby Murphy	Duxbury	Cornell
Matt Savard	Duxbury	Bowdoin
Chris Adams	Westwood	Middlebury
David Gibson	Hanover	b-Southern New Hampshire
Liv King	Brooks	f-Bowdoin
Carly Churchill	Brooks	c-Pennyslvania
Alice Grant	Brooks	c-Hamilton
Aidan Daniell	Brooks	c-Wesleyan
Alexa Sikalis	Acton-Boxboro	f-Umass-Amherst
Hayley Brock	Acton-Boxboro	e-Penn State
Tricia Giglio	Acton-Boxboro	e-Holy Cross
Lauren Murphy	Acton-Boxboro	d-Lafayette
Cassidy Clayton	Acton-Boxboro	d-James Madison
Boston College recruits
Alexander Amidon	Hotchkiss (CT)	(originally from Greenfield)
Aaron Kramer	Duxbury
James McCaffrey	BB&N
Jaryd Rudolph	Silver Lake
Sean Sylvia	Dartmouth High (Cheshire Acad.)
Robert Vardaro	Phillips Andover
Dominique Williams	Brockton

Key: a - for wrestling; b - for baseball; c - for lacrosse; d - for softball; e - for soccer; f - for field hockey; g - for crew; h - basketball

Make sure to read Mike Carraggi's story on BB&N leading the pack with a stable of recruits. And if you're zoned in on College Football, Mark Blaudschun has the rundown on Boston College's recruiting class.

If you have any more, let us know either in the comments or by contacting us via e-mail and we'll get it up. Thanks for all of your help.

Lincoln-Sudbury junior pitcher Adam Ravenelle has confirmed that he is verbally committed to Vanderbilt University's baseball squad for the fall of 2011.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pound righty, considered one of the state's top prospects for the 2011 class, turned some heads last spring with an impressive season on the mound. With a fastball that is topping out at 90 miles per hour, he went 5-0 with a 2.12 ERA for the Warriors, fanning 33 batters in 29.2 innings. L-S marched all the way to the Division 1 North semifinals, where they were knocked out by Gloucester.

For Ravenelle, who chose the Commodores over scholarship offers from Clemson and Boston College, there were a few factors in his decision. For one, he says he'd always wanted to go to school down south; Vanderbilt's campus in Nashville, Tenn. provided a little of everything for him -- academics, warm weather, and even a little northern flavor.

"I met a couple of kids on the baseball team, and I can see myself interacting with them easily," Ravenelle said this afternoon. "The team is a mix of northern and southern kids. I felt at home there."

The other big factor was his relationship with head coach Tim Corbin, a Wolfeboro, N.H. native who was the SEC's Coach of the Year in 2007. While he only first met him over the summer at a showcase, the coach's affable manner was an instant hit.

"The coach is just a great guy," Ravenelle said. "Just talking to him, I could easily see myself playing for him."

For Vandy, this marks the second 2011 Massachusetts prospect to commit to the Commodores in December. Earlier this month, Lawrence Academy's Tyler Beede -- who helped lead Auburn High to a Division 2 state title last spring -- made his commitment to Corbin's program.

Lawerence Academy junior righthander Tyler Beede had lots of questions for his suitors before making his college decision last Friday. So just what was the deciding factor in the Auburn native making a verbal commitment to Vanderbilt over scholarship offers from USC, Virginia and North Carolina?

Academics and the campus came into play, for sure – he made unofficial visits to each of the four, who are all known for their high standards. But also consider his relationship with head coach Tim Corbin, a Wolfeboro, N.H. native who was the SEC Coach of the Year in 2007. Beede first met Corbin as an eighth-grader at summer camp on the Nashville campus, and the two have stayed in touch ever since.

“He’s like a second father to me, and that’s what he does with all his kids,” Beede said. “Kids stay at his house if they need to. He’s a cool, fun guy, and you love to have that in a coach. It’s good when you hear someone is very comforting.”

Another interesting connection to note: Beede, whose fastball currently tops out at 93 miles per hour, helped lead Auburn High to a Division 2 state title last spring before transferring to Lawrence over the summer and re-classifying as a junior. During Corbin’s time as associate head coach at Clemson, he oversaw the development of Mike Paradis, a righty who was the 13th overall pick in the 1999 MLB Draft and led the Rockets to the Division 2 state title game in 1996, where they lost to Reading, 9-0.

BB&N RB Derek Papagianopoulos runs against Lawrence Academy. (Jay Connor / Globe File)

BB&N coach John Papas passed along some summer news on a pair of the school's multi-sport standouts:

Derek Papagianopoulos finished fifth in the heavyweight class at the National Freestyle Wrestling Championships in Fargo, N.D., earning All-American status and producing the best finish of a Massachusetts grappler. Papagianopoulos, a 5-10, 245-pound RB/LB during the football season, remains undecided on his college choice, but Papas relays that he'd like to tackle both wrestling and football at at Ivy League school.

Alex Farkes verbally committed to a baseball scholarship at Penn State. Farkes is a 6-4, 215-pound catcher, who drew diamond interest from schools like Boston College, Virginia, and Vanderbilt. Farkes is also a standout outside linebacker for Papas and enjoyed gridiron interest from the likes of Rutgers and Duke.

"Derek and Alex are great examples of how the multi-sport athlete is still favored by college recruiters," Papas said via e-mail. "Both guys are outstanding athletes in two sports and, as a result, had numerous college options in either/or both sports. Alex has decided on a Big Ten program that he can play at right away. Derek still has some decisions to make, but they're all good. We're really proud of both of them."

Globe photographers were hard at work over the final days of the spring high school sports season. Check out our collection of galleries from this week's state championship tilts and the Globe's Scholar-Athlete Awards banquet on Sunday.

• Sunday, June 14: The Globe's Scholar-Athletes Awards.
• Saturday, June 13: State baseball finals in Lowell; State softball finals in Worcester; Individual tennis finals in Worcester.
• Friday, June 12: State lacrosse finals (Walpole vs. St. John's Shrewsbury; Westwood vs. Longmeadow) in Worcester.
• Thursday, June 11: State volleyball final: St. John's Prep vs. Lincoln-Sudbury in Ashland; State team tennis final: Concord-Carlisle vs. Longmeadow in Worcester.
• Wednesday, June 10: State lacrosse finals (Duxbury vs. St. John's Prep; Scituate vs. Dover-Sherborn) in Worcester.
• Tuesday, June 9: State lacrosse final: North Andover vs. Norwell in Wellesley.

Check out our collections of photo galleries from Saturday's state final action.

BC High celebrates with the Division 1 championship trophy. (Barry Chin / Globe Staff)

View more photos from the state baseball championships at LeLacheur Park in Lowell.

Gardner outfielder Erika Berube makes a running catch. (Paul Kapteyn / Telegram & Gazette)

View more photos from the state softball championships at Worcester State College.

Westford Academy's doubles tandem of Jocelyn Lund-Wilde and Eileen Liu. (Tom Rettig / Telegram & Gazette)

View more photos from the individual tennis championships at Clark University.

The spring season comes to a close today (weather permitting) with the baseball and softball title games (as well as the state individual tennis championships).

Keep an eye on our daily scoreboard for final scores and recaps from today's championship tilts.

Our plan is to take in some of the softball championships in Worcester. We'll pass along video highlights later in the day. Enjoy the games!

The Red Sox drafted a familiar last name Thursday, tabbing St. John's Prep's Michael Yastrzemski -- the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski -- with the team's 36th-round selection (1,098th overall) on Day 3 of the MLB first-year player draft.

From the Red Sox press release:

Among today’s picks was outfielder Michael Yastrzemski, the grandson of Red Sox legend and Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski. Selected in the 36th round out of St. John’s Prep in Danvers, Yastrzemski hit .368 (28-for-76) with 18 RBI and nine stolen bases in 24 games this year. He posted a .505 on-base percentage while leading his team with 28 runs scored and five outfield assists.

Check out the video at the top of this entry for more. Check out our Draft Tracker to learn more about the Red Sox 2009 draft class.

Little Yaz was profiled earlier this year by the Globe's Stan Grossfeld. Check out a gallery of photos as well.

Former BC High standout Alex Hassan and Tantasqua Regional shortstop Dan Kemp highlighted a trio of local selections the Red Sox made in today's first-year player draft.

The American League East was good to locals, as colleague Bob Holmes noted earlier that the Toronto Blue Jays drafted Everett's Matt Nuzzo, while the New York Yankees grabbed Thayer Academy's Kyle McKenzie.

Here's more from a press release from the Sox:

The Red Sox also selected three players with ties to New England. In the 20th round, the club picked Duke University right-handed pitcher Alex Hassan, a native of Milton, MA and former four-year letter winner at Boston College High School. Hassan was named to the All-Ping!Baseball Team in 2009 as a utility player, earning eight saves as the Blue Devils closer and batting .342 (75-for-219) as an outfielder. The junior finished with a 2-2 record and 4.10 ERA (12 ER/26.1 IP) on the mound while recording 17 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 30 RBI and a team-high 56 runs at the plate.

Boston selected shortstop Dan Kemp out of Tantasqua Regional High School in Fiskdale with its 24th-round pick. Kemp hit .472 with six home runs, 24 RBI, 24 run scored and 14 stolen bases this year.

