By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

After St. John’s Prep head varsity basketball coach Sean Connolly stepped down in March, athletic director Jim O’Leary didn’t have to look far for a replacement. In a news conference at the school Monday at 4 p.m., it was announced that assistant varsity coach John Duella of Peabody would succeed Connolly.

“I’m thankful to everyone at St. John’s Prep for the opportunity to be head coach and their confidence in me to keep the program going in the right direction,” Duella said. “This is something I’ve always wanted and I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Duella said he expressed interest in the position as soon as Connolly, who led the Eagles for five years, stepped down. He found out he got the job last week in a meeting with St. John’s Prep principal Keith A. Crowley, and O’Leary, but he had to keep it a secret until the official announcement.

Duella, a physical education teacher for grades 6 to 8 in the Peabody school system, has been assistant varsity coach since 2009 and helped Connolly lead the Eagles to the Division 1 state championship in 2011. He also assisted in leading them to Catholic Conference championships in 2010, 2011, and 2013.

He has high hopes, and believes he can lead St. John's Prep to another tournament win.

“We were 18-2 last season but suffered a disappointing loss in the tournament,” Duella said. “I hope we can build off of [the loss] and go even farther this season.”

Mary Pavlu can be reached at mary.pavlu@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryPavlu.

By Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

With a team dominated by seniors, Sacred Heart softball coach Kevin Callahan didn’t expect the younger players to deliver their first win of the season against Pope John Paul II. It was two juniors that proved him wrong – pitcher Julia Pomella, with 11 strikeouts, and Gabby Fantasia, with a three-run homer in the fourth inning to lead the Saints to an 8-5 victory.

While Sacred Heart came out with the win, it didn’t look promising judging by the first three innings. The Tigers were up, 5-2, in the top of the fourth until Pomella got more comfortable on the mound and Fantasia took over at the plate.

“We were shaky in the first three innings,” Callahan said. “We were especially shaky on defense until Pomella took over the game.

“They played great and after the third inning there were no errors.”

After Pomella delivered a flawless inning, Fantasia's homer put the Saints up, 6-5.

Sacred Heart held the lead for the rest of the game. Freshman second baseman Lauren Melchionda had two hits and two RBIs and with senior Marybeth Mason also had two hits.

“We just started practicing two weeks ago,” Callahan said, “I hadn’t met them until then.”

Even with little experience coaching the Saints, Callahan thinks they’ll improve on 10-11 record from last year. He also said senior outfielders Sammy Savik, Kelsey Gailles, and Mason will provide leadership.

“I’m pretty optimistic about this year, we have a strong pitcher, catcher and lots of strong hitters,” he said. “I’m already looking forward to getting into the tournament.”

Mary Pavlu covers Boston Public School athletics. She can be reached at Mary.Pavlu@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryPavlu

A busy first Friday of football and we're spread out across eight different games.

Dorchester 36, New Mission 0 - The Bears looked good in their opener, having little trouble with New Mission which was playing its first ever varsity football game.

Latin Academy 26, South Boston 20 (OT) - LA ran out to a 20-0 lead before host Southie scored 20 straight points to send the game to overtime. The Dragons won in overtime.

Blue Hills 24 East Boston 6 - Host Blue Hills took a commanding lead. Vincent Burton had one touchdown and ran for more than 100 yards.

Hingham 33, Medway 7 - The visiting Harbormen turned a 7-0 halftime lead into a second-half route.

Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe

Brighton linebacker Torry Johnson runs through drills on the first day of football practice on Monday in Cleveland Circle.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Football is back in Boston.

And Monday's opening day of training camp marked major new beginnings at several city league programs.

Besides being the first day of practice for new coaches at Brighton High, Charlestown High and West Roxbury High, Monday was the first ever football practice for New Mission High.

New Mission secured a football program after it was announced last school year that the school would move from Mission Hill to the former Hyde Park Education Complex.

About 13 New Mission students participated in practice at Ross Field on Monday.

“This is surreal,” said New Mission coach Michael Pittman Forman, who used to coach at Cathedral High in the South End. ”I’ve been in Boston for a while and I’ve wanted to get into the city [league] and coach. It feels surreal and I’m happy for the turnout we have right now. It’s a little low but we should be getting more guys.”

Known for their formidable basketball teams, the Titans looked athletic as they ran through conditioning drills on Monday morning.

“Once we start running with helmets and shoulder pads we’ll see if they are football players,” Pittman Forman said. “I have a feeling it’s going to be great. Everything starts with baby steps and we’re taking baby steps right now. We’ll see how it goes from this point on.”

Over in West Roxbury, another new era of football started as Derek Wright was in place as head coach instead of Leo Sybertz. The 74-year-old retired after the 2007 season only to return for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Wright served as Sybertz' assistant for two seasons.

“It was a restless night, the anxiety, now it’s all on my shoulders to be the head guy,” Wright said.

The Raiders junior quarterback David Bertucci said it was strange without Sybertz at practice on Monday.

“But I’ve been with these coaches since I was a freshman and I love them all to death,” he said. “But you can’t really replace a coach Sy, it’s always tough. Coach Wright coached me since JV year so I’ve been under his tutelage. It’s always good working with a coach you’ve worked with before. It makes everything easier. I’m happy they made Coach Wright head coach, I wouldn’t want anyone else to be head coach.”

Bertucci also said it’s a little tough coming back to practice and conditioning because it means summer is over and school is about to start.

“But the football helps to remove that pit [in your stomach] and makes everything better,” said Buertucci, whose father played at Westie in the 1980s and is an assistant for the Raiders. “I’m just happy to be back. I’ve been waiting for this since the last game of the year last year against Brighton. We finished off strong and we have a good group of guys here and we’re hoping to go deep in the playoffs.”

At Brighton’s camp in Cleveland Circle on