With their final pick of the day, the Red Sox took senior right-hander Jeremiah Bayer from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Bayer, a native of Greenfield, MA, earned 2009 National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Division III Pitcher of the Year and the D3Baseball.com National Pitcher of the Year honors after going 12-1 with a 0.85 ERA (9 ER/95.1 IP), 94 strikeouts and 24 walks over 14 outings (11 starts) this season.

Former Everett High School football and baseball star Matt Nuzzo was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 25th round of Wednesday's Major League baseball draft. Nuzzo attended Brown where he played shortstop. He was the 730th player selected. Earlier in the day, Boston English catcher Nelfi Zapata was selected by the New York Mets with the 584 pick. Also, Thayer Academy's Kyle McKenzie was selected by the New York Yankees in the 30th round. McKenzie will chose between the Yankees and attending Tulane in the fall.

The Hudson Catholic baseball team kept its season -- and its program -- alive for at least one more game with a 4-2 win over Douglas Friday. Check out the video above to hear about the team's postseason victory as the school prepares to shutter.

The Green Wave move on to meet top-seeded West Boylston on Monday.

You can read more from Thursday's Globe.

Brighton senior Lorenzo Cruz slides home safely during Monday's game. (Dina Rudick / Globe Staff)

Madison Park rallied from a five-run deficit over the final two innings to stun Brighton, 11-10, and capture the Boston City League baseball championship at Boston English High School.

Here's more from the Globe's Evan MacDonald. Read his full game story online.

All season, the Madison Park baseball team has made a habit of coming back to win late. On the biggest stage yet for the Cardinals, they dug deep once more to bring home the first Boston City League championship in program history.

Giovanni Abreu's line single to center field in the bottom of the seventh capped a six-run rally over the final two innings and gave Madison Park (16-4) an 11-10 victory over Brighton (13-7) yesterday at Boston English High.

"I was just looking for a sacrifice fly, or to get on base," Abreu said. "We've been trying to win [the city championship] for four years, and we finally got it this year."

The city will crown its baseball and softball champions this holiday weekend.

Softball

In Saturday's semifinals, Brighton faces East Boston at 10 a.m., followed by O'Bryant taking on Latin Academy at 1. Both games are at Madison Park.

Baseball

In Saturday's semifinals, Brighton meets host Boston English at 10 a.m., followed by Madison Park playing West Roxbury at 1 p.m. Both games are on the turf at Boston English in Jamaica Plain.

Both city championship games are Monday at noon, with baseball being held back at English, softball at Madison Park.

Our friends at Televisionary have sent over another great batch of user-submitted highlights, this time featuring BB&N seesaw win over Worcester Academy. Check out the highlights above as BB&N prevails, 7-5, on Monday, May 4.

Mitchell (Fla.) High School's Patrick Schuster threw four consecutive no-hitters this month. (AP)

A no-hitter in high school baseball isn't terribly uncommon. But four in a row?

Mitchell (Fla.) High School's Patrick Schuster did just that this month, tossing a quartet of no-hitters before finally surrendering a hit in the third inning of a district tournament loss. Schuster, from New Port Richey, Fla., had put together 32 consecutive hitless innings before Gaither's Drew Doty ripped a double that sparked his team to a 9-4 triumph on Tuesday.

Here's more on the streak from the Associated Press:

Schuster simply walked around the mound [after the hit], then got back on the rubber while a standing room-only crowd of more than 1,000 applauded his effort.

"I turned around and said, 'Thank you. It's done now and I don't have to worry about it anymore,'" a dejected Schuster said what turned out to be his final high school game. Mitchell was eliminated by Gaither High School 9-4.

The lanky left-hander had put together a string of four no-hitters going into the district tournament game, and had gotten through the first two innings without giving up a hit. Then came the double by Gaither's Drew Doty.

It wasn't the last damage done against Schuster. He worked five innings, allowing five runs -- three earned -- and three hits. He struck out five, walked five and hit three batters.

Schuster captured the state of Florida record when he turned in No. 4 last week at his home field in New Port Richey, northwest of Tampa. The national record for consecutive no-hitters by a high school pitcher is six.

He escaped the first inning against Gaither after walking two, hitting a batter and allowing an unearned run after his defense committed two errors behind him. In the second, Schuster set Gaither down in order before hitting the leadoff batter in the third. That's when Doty followed with his double, the first hit Schuster surrendered since March 24.

The New York Times profiled Schuster before losing his no-hitter streak and focused on the positive the story has brought after the Schuster family lost another son, Shane, to a juvenile form of bone cancer in 2002. “After Shane’s death, I think baseball was part of the healing process,” his mother, Sharon, said. “After that, we said we’d never miss another game.”

And what about Patrick Schuster's future? According to the Associated Press:

The 18-year-old is ranked as the 79th best prospect -- the 42nd best high school prospect -- in the country by Baseball America and has signed with the University of Florida. He has a fastball around 90 mph and some nasty breaking stuff delivered with the same slingshot motion. Experts say he'll likely be a second-round pick in the June amateur draft, with the string of no-hitters improving his status only slightly.

Schuster says he's excited to go to Florida, but won't rule out jumping right to pro ball if he goes high enough in the draft.

Going into Tuesday's game, Schuster had given up just nine hits in 55 innings this season, and was 8-0 with 110 strikeouts while helping his team to a 23-3 mark. He had 60 strikeouts in the four-game no-hit streak, which began April 3.

Schuster would have become the fourth high school pitcher to throw five consecutive no-hitters. Two players have thrown six in a row: Chris Taranto of Notre Dame High School in Biloxi, Miss., in 1961, and Tom Engle in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1989.

Taranto was signed by the Houston Colt '45s; Engle by the New York Mets. Arm problems ended their careers before they made it to the majors.

More quality user-submitted highlights from our friends at Televisionary Productions, this one featuring a late offensive explosion by Oliver Ames to top Franklin, 6-5, in a Hockomock baseball battle this past Wednesday, April 15.

Some phenomenal user-submitted highlights came in today from the Walpole baseball team's thrilling 2-1 triumph over Natick on Monday. Check out the suicide squeeze play to bring home the Rebels' winning run.

Phil Brangiforte helped organize a baseball tournament to support cancer research. (Pat Greenhouse / Globe File Photo)

Colleague Bob Hohler relays the following:

Their wives were diagnosed with cancer, and two coaches at East Boston High School decided to do something about it. They started raising money to help Boston Medical Center fight the disease.

In their latest fundraising venture, Eastie baseball coach Phil Brangiforte and his father-in-law, Jets hockey coach Robert Anthony, are hosting a baseball tournament next weekend, April 18-19, to support BMC's campaign against colon cancer. Four teams -- East Boston, Malden, Newton South, and Revere -- will participate in the First Priority Credit Union Strike Out Cancer Tournament, which will run each day from noon-9 pm. at East Boston Stadium.

Brangiforte's wife, Carrie, 32, who is Anthony's daughter, was diagnosed last year with colon cancer while she was pregnant with her fifth child. Anthony's wife, Jackie, is battling breast cancer. Both are in remission.

"It is not lost on me that our challenge is small when viewed against the
backdrop of tens of thousands of men and women each year who battle
cancer," Robert Anthony said. "We want to stop cancer where it starts."

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino are
expected to be among the dignitaries at the tournament.

Donations may be made to Boston Medical Center, c/o Robert Anthony, East
Boston High School, 86 White St., East Boston, MA 02128.

The family of Sergio Ibanez, a Charlestown High School baseball player who died in November, has created a scholarship foundation in his memory for Charlestown student athletes. The foundation is holding a fundraising dinner on Saturday, March 28, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Boylston Hall, 207 Amory St., in Jamaica Plain.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Donations may be made to the Sergio Miguel Ibanez All-Star Athletic Foundation, 309 Canton St., Stoughton, MA 02072.

You can read more about Ibanez and the scholarship foundation HERE.

Break out the bats and balls. (Jon Chase / Globe Photo)

We don't want to jinx anything, but barring a late winter snowstorm or a torrential batch of early April rains, the diamonds around Eastern Massachusetts are in good shape to actually start the spring season on time.

We're here to help you plan you travels to see your favorite baseball and softball teams. Click your sport of choice to view all the spring schedules we've compiled so far. You'll find a handy link at the bottom to email us any changes or updates as the start of the season approaches.

Our sports staff is busy pecking in schedules for lacrosse now and we'll have those for you shortly. Ahhh, spring is in the air.

Andover baseball coach Ken Maglio relays that pitcher John Farrell signed a letter of intent to attend to play baseball at William & Mary, while catcher Danny Gusovsky will play for Wheaton College (joining former teammates Paul Malaguti and Kevin Calabro).

A number of area senior student-athletes are making their college commitments official this week, with the early non-football signing period now in play (Nov. 12-19).

Correspondent Brendan Hall checks in with an updated list of commitments:

Baseball
Sahil Bloom, Weston (Stanford)
Kevin Brown, Algonquin (Bryant)
Peter Castaldi, St. John's Prep (Northeastern)
Jon Leroux, Auburn (Northeastern)
Derek Lowe, Lincoln-Sudbury (William & Mary)
John McKenna, Algonquin (UMass-Amherst)
Justin Quinn, Lincoln-Sudbury (Rollins College)
Fran Whitten, Westborough (Maine)

Basketball
Antoine Allen, Notre Dame Prep (Providence)
Russ Braithwaite, St. Mark’s (Babson)
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Tilton/Boston (UConn)
Courtney Finn, Winthrop (Bentley)
Dave Johnson, St. Mark’s (Quinnipiac)
Erik Murphy, St. Mark’s (Florida)
Alex Oriakhi, Tilton/Lowell (UConn)
Dartaye Ruffin, Stoughton (Drexel)
James Southerland, Notre Dame Prep (Syracuse)

Field hockey
Kara Mackintire, Shrewsbury (Boston College)

Golf
Brittany Altomare, Shrewsbury (Virginia)

Lacrosse
Quinn Cully, Duxbury (Notre Dame)
Hakeem Lecky, Duxbury (Syracuse)
Colin O'Rourke, St. John's Shrewsbury (Wagner)
Alex Papoojian, St. John's Shrewsbury (VMI)
Chris Pellichero, King Philip (Providence)
Kristen Scopetski, Algonquin (UMass-Amherst)

Soccer
CC Jensen, Acton-Boxborough (Elon)
AJ Millet, Westford (Harvard)
Sarah Wooley, Duxbury (Siena)

Softball
Nicole D’Argento, Ashland (Boston College)
Jessie Bryant, Marlborough (Providence)

Lincoln-Sudbury senior Justin Quinn has confirmed that he made a verbal commitment to Rollins College for baseball, earlier tonight.

One of his teammates, Derek Lowe, verballed to William and Mary last August, and is expected to sign at National Letter of Intent with the Tribe tomorrow, the first day of the non-football early-signing period.

Quinn, a shortstop who also plays alongside Lowe on the Warriors’ football team, chose the school in Winter Park, Fla., over Northeastern and University of Maine, where former teammate and Globe Division 1 Player of the Year Kevin Scanlan currently pitches. Quinn said he will also be signing “probably in a few days”.

“I went down for an official visit last weekend. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to play baseball in the south, so that definitely had a huge impact on my decision,” Quinn said. “I liked the campus. It was real nice, and welcoming.

“Plus, the weather had a huge factor in it,” he added with a laugh. “Especially for a kid from Boston.”

Quinn batted .302 with five home runs and 15 RBIs last spring for the Warriors, who went 17-4 and lost to Lowell in the first round of the Division 1 North Sectionals.

Lincoln-Sudbury senior Derek Lowe made a verbal commitment to The College of William and Mary’s baseball program last Wednesday, choosing the Tribe over University of Connecticut, Northeastern University, and Bryant University.

Lowe, a righthanded pitcher who also plays some outfield, says the campus was one of the bigger factors in his decision.

“I really liked the campus,” he said. “Northeastern is in the city, so it’s obviously a little different. I really liked UConn, but they ran out of scholarship money, so they couldn’t offer me any.”

He also has a good relationship with coach Frank Leoni, who took over in the summer of 2005, after 13 successful years at the University of Rhode Island that saw him win two Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year titles and take the Rams to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. Last season, they went 36-21.

“He’s a great guy with big goals for the program,” Lowe said. “Since he got there, they’ve had a lot of success.”

Lowe says he will have a half-scholarship as a member of the Tribe.

NCAA rules prohibit coaches from commenting on players until they have signed a national letter of intent.

This past spring, Lowe missed the bulk of the high school baseball season with an injury to his throwing elbow. He had nerve relocation surgery on March 3, and missed all but the final five games of the Warriors’ season.

During this summer, though, he made a significant splash on the AAU scene playing for the New England Ruffnecks, coached by L-S head coach Kirk Fredericks. Fredericks estimated that Lowe hit “between .410 and .415” with wooden bats for the summer, “by far” the team high “average-wise.”

“I would say out of all the players, you could argue that he was our elite player,” Fredericks said. “The one guy that everyone came to see was him, and (Boston English catcher/third baseman) Nelfi Zapata.”

His fastball typically clocks at around 84 to 85 miles per hour, and he has a hard slider to compliment. Lowe also shows great range as an outfielder.

“One thing that opened my eyes, and additionally to the groups of people watching him, was his ability to play the outfield,” Fredericks said. “There are five or six catches that I’m having a flashback on now, where he was making diving catches like Jacoby Ellsbury or Jim Edmonds.”

Weston High pitcher Sahil Bloom has verbally committed to Stanford University, he said Thursday night.

Bloom chose the Cardinal – which has been to six College World Series in the last ten seasons – over Duke, Boston College, Vanderbilt and North Carolina. He had considered the school his top choice, and said the school had expressed a significant amount of interest since last February.

“When I visited Stanford in the middle of February, I fell in love with it. The campus is gorgeous,” he said via cell phone.

Bloom has emerged as one of the state’s top pitching prospects over the last 12 months. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is capable of throwing five pitches for strikes, and has a fastball that was clocked as high as 91 miles per hour earlier this season.

He finished with a 3-5 record, but struck out more than 75 batters in just 57 innings of work. The Wildcats went 13-9, bowing out in the second round of the Division 3 North sectionals this spring.

This summer, Bloom played for the New England Ruff Necks AAU team, and found some success against national competition at several showcases. Head coach Kirk Fredericks, also the head baseball coach at Lincoln-Sudbury, said Bloom’s fastball typically hit in the range of 86 to 88 miles per hour.

“As far as summer goes, he really pitched well for us,” Fredericks said. “More importantly, he learned how to become a pitcher at that (high)level.”

Bloom said he’s also been contacted by major league scouts. There is a possibility of him being selected in next spring’s amateur draft.

“If he continues to work hard, we could hear more from him down the road,” said one National League scout. “I wish him nothing but the best.”

After taking a 10-2 lead through five innings, Lowell Post 87 nearly lost it, needing 11 innings to pull out a 13-12 walk-off win over Milford, in American Legion State Tournament action yesterday at Chicopee's Szot Park.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 11th, Chris Smart drilled a liner to centerfield, scoring Kevin O'Neil for a walk-off single.

In three innings of relief, Lowell's Zach Roy struck out seven batters, including the final four he faced.

Lowell will now face Weymouth at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Milford will face East Longmeadow at 9:30 a.m.

In earlier action, Weymouth took down East Longmeadow, 5-3, in the morning game. In the game preceding Milford-Lowell, Hanover prevailed 6-1 over Newburyport.

Currently, Walpole is playing Chicopee in the nightcap, but rain has trickled through Chicopee tonight.

Here's the schedule for the 2008 Agganis All-Star Classics:

• Awards ceremony -- Sun. July 13, 10 a.m. -- Fraser Field, Lynn
• 11th Softball Classic -- Sun. July 13, noon -- Fraser Field
• 14th Baseball Classic -- Sun. July 13, 2 p.m. -- Fraser Field
• 4th Women’s Basketball -- Mon. July 14, 6 p.m. -- Lynn English
• 4th Men’s Basketball -- Mon. July 14, 7:30 p.m. -- Lynn English
• 13th Men’s Soccer -- Tues. July 15, 5:30 p.m. -- Manning Field, Lynn
• 13th Women’s Soccer -- Tue. July 15, 7:30 p.m. -- Manning Field
• 48th Football Classic -- Wed July 16, 7 p.m. -- Manning Field

After the jump you'll find all the rosters that we've been provided for the event.

FULL ENTRY

On Tuesday's edition of Globe 10.0, Bob Ryan and Chris Gasper talked about the road to recovery for former Peabody baseball standout Jeff Allison. Check out the video after the jump for their thoughts on his recent success as he tries again to pursue his professional baseball career:

FULL ENTRY

Our final Top 20 polls for the 2008 baseball and softball seasons have been posted.

You can read our top 20 recap, or just check out the final polls for baseball and softball. (Hint: Two undefeated teams sit perfectly atop our final rankings).

We'll check back with final top 20 polls for boys' and girls' lacrosse Monday.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL – Scott Warwick hit the inside corner to catch Westfield pinch hitter Tim Lorenz looking, and the BC High Eagles had their first state championship since 2001 after beating Westfield, 7-1.

The win ended an impressive late season run for BC High. After finding themselves in last place at the beginning of the season, the Eagles turned on the afterburners. They finished the regular season at 16-4 and had three walk off wins in the state tournament.

“The makeup of this team is why we’re standing here now,” BC High head coach Norm Walsh said after the game as his players celebrated with the championship trophy. “It’s great, and really no surprise, that they finished they way they did. They were determined.”

Warwick came though huge for the Eagles in the biggest game of their season. The senior threw a complete game, striking out four Bombers batters and dancing in and out of trouble throughout the game. He did not have a 1-2-3 inning until the ninth, but was sure with his team would back him.

“I tried to focus and hit my spots,” he said. “I was confident it would work out. I had the best team in the state behind me.”

With the Eagles holding on to a slim 2-0 lead in the sixth inning, Warwick got what may have been the biggest out of the game. With the tying run at the plate, he snared a hard-hit ground ball and started a 1-6-3 double play.

It turned out to be the closest Westfield would get the rest of the way. BC High went on to score four runs the next inning, thanks to shaky defense by the Bombers and RBI singles by Tyler Horan, Tom Chase, and Mitch McClune, to go up 6-0.

Westfield’s hitters struggled with runners on could only scratch out one run all night. Joshua Blair led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, then moved to second on a wild pitch. Nick Gezotis doubled him home to cut the lead to 6-1, but then Warwick buckled down. He got the next batter out easily, and struck out Clifford Laraway on three pitches to end the inning.

“Once Scott smells it, its over,” Walsh said. “He just battled, battled, battled. He was just great.”

Early on, BC High catcher Tom Conley was able to use his arm to stifle potential Westfield rallies. The Catholic Conference MVP threw out Laraway by three steps at second base when he attempted a steal in the third inning. Then, after Steve Blair reached on a throwing error, an alert Conley (who was backing up the play) threw out the first baseman after he tried to advance to second on the play.

“We had to make a play in those spots,” said Conley, the team captain. “They were pretty much routine plays, but the size of the spot made them seem all that much bigger.”

A scary moment occurred with two outs in the second inning after BC High’s Billy Riley hit a sharp one-hop ground ball off the base off the mound. The shot appeared to ricochet off starter Jim Lorenz’s leg and towards second baseman Jeffery Crawford, who picked up the ball and made the out at first to end the inning. But Lorenz continued to lie on his side on the mound, his face expressing obvious pain. After a few moments he was able to walk off the mound under his own power and continue the game.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The BC High Eagles are Division 1 state champions after defeating Westfield, 7-1.

A complete game recap will be posted shortly.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The Eagles lead Westfield 7-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, and are three outs away from their first state title since 2001.

We'll have an update as soon as the game ends.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- It's the bottom of the eighth inning in the Division 1 state title game, and swarms of small insects seem to be invading LaLacheur Park. Some have even infiltrated the press box, and a security guard is seeking refuge after a number of bugs attached to his bright yellow jacket. "They're everywhere!" he yelled hopelessly.

BC High continues to lead Westfield, 7-1.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Westfield has finally put a run across the plate on back-to-back hits by Joshua Blair and Nick Gezotis. Blair singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, then was doubled home by Gezotis.

BC High escaped the inning without yielding further damage and now leads 6-1.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The BC High offense has finally come alive, with the aid of some defensive mishaps. Westfield has committed two errors in the seventh and, coupled with four BC High singles, the Eagles now have a 6-0 lead.

That was enough to chase Jim Lorenz, who had only given up two runs until this point.

Tyler Horan, Tom Chase, and Mitch McClune have RBIs in the inning.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Scott Warwick has been very impressive through six innings for the BC High Eagles. The senior has allowed a hit in every inning, but is yet to yield a run. He just snared a hard ground ball to start a 1-6-3 double play and has only walked one.

BC High is now batting in the top of the seventh, looking to expand on their lead.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The Eagles have jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning of their Division 1 state title game versus Westfield. BC High scratched out their runs on three singles, a walk, and an RBI ground out.

Westfield looks to respond in their half of the fifth.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- We head to the fifth in the Division 1 state title game, and BC High and Westfield have yet to score. The Eagles have not had a runner on base since the second inning, and Westfield has stranded five runners through four innings.

Mitch McClune, Cody Morgan, and Billy Riley look to get something started for BC High in the top of the fifth.

By James Schneider, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL – Luckily for Plymouth North, Tom MacInnes isn’t the greatest bunter.

The junior fouled off two bunt attempts with the winning run on second and no outs in the top of the tenth inning of yesterday’s Division 2 State Championship game at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, quickly falling behind 0-2.

But MacInnes’ next swing was much more productive, as the right fielder hit a liner that tailed toward left center, out of the reach of the diving centerfielder for his second hit of the game. Jared Canney, who led the inning off with a double that took a terrible hop off the third baseman and into left field, rounded third and headed home, scoring the only run of the game as Plymouth North defeated Auburn 1-0 in ten innings.

“How do you figure, you miss a bunt and then the kid gets a base hit,” Plymouth North coach Dwayne Follette said. “But he hit the ball hard all day.”

“I was anxious, I didn’t execute [on the bunt],” MacInnes said. “[On the hit] I thought the kid might have had a chance [to catch it]. He’s a great centerfielder.”

But the tailing liner dropped in, giving Plymouth North the perfect ending for a perfect season, as the Eagles (26-0) became the first undefeated team since Auburn pulled the feat off ten years ago. The heartbreaking loss ended a great run through the tournament for Auburn (18-7), who entered the central tournament as the seventh seed.

“There’s no easy way to lose,” Auburn coach Eric Swedberg said. “We did everything we could.”

The game was a showcase for two outstanding pitchers, as Auburn’s Jeff Croteau and Plymouth North’s Joe Flynn each pitched a complete game that extended well beyond the normal call of duty. Each was well deserving of a victory, and it took ten innings for one to finally surrender a run.

“Jeff Croteau, it was his game out there,” Swedberg said. “He was not coming out. We’re not a fan of doing that but he pitched an unbelievable game.”

But Flynn was just one notch better. The junior hurler went ten innings, striking out eight while surrendering just four hits. Flynn seemed to get stronger as the game wore on, recording six of his eight strikeouts after the sixth inning. He threw 111 pitches, 81 for strikes.

“The kid’s throwing 85 [mph] in the tenth inning, blowing people away,” Follette said. “I was worried because that was his last inning. He had come back on three and then four days rest and he was tired, he told us.”

Flynn gave up a double to start the seventh inning, but that seemed to rejuvenate the junior. He responded by striking out five of the next six batters he faced and allowed just one more hit the rest of the game.

Flynn’s pitching performance set the stage for MacInnes’ dramatic walk-off single, a fairy-tale ending for the junior that transferred back to his home school from Catholic Memorial this year.

“[I came back here] because I wanted to be with my friends. [Getting the game-winning it] was awesome, it was a thrill,” MacInnes said. “We worked hard all year and it paid off.”

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- We've played three innings at LeLacheur Park, and BC High and Westfield remain scoreless in the Division 1 title game. Jim Lorenz has kept BC High's potent offense in check, allowing only two singles. Scott Warwick worked around a two out error in the third inning to keep the game knotted at zero.

Catholic Conference MVP Tom Conley showed why he's one of the better catchers in the state the past inning. The BC High backstop fired a strike to second base on a pitchout, catching Cliff Larraway by at least three steps.

More updates to come.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

Here's the starting nine for BC High and Westfield in their Division 1 state title game

BC HIGH

DH - Tyler Horan
2B - Tom Chase
C - Tom Conley
3B - Jim Albano
CF - Billy Miller
RF - Mitch McClune
LF - Cody Morgan
1B - Billy Riley
3B - Matt Kelly

WESTFIELD

CF - Alec Fouche
RF - Ryan Veillette
LF - Brian Moran
2B - Jeffery Crawford
DH - Steve Blair
1B - Joshua Blair
3B - Nick Gezotis
C - Eric Liptak
SS - Clifford Larraway

Game should start around 7 p.m.

Here's a recap of Westwood's win in their title game versus Frontier Regional.

By Matt Porter, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL – It happens every time. One mistake gets hammered, and then Westwood starts tacking runs on the board.

Take today's third inning, for example. One baserunner after another, and before long, the Wolverines had produced eight runs and a championship.

The No. 14 Wolverines, who entered the tournament at 12-8, capped a dominant postseason blasting Frontier, 12-6, to capture the Division 3 title at LeLacheur Park.

"We didn't want anything standing between us and the championship," said senior catcher Brian Morante. "One person sparks it, and it fires right through the whole team."

Westwood laid off outside offerings from Redhawks starter Gary Grandonico and smacked whatever was over the plate. Senior center fielder Sean Grandfield led off the third with a single to right, then he stole second without a throw. Morante, who came in hitting .588, worked a 12-pitch walk before junior first baseman Jason Sementelli (3-4) drove in Grandfield. Junior pitcher John Sheehan walked to load the bases, and Grandonico hit sophomore third baseman David Milano, scoring Morante to make it 3-0.

Grandonico was supplanted by junior righty Robbie Sjodahl, but he fared worse.
Despite throwing four consecutive first-pitch strikes, Sjodahl hit a batter, walked in a run, gave up a suicide squeeze and a two-run single, and was victim of an two-run error.

"This whole year, we've been ripping the ball all over the place," said Sheehan, the beneficiary of all the fireworks.

Throwing on a seven days rest, the righthander dazzled in six innings, fanned ten while allowing three runs on six hits and an error.

He mixed in curves while spotting 89-MPH heat, but his change was nastier, keeping the Redhawks off-balance all day. "That was the one I had working," said Sheehan, smiling with the game ball in his back pocket.

"When he's on, he's got a fastball that he can blow by people, a curve that makes them look ridiculous, and then there's his change," said Morante, wearing a bag of ice on his left hand he said was needed after catching Sheehan's fastball. "It's been an honor to catch him this year."

"He was tremendous today," said Frontier coach Aaron Campbell. "He's probably the best pitcher we've seen."

Frontier put together a three-run fifth to get back into it, as junior Ashton Lutenegger and seniors David White and Tim Capuano each singled in runs to make it 9-4. But Westwood soon put out the fire. Doubles by Sementelli, Sheehan and David Milano plated two in the bottom of the inning, and Sheehan quickly got two ground balls and a pop-up.

"That was beautiful," said Sheehan. "Get right out there and get it done."
Junior lefty Ryan Walsh gave up a run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Wolverines piled on each other at shortstop when Redhawks second baseman Anthony Laurentis grounded out to end it.

"They hit the ball hard," said Campbell. "Our kids, I don't want to say they were intimidated, but I think they got caught up in the moment. We met our match today. They deserve all the accolades they get."

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The Eagles soared to an undefeated record (26-0) after Tom MacInnes doubled home Jared Canney in the bottom of the tenth inning in the Division 2 state title game. Plymouth North defeated Auburn to end one of the best pitching duels of the 2008 tournament.

Joe Flynn (12-0) threw ten scoreless innings, striking out eight. Six of those punch outs came in the seventh inning or later. Flynn only gave up four hits on the day.

Jeff Croteau was just as impressive for the Rockets. The Auburn pitcher only gave up one run, in the tenth, despite only picking up two strikeouts.

But it was the Eagles' day, and now head coach Dwayne Follette and his team can hang an undefeated banner in Plymouth.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- How many more great defensive plays can be made? With the lead run on first base and one out in the top of the ninth, PN center fielder Keegan Grabhorn tracked down a deep drive, then fired to first base to double off Auburn's Evan Pluff and keep the game scoreless.

Then, in the bottom of the inning, Auburn center fielder Keith Leatham made a diving play to open up the ninth inning and keep Mike Higgins off the bases. Jeff Croteau set down the next two batters to send the game to the 10th.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Auburn relied on a wild defensive play at first base and starter Jeff Croteau to keep the Division 2 state title game scoreless into the ninth inning.

Plymouth North's Tom MacInnes shot a line drive off first baseman Jon Geeze's glove, but second baseman Nick Natoli picked up the deflection and flipped it back to Geeze. The senior had his foot on first base and MacInnes, sliding headfirst, was called out.

Croteau escaped the inning after two batters reached, and we head to the ninth.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Joe Flynn seems to be saving his best for last in the Division 2 state title game. The PN ace just struck out the side in the eighth inning and has recorded five strikeouts since yielding a leadoff double in the seventh.

Once again, the Eagles will look to put the final touches on their undefeated season as they send the heart of their lineup to bat in the eighth.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- After PN ace Joe Flynn stranded a runner in scoring position in his half of the seventh, Auburn pitcher Joeff Croteau did the same to extend this intense pitching duel.

Pinch hitter Corey Coleman led off the inning with a single for the Eagles, then moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and ground out, Croteau got leadoff hitter Jared Canney to fly out to right field and keep the game scoreless heading to extras.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- After Jon Leroux led off the Auburn seventh with a double to the warning track in center, PN's Joe Flynn showed why he's yet to lose a game this season. The ace struck out the next two batters, then induced a ground ball out to shortstop to keep the Division 2 state title game scoreless.

Plymouth North is coming up to bat in their half of the seventh, hoping to put the finishing touches on an undefeated sesaon.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The game has gone to the 7th inning and both Auburn and Plymouth North have not scored. Plymouth North will now need a walk-off win if they want to finish undefeated on the season.

Joe Flynn has been spectacular for PN, as has Jeff Croteau for Auburn. Flynn has only given up two hits through six innings and only one Rockets runner has reached third base. Croteau has only yielded four meaningless singles and has kept the PN bats in check.

Should be an exciting finish, stay tuned for more updates.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- One half inning after Plymouth North kept the Division 2 state title game scoreless with solid defense, Auburn did the same. With the lead run on second with one out, Rockets left fielder Connor Beach made a nice adjustment on a running catch to snare a tailing line drive off the bat of Tom MacInnes. The play kept the game tied at zero.

Auburn is up in their half of the sixth, looking for their first run.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- With the lead run on second base and one out, Auburn's Keith Leatham lined what looked like a single towards left field. But PN shortstop Pat Lane made an impressive jumping grab, then fired to second to double off the Auburn runner and keep the game at 0-0.

Matt Walsh just led off the Eagles' fifth with a single on the first pitch.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The Eagles have had a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but Auburn starter Jeff Croteau has escaped each time and held Plymouth North scoreless.

First baseman Jon Geeze just made an impressive tag on an off-target throw to retire PN designated hitter Jordan Wylie and keep the Eagles off the board in the thrid. Tom MacInnes, who had led off the inning with a single, was stranded on third base.

Auburn did not score in their half of the fourth inning.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Auburn and Plymouth North have yet to score through two innings in the Division 2 state title game at LeLacheur Park.

Plymouth North, trying for an undefeated season, has left two runners on base in each of the first two innings. Starter Joe Flynn (11-0) worked out of first inning trouble and set down Auburn 1-2-3 in the second inning.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- We're moments away from the start of the Division 2 state title game between Auburn and Plymouth North at LeLacheur Park. Here are your starting lineups for each squad:

AUBURN

2B - Nick Natoli
1B - Jon Geeze
SS - Evan Pluff
C - Jon Leroux
DH - Brendan VanBeekom
3B - Shayne McNally
RF - Brian Sullivan
LF - Connor Beach
CF - Keith Leatham

PLYMOUTH NORTH

2B - Jared Canney
LF - Tom MacInnes
P - Joe Flynn
CF - Keegan Grabhorn
DH - Jordan Wylie
RF - Steve McSharry
3B - Mike Higgins
1B - Billy Mitchell
C - Matt Walsh

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- The Westwood Wolverines wrapped up the Division 3 state title with a comfortable 12-6 win over Frontier Regional at LeLacheur Park.

Check back in a few minutes for a full recap and game story.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Trailing Westwood 12-4, the Red Hawks are coming up to bat in their half of the seventh inning in the Division 3 state title game. Frontier Regional can only hope for a tremendous rally in their last at bat to keep their title hopes alive.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- After Frontier pulled within five runs, Westwood was able to answer right back with two runs in their half of the fifth inning to open their lead to 11-4 in the Division 3 state title game.

Jason Sementelli, John Sheehan, and David Milano hit back-to-back-to-back doubles to chase Frontier reliever Robbie Sjodahl and help reopen the Wolverines' bulge to seven.

We'll be back with more updates.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Frontier Regional has made it a game up at LeLacheur Park. The Red hawks scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to close Westwood's lead to 9-4.

In that three-run fifth inning, Frontier got clutch RBI hits from Chris Noreika, Jaren Lutenegger, and David White. The Red Hawks were also helped when a pop up was lost in the sun by the Westwood defense, which kept the rally alive.

We'll have more for you as the game progresses, check back in a few.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

LOWELL -- Hello from LeLacheur Park, where Westwood has jumped out to a 9-0 lead in their Division 3 state championship match up versus Frontier Regional.

The Wolverines scored eight runs in the bottom of the third inning, the highlight coming when Casey Criss bunted home John Sheehan on a suicide squeeze with one out. Sheehan scored to give Westwood a 5-0 lead. By the inning's close, 12 Wolverines had taken a turn at bat.

Check back in a few for more updates.

Boston English baseball standout Jhonneris Mendez is credited in a Roslindale pool rescue.

Mendez dove into the pool to save a 12-year-old boy who had been lying at the bottom of Flaherty Pool at the Roslindale Community Center. The child is being treated at the hospital, Boston Police said.

Check out our Local News Updates for more.

By David Carty, Globe Correspondent

QUINCY -- For BC High senior Scott Warwick, nothing would ruin a return to his hometown. The Quincy native went the distance on some home turf at Adams Field and led the Eagles to victory over North Attleboro, 5-2.

With the game tied, 2-2, flashes of lightning prompted umpires to delay the game for 30 minutes. Red Rocketeers starter Mike Mancini struggled after the break. With runners on first and second, UMass-Amherst-bound Tom Conley raised his hand to call time, but his request was denied by umpire Art Krikorian. Conley didn't miss a beat, slapping an RBI single past the dive of shortstop Brendan Picini for the Eagles' go-ahead run.

Warwick retired the last 12 batters and allowed only two base runners after the lightning delay.

"I felt like I got stronger [after the delay]," said Warwick, who threw in the bullpen to keep fresh during the half-hour break.

Mancini got off on the right foot, neutralizing the Eagles batting order the first time through the lineup. His offense provide some support as well.

Right fielder Greg Dusel led off the second inning with a single to right and first baseman Kevin Connolly doubled him home to give North Attleboro the early lead. Two batters later, designated hitter Mike D'Attilio popped a one-out pitch to foul territory down the right field line. Eagles' first baseman Billy Kiley made an over-the-shoulder catch and threw home, but Kevin Connolly managed to slide in safely under the tag of BC High catcher Tom Conley.

BC High coach Norm Walsh ran out to the plate protesting the call. After a brief explanation -- and some scolding by home plate umpire Art Krikorian -- Walsh returned to the water cooler he was sitting on. The tides -- or, perhaps, the clouds, would quickly turn for his team.

Jimmy Albano and Billy Miller logged RBI single to tie the contest at 2. Then flashes of lighting prompted umpires to pull North Attleboro off the field as they warmed up before the bottom of the fifth inning.

Mancini couldn't recover from the half-hour break. "The lightning delay took some steam out of [him]," Walsh said.

Conley soon produced the go-ahead hit and BC High never looked back.

From there, it was smooth sailing for Warwick. The right-hander retired each of the last 12 batters he faced and allowed only two baserunners after the delay.

"He was the difference in the game," Eagles' coach Norm Walsh said. "He came up big."

All told, Warwick allowed five hits and hit a batter in his nine innings of work. Warwick's high pitch-count on the season was 115, a number he neared in the outing. Walsh said he planned to cut him off at 110. The coach even warmed up ace Ed Donovan, but never needed to make the switch.

"He settled into a groove," Walsh said. "He was very, very effective."

His counterpart also impressed, holding the Eagles to only five runs over six innings -- BC High's lowest offensive production of the tournament thus far.

"It was a generous strike zone," Walsh said with a smile. "Both guys made it tough on hitters."

BC High advances to today's Division I South final against Walpole -- a rematch of last year's title game -- at 7 p.m. in Braintree.

A few game notes:

For the most part, both teams fielded a pretty good game. There was the occasional error, but fielders were often in the right spot and showed good range.

In the bottom of the eighth, with Evan Dean pitching in relief for North Attleboro, junior Kevin Richman made a fantastic tumbling catch down the left-field line. Third baseman Steve Sousa followed that up on the next play with a barehanded throw on a grounder down the line to nab Cody Morgan by inches.

Strange to see a half-hour delay when a droplet of rain never touched the field. It's even stranger when you consider rain pelted the Eagles in their delay-free 31-2 destruction of Needham to open up the tournament.

Conley, listed at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, is larger than either of the two UMass-Amherst catchers on the college's roster. Also, according to the site, neither player has hit a home run in collegiate play. Conley has a rocket for an arm and generates an awful lot of power with his swing.

By Andrew Petrie, Globe Correspondent

Scott Weismann knew he would be pitching for the Tigers next year. But now he has a decision -- Clemson or Detroit?

The Acton-Boxboro ace was selected by the Detroit Tigers in Day 2 of the Major League Baseball Draft Friday. Weismann, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound right-handed pitcher, got tabbed in the 18th round (553d overall).

Weismann, who received the call while at a friend's house this afternoon, said that, though he was excited by the news, he still wants to keep his options open.

"I have no clue what's going to happen," said Weismann. "They're going to call me back, but I haven't made a decision yet. It's still up in the air. It's honestly going to come down to how much money I'm offered."

Acton-Boxboro coach Patrick Grucela has no doubt his star pitcher will make the right decision.

"He's got a good head on his shoulders," said Grucela, whose charges advanced to the Division 1 North quarterfinals this spring before bowing to Haverhill. "He knows he'll get a great education at Clemson while playing baseball, and he's aware of the opportunity with the Tigers. Either environment will be great for him."

Weismann said the Tigers organization will probably keep a close eye on him while he plays for the Ohio Warhawks this summer. He said he'll probably be tendered a contract, and after that the two sides will be able to negotiate from there.

The selection of Weismann, who was named the Gatorade Massachusetts Baseball Player of the Year, marked a significant moment in the rebuilding of the A-B baseball program. The two-time Dual County Leage MVP started the 2008 season 6-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 51 innings, and batted .404 with 10 RBI through 19 games.

Weismann initially got contacted by the Tigers in the fourth round on Day 1. He didn't get drafted for a considerable time after, however, likely due to the fact that most clubs knew he wouldn't sign for less than second-round money.

From South Carolina's The State,

Clemson had its fingers crossed, though, with pitcher Scott Weismann of Boxbourgh, who made it known he would sign for second-round money.

Weismann got a call from Detroit in the fourth round, but the Tigers wound up taking someone else.

Weismann said Thursday night he would have to wait and see how the draft plays out before guaranteeing he will attend college.

Last year, Roxbury Latin's Jack McGeary -- a potential first-round selection -- slid to the sixth round before being taken by the Washington Nationals. It appeared McGeary would follow through with his commitment to Stanford, but he struck a midnight deal with the Nationals on the eve of the signing deadline when the club offered him first-round money.

With a strong performance this summer, Weismann might be able to drive up his own price tag, but can always enroll at Clemson if he and the Detroit Tigers are unable to hash out a deal.

***

A note on another local from our friends at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:

St. Peter-Marian fireballer Keith Landers now has a decision to make. What's his favorite bird: Cardinals or Orioles.

It took a little longer than most expected, but Landers was drafted moments ago by the Baltimore Orioles with their 18th round selection in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft.

Landers, who had just pitched the Guardians into the Division 1 Central Mass. final yesterday over Algonquin, was selected 536th overall and was the sixth left-handed pitcher drafted by the Orioles.

Now Landers has to make a decision between signing with the Orioles or heading to the University of Louisville, where he has a four-year scholarship waiting for him to pitch for the Cardinals.

Boston.com's Chris Forsberg contributed to this report.

Acton-Boxboro ace Scott Weismann has been named the Gatorade Massachusetts baseball Player of the Year for the 2008 season.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior right-handed pitcher compiled a 6-2 record with a 0.96 ERA and 85 strikeouts through 51 innings during the regular season. Weismann also boasted a .404 batting average with 17 runs scored and 10 RBIs through 19 games.

"He’s dominant on the mound,” said Acton-Boxboro coach Patrick Grucela. "He’s got a great competitive spirit, and he’s just ferocious. You can tell he just means business. Whenever he’s on the mound, he gives us a chance to win. He’s been our leader in wins and our leading hitter the last two years. If I get another Scott Weismann in my coaching career, I’ll be lucky. You just can’t replace a kid like that overnight."

Weismann is bound for Clemson in the fall.

You can read the full press release after the jump.

FULL ENTRY

city championships

A recap of today's Boston City League baseball semifinals by the Globe's Andrew Petrie:

Boston North champion Boston English jumped to an early three-run lead and the hosts held on for a 5-3 victory over South co-champs O’Bryant in the semifinals of the Boston City League baseball championships Saturday.

Starling Arias, fresh with a week of rest, dominated for English, striking out 11 batters in a complete-game effort. Coach Rich Beyer credited him with getting his team up and ready for one of the biggest games of their season.

“I told the young kids on the bench to watch the way he pitches and carries himself on the field,” Beyer said. “He bears down and he did it today.”

The game featured a controversial call that swayed the momentum of the contest. With the bases loaded and the tying run on second with two outs in the sixth inning, O’Bryant’s Eric Cabral hit a foul pop to the right side. Arias ran from the mound towards foul territory to try to make the catch, but collided with Cabral, who was hustling down the line. Cabral was called out on interference, ending the inning and stifling the best chance O’Bryant would have to take the lead.

“It was a bad call,” O’Bryant coach Junior Rivera said. “That ball was uncatchable.”

Beyer disagreed, saying Arias had a chance to make the play. “The kid was running hard to first base and running hard like he should be, but it just ended up being a tough play for them," he said.

One such play was in the third inning, when English center fielder Starling Gonzalez threw home to catch Jose Pichardo at the plate. Pichardo was tagged out and since he did not slide he was tossed from the game, providing another setback for O’Bryant.

“There were momentum plays that chanced the game and got people fired up and going all afternoon,” Beyer said.

English opened up a 3-0 lead in the first inning, highlighted by an RBI single by team captain Nelfi Zapata. The big inning fired up the English bench and gave them confidence they could take down talented O’Byant.

“It was exciting, the kids were pumped after [scoring in the first],” Beyer said. “Going up 3-0 will help you get up to play.”

Shortstop Jose Pena had three hits for O’Bryant in the loss.

English will face West Roxbury on Monday for the City title.

Info on the 2008 City Championships for baseball and softball:

BASEBALL (at English High School):

Semifinals: Saturday, May 24. Game 1 at 10 a.m.; Game 2 at 1 p.m.

Finals: Monday, May 26. Championship at noon.

SOFTBALL (at Charlestown High School):

Semifinals: Saturday, May 24. Game 1 at 10 a.m.; Game 2 at 1 p.m.

Finals: Monday, May 26. Championship at noon.

The rain date for both semifinals is Sunday, May 25; the finals is May 27. Sites remain the same. Teams are TBD.

Baseball
Newburyport 11, Hamilton-Wenham 2

SOUTH HAMILTON -- This time last year, Joe Clancy was just a sophomore reaching for the catcher’s mask because Newburyport had a hole behind home plate that needed filling.

By the late innings Tuesday afternoon, his team up 11 runs over a young group from Hamilton-Wenham and his 4-for-4, 2-RBI day safely in the books, Clancy was poking at his coach Bill Pettingell to put on the catcher’s gear for old time’s sake.

Pettingell couldn’t argue with the kid.

“I told him, today you looked like a pro out there among a bunch of college kids,” Pettingell said.

Clancy sparked an entire offense in the Clippers' 11-2 win over the Generals, his first-inning RBI single opening the floodgates in a four-run inning and his run-scoring liner to left in piling on another score in a seven-run fourth.

Then he caught a couple innings, just because.

Clancy pushed his batting average over the .400 mark this spring, but more importantly his performance helped push the 10-6 Clippers into the state tournament.

“I started off slow in the year, so I just tried to get back to basics,” Clancy said. “I feel like I’m starting to hit the ball well. The whole team’s hitting the ball. Hitting’s kind of contagious right now. Everybody’s on a good streak right now.”

Two at-bats after Clancy’s first-inning single, junior left fielder Kyle LeBlanc turned a 2-0 fastball into a three-run home run, one of his two hits on the day.

And in the fourth, the Clippers sent 12 batters to the plate, including first baseman Tommy Morris who had two hits in the inning, scoring a run on a single by Kyle McElroy and driving in a run with a double near the end of the frame.

It’s the third time this season that Newburyport eclipsed the 10-run mark. Another sign that the squad’s 1-4 start is in their rearview.

“It’s a roller coaster,” Clancy said, looking for a way to describe the season. “In baseball, things like this happen.”

Newburyport’s been waiting for the bats to catch up with its pitching. McElroy, a junior right hander, allowed just one unearned run in his fifth win of the season.

“We’re getting great pitching performances day in and day out,” Clancy said. “It’s easy for a pitcher when you’ve got a good defense behind you. And we’re starting to get the hits going now and we’re getting those together, then we can string together some wins.”

At one point Newburyport lost three straight one-run games, but over the past month you could argue there hasn’t been a better team in the Cape Ann League.

“We’ve been playing a little bit looser and with a little more confidence,” Pettingell said.
”I think that’s why we’re in contention.”

The Clippers tripped up then-unbeaten Masconomet last Monday, 6-5, and watched as the Chieftains took a second straight loss to North Reading, coming back to the pack it looked like they had lapped twice over.

Newburyport went into Tuesday afternoon expecting a little help from that same North Reading team, which who took a trip to North Andover, but didn’t get it. Had North Reading beaten North Andover, the top of the CAL would have had a three-headed Masco, Newburyport, North Andover monster.

But North Andover’s 6-5 win, gave them sole possession of the top spot for the time being.

“It’s going to be tough,” Pettingell said. “But we’re in the picture.”

baseball
Malden Catholic 5, BC High 1

MALDEN--Malden Catholic had never won its own Catholic Conference title outright. Not in Steve Freker’s nine years as head coach. Not in the history of the school. They earned a share of it more than two decades ago, but that’s it.

So with his team down 1-0 to BC High Monday, Freker was as little nervous and a little intense. “All these Catholic Conference games are so close,” he said.

But the Lancers always keep an ace tucked away somewhere.

“I would say it’s a calling card,” Freker said.

This year it’s Chris Labriola, the senior with the mixed bag of pitches and the endurance to throw four complete games and win them all without flinching.

And with BC High over for a visit to Maplewood Field Monday afternoon and at least a share of the Catholic Conference title being the sweet reward if the senior left hander could stretch his undefeated streak to five games, Freker was more than comfortable reaching into his pocket for an ace.

Labriola went the distance for a fifth time in MC’s 5-1 win over the Eagles that upped his season record to 5-0 after giving up just one earned run and guaranteeing the Lancers at least a share of their first Catholic Conference title since 1983.

Almost simultaneously, St. John’s Prep was handing Xaverian its third conference loss, clinching Malden Catholic’s first outright Catholic Conference title in school history.

“I think it’s great,” Freker said. “It’s something that hasn’t been done in a long time."

The senior left hander started off slowly against BC High, plunking the Eagles leadoff batter and walking three batters in four innings, but aside from a straight-off–the-assembly-line run that BC High manufactured in the second inning, Freker said, “They weren’t hitting him.”

“Every year since I’ve been here we’ve had at least one big pitcher,” Freker said.

He was able to pitch with a lead after the third inning when junior outfielder Dario Pizzano got a hold of a pitch from BC High's Frank Sorrenti and hit it hard and deep into the corner in right field that scored Tony Serino and James Castrucci.

The Lancers piled two more on in the fourth on a two-run double by Nate Witkowski. An RBI single by Robert Machado in the fifth allowed Labriola to cruise through two more scoreless innings, and lower an ERA that was an already microscopic 0.50 coming in.

He helped Malden Catholic win their first Catholic Conference title in any sport since the lacrosse team raised the championship banner in 2006.

"It’s great for the school," Freker said. "It’s great for the kids. They have a lot of goals and that’s certainly one of them.”

For those curious, the Globe begins collecting high school sports standings for the spring season this Sunday, April 27.

Standings will start appearing in Monday's paper (and online) along with our first batch of in-season top 20 polls, which will update each week from there.

League representatives are reminded to call the Globe between 1 and 6 p.m. Sunday at 617-929-3235, 2860, 2861, or 2862. Our toll-free number is 1-800-232-2860. Standings can also be faxed to 617-929-2670 or e-mailed to hssports@globe.com, but please confirm all fax and e-mail transmissions by calling one of the numbers above.

The Play(s) of the Game(s) clip below provides highlights for two of Wednesday's biggest battles.

First, BC High netminder David Barton makes a rash of second-half saves to prevent previously undefeated Billerica from making a late charge as the Eagles emerged with an 11-8 triumph at James Cotter Field.

In the second half of the clip, the Tewksbury baseball team erupts for 11 runs over the first three innings of play. The Redmen smashed the ball all over the yard to take complete control against rival Andover.

• Click HERE to watch the Play of the Game

Tewksbury emerges with a rock solid 12-4 triumph at "home" in Andover. The Redmen scored six runs in the first, added four more in the third and breezed to the finish line against a Merrimack Valley Conference foe.

Tewksbury, 11-0 (end of 3rd)

So much for this showdown. Tewksbury struck for four more runs in the third and leads "visiting" Andover, 11-0, at Peter Aumais Park.

We're pulling the plug on this one. Off to catch the end of BC High-Billerica lacrosse.

Tewksbury, 7-0 (end of 2nd)

Tewksbury tacks on another run and leads Andover, 7-0, moving to the third frame.

Tewksbury, 6-0 (end of 1st)

Bit of confusion as Tewksbury is the home team, but we're here in Andover for today's contest (this after we found out the hard way that Strong Field is under construction at Tewksbury Memorial High School).

We didn't miss any of the fireworks here, though.

Tewksbury struck for six runs in the bottom of the first and leads, 6-0.

Mike Ferreiro and Pat Devlin opened the game with back-to-back singles before Ronnie Wallace walked to load the bases with no outs. Cleanup man Mike Delponte ripped a liner to right field that should have been caught, but it ticked off the outfielder's glove and rolled straight towards the fence allowing all four runners to score.

Not a great start for Andover and it didn't get any better from there as a single sandwiched between a pair of triples helped Tewksbury put up two more runs before the end of the frame.

Pregame

We'll be live from Andover this morning, where the Redmen -- the Globe's preseason No.1 -- "hosts" the Warriors in a Merrimack Valley Conference showdown at 11 a.m.

Andover (4-1) is undefeated in league play with its lone loss being a 2-1, season-opening defeat at the hands of Cambridge.

Tewksbury started the season with four straight wins before dropping a 6-4 decision to Methuen during a visit to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., last week. Expect the Redmen to be ultra-focussed for this league matchup.

Back with more this afternoon.

Check out the videos below to see more highlights from two of Thursday's best battles:

• Click HERE to watch Andover vs. Framingham girls' lacrosse
• Click HERE to watch Xaverian vs. Lincoln-Sudbury baseball

In the Plays of the Games clip below: Freshman Rachel Igoe and junior Sam Zetlin score goals 34 seconds apart to help Framingham erase an early deficit en route to a 13-9 victory over Andover in girls' lacrosse. Later, Lincoln-Sudbury's Sam Finn singles home Jason Roth as the Warriors topped Xaverian, 2-1, in eight innings, in baseball.

• Click HERE to watch the Plays of the Games

We took in two of Thursday's best games (our plan to catch three was foiled by extra innings in the baseball game). Here's what unfolded:

Baseball: Xaverian vs. Lincoln-Sudbury

Sam Finn singles home Jason Roth in the bottom of the eight as L-S emerges with a 2-1 win.

Roth opened the inning with a single off reliever Matt Morin (pitching on 2-day's rest following a brilliant performance against BC High Monday). Mark Hogan followed with a sacrifice attempt that rolled perfectly down the third-base line allowing him to reach safely while advancing Roth to second.

Finn ripped a single to right and Roth raced home ahead of the throw for the victory.

Tied, 1-1 (bot 6th)

Mark Hogan hit a solo homer to tie this game moving to the seventh inning.

Xaverian, 1-0 (top 6th)

Welcome to Sudbury, where the visiting Hawks lead host L-S, 1-0, in the top of the sixth.

Xaverian pushed across the game's lone run in the top of the third with a little two-out magic as Matt Morin singled, took second on a wild pitch, then scored on an opposite-field single by Sean Reilly.

Girls' lacrosse: Andover vs. Framingham

A final from Framingham, the Flyers prevail, 13-9.

Tied, 4-4 (half):

The teams head to the intermission knotted at 4. A very entertaining first half. Framingham dominated possession, but the Warriors came up with big defensive stands and cashed in on their opportunities.

We're zipping off to Sudbury now for more action, but we've got a correspondent here who will continue to feed us details so keep an eye on this space for more.

Tied, 4-4 (8:26, 1st)

Framingham bounces back to tie things up with Andover on goals by Sam Zetlin and Rachel Igoe (showing flashes of her sister's speed) as we're knotted at 4 with 8:26 to play in the first half.

Andover, 4-2 (12:00, 1st)

Framingham struck for a pair of free-position goals in the early going, but Andover has responded with four consecutive scores, including two for Heather Sullivan, to open a 4-2 advantage midway through the first half.

***

Welcome to Framingham, where the third-ranked Flyers girls' lacrosse team is set to host fifth-ranked Andover in a nonleague showdown.

The visiting Warriors check in at 5-0, but should receive their stiffest test of the season against a 7-1 Framingham squad (the Flyers fell to Bay State Conference rival Wellesley, snapping a 52-game winning streak back on April 7).

***

We're going to alter our plan of attack ever-so slightly today with the idea of getting more games on film. We're going to make it a tripleheader this afternoon and here's what we're hoping to see (in this particular order):

• girls' lacrosse Andover at Framingham
• boys' volleyball Newton North at Lincoln-Sudbury
• baseball Xaverian at Lincoln-Sudbury

Essentially, we're adding a couple of pit stops before getting to the baseball game. With the proximity of all these games, we're hoping to create a highlight reel of some of the day's best action in a variety of sports.

As usual, we'll pass along updates along our way.

The Globe's Amanda Bruno is taking in the Andover-Framingham battle and will have a full recap as part of Thursday's school roundup.

For more details on this afternoon's baseball battle, check out the preview below. Back with more in a bit.

***

A reminder that we'll be live from Sudbury this afternoon, where the undefeated and sixth-ranked Lincoln-Sudbury baseball team hosts Xaverian in a nonleague showdown.

L-S, the reigning Division 1 state champs, has dominated its competition (save only for a one-run victory over Dual County League rival Westford Academy). Its other four opponents have fallen by a combined score of 36-2.

The Warriors posted a 25-1 record last fall while claiming the state crown.

Xaverian endured its first loss Wednesday, letting a potential victory over Catholic Conference rival St. John's Prep slip away in a 5-4 defeat. The Hawks already boast quality wins over St. John's (Shrewsbury), Brockton, and BC High.

Xaverian scraped together a 10-10 regular-season record last spring, but stormed to the Division 1 South semifinals before falling to eventual sectional champion BC High.

We'll have more from Sudbury this afternoon.

Here's what we've got penciled in for live coverage the next few days. As usual, we'll provide live updates from these games and we'll capture video highlights for the site:

Tuesday: boys' lacrosse Billerica at Reading, 4 p.m.

Reading is one of the most intriguing stories of the young season. The Rockets posted a quality 14-4 mark out of the Middlesex League last season, but earned the 14th seed in the Eastern Mass. Division 2 tournament and fell to North Andover, 6-4, in a first-round matchup.

After two quality efforts against Lexington last season, the Rockets finally broke through by topping the Minutemen, 11-10, this past Friday. Reading now stands at 5-0, but Billerica should provide one of the loftiest tests the Rockets will encounter during the regular season in this nonleague battle.

Wednesday: softball Acton-Boxboro at Concord-Carlisle, 4 p.m.

Concord-Carlisle dominated the Dual County League while putting together a perfect regular season last spring, but it was Acton-Boxboro that shone brightest during the postseason.

While the top-seeded Patriots endured an unceremonious quarterfinal exit in the Division 2 North bracket, A-B stormed all the way to the Division 1 North finals before the 10th-seeded Colonials fell to Reading in the championship tilt.

Thursday: baseball Xaverian at Lincoln-Sudbury, 4 p.m.

Fresh off a thrilling win over second-ranked BC High, Xaverian boasts a 5-0 mark and is the only Catholic Conference squad without a blemish thus far. The Hawks will make the trek to Sudbury, where the defending Division 1 champions continue to roll with a 4-0 record on the young season. The Warriors have outscored opponents, 32-7, during those wins, but Xaverian will pose the biggest challenge of the season.

We're proud to have an extensive collection of schedules online this spring. You'll find schedules (and, as the season progresses, game results) for most schools in Eastern Mass. for baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, and volleyball.

Click one of the sports below to jump to that schedules page.

Baseball | Softball | Boys' lax | Girls' lax | Boys' tennis | Girls' tennis | Volleyball

You can also search by school (only spring schedules for Eastern Mass. teams will be available for now):

Select a school Abby Kelley Foster Abington Accelerated Learning Lab Acton-Boxboro Advanced Math and Science Agawam Algonquin Amesbury Amherst-Pelham Andover Applewild Apponequet Archbishop Williams Arlington Arlington Catholic Ashland Assabet Athol Attleboro Auburn Austin Prep Avon Ayer Bancroft Barnstable Bartlett Bay Path Beaver Country Day Bedford Belchertown Bellingham Belmont Belmont Hill Berkshire Berkshire Arts and Technology Berkshire Country Day Bethany Christian Beverly Billerica Bishop Connolly Bishop Feehan Bishop Fenwick Bishop Stang Blackstone Valley Blackstone-Millville Blue Hills BC High Boston Collegiate Boston English Boston International Boston Latin Boston Trinity BU Academy Bourne Braintree Bridgewater-Raynham Brighton Brimmer & May Bristol Aggie Bristol-Plymouth Brockton Bromfield Brookline Brooks Brookwood BB&N Burke Burlington Burncoat Cambridge Cambridge Weston Canton Cape Cod Academy Cape Cod Tech Cardinal Spellman Carver Case Cathedral Catholic Memorial Central Catholic Champion Charter Chapel Hill Charlestown Chatham Chelmsford Chelsea Chicopee Chicopee Comprehensive City On A Hill Claremont Clinton Codman Charter Cohasset Commerce Commonwealth Community Charter Concord Academy Concord-Carlisle Covenant Christian Coyle-Cassidy Cushing Dana Hall Danvers Dartmouth David Prouty Dean Tech Dedham Deerfield Dennis-Yarmouth Dexter Dighton-Rehoboth Diman Doherty Dorchester Douglas Dover-Sherborn Dracut Drury Durfee Duxbury East Boston East Bridgewater East Longmeadow Easthampton Elizabeth Seton Essex Aggie Everett Fairhaven Falmouth Falmouth Academy Fellowship Christian Fenway Fitchburg Fontbonne Four Rivers Charter Foxboro Foxborough Charter Framingham Franklin Franklin County Tech Frontier Gann Academy Gardner Gateway Georgetown Global Learning Gloucester Governor's Academy Grafton Granby Greater Boston Academy Greater Lawrence Greater Lowell Greater New Bedford Greenfield Groton Groton-Dunstable Hamilton-Wenham Hampshire Hanover Harwich Haverhill Health Careers Hillside Hingham Holbrook Holliston Holy Name Holyoke Holyoke Catholic Hoosac Valley Hopedale Hopkins Hopkinton Hudson Hudson Catholic Hull Hyde Park Ipswich Josiah Quincy Keefe Tech King Philip Landmark Latin Academy Lawrence Lawrence Academy Learning Center Lee Leicester Lenox Leominster Lexington Lexington Christian Lincoln-Sudbury Littleton Longmeadow Lowell Lowell Catholic Lowell Middlesex Charter Ludlow Lunenburg Lynn Classical Lynn English Lynn Tech Lynnfield MacDuffie Madison Park Mahar Maimonides Malden Malden Catholic Manchester Essex Mansfield Marblehead Marian Marlborough Marshfield Martha's Vineyard Martha's Vineyard Charter Masconomet Mashpee Master's Academy MATCH Charter Matignon Maynard McCann Tech Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Methuen Middleboro Middlesex Milford Millbury Millis Milton Milton Academy Minnechaug Minuteman Miss Hall's Mohawk Trail Monson Monty Tech Montrose Monument Mtn. Mt. Alvernia Mt. Everett Mt. Greylock Mt. St. Joseph Murdock Mystic Valley Nantucket Narragansett Nashoba Nashoba Valley Tech Natick Nauset Nazareth Needham New Bedford New England Christian New Leadership New Mission New Testament Newburyport Newman Prep Newton Country Day Newton North Newton South Nipmuc Nobles Norfolk Aggie North Andover North Attleboro North Brookfield North Cambridge Catholic North Central Charter North Middlesex North Quincy North Reading North Shore Northampton Northbridge Northeast Northfield Mt. Hermon Norton Norwell Norwood Notre Dame (Fitchburg) Notre Dame (Hingham) Notre Dame (Lawrence) Notre Dame (Tyngsborough) Notre Dame (Worcester) O'Bryant Oakmont Old Colony Old Rochester Oliver Ames Oxford Pacific Rim Charter Palmer Parker Charter Pathfinder Peabody Pembroke Pentucket Phillips Andover Phoenix Charter Pingree Pioneer Valley Christian Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Pioneer Valley Regional Pittsfield Plymouth North Plymouth South Pomfret Pope John Presentation of Mary Prospect Hill Provincetown Putnam Quabbin Quaboag Quincy Randolph Reading Revere Rivers Rockland Rockport Roxbury Latin Sabis Charter Sacred Heart St. Bernard's St. Clement St. John's (Shrewsbury) St. John's Prep St. Joseph Central St. Mark's St. Mary (Westfield) St. Mary's (Worcester) St. Mary's St. Peter Marian St. Sebastian's Salem Salem Charter Sandwich Saugus Scituate Seekonk Sharon Shawsheen Shepherd Hill Shrewsbury Silver Lake Smith Academy Smith Voc. Snowden Somerset Somerville Somerville Charter South Boston South Hadley South Lancaster South Shore Charter South Shore Christian South Shore Voc-Tech Southbridge Southeastern Southfield Southwick-Tolland Springfield Cathedral Springfield Central Springfield Sci-Tech Stoneham Stoneleigh-Burnham Stoughton Strategic Learning Sturgis Sutton Swampscott Tabor Taconic Tahanto Tantasqua Taunton Tewksbury Thayer Tri-County Trinity Catholic Triton Tufts JV Turners Falls Tyngsboro University Park Upper Cape Ursuline Uxbridge Wachusett Wahconah Wakefield Waldorf Walpole Waltham Ware Wareham Waring Watertown Wayland Wellesley West Boylston West Bridgewater West Roxbury West Springfield Westborough Westfield Westfield Tech Westford Weston Westport Westwood Weymouth Whitinsville Christian Whitman-Hanson Whittier Wilbraham & Monson Williston Northampton Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Winsor Winthrop Woburn Woodward Worcester Academy Worcester North Worcester South Worcester Tech Xaverian

We will need your help in keeping these schedules/results up to date. While the schedules will update with results that are phoned in each night by coaches, we'll need help chasing down anything that isn't reported directly to us. Anyone can use the email link at the bottom of each school's team page to submit scores or a schedule change.

Scores not sent by coaches or scorekeepers will need to be confirmed by the school before appearing live on the site.

You can find quick links to many of these team schedules in the upper right-hand corner of High School Sports Central.

Again, many schedules might have small errors (duplicate games or wrong start times or mislabeled opponent) as we get this project off the ground, but with your help we'll smooth everything out.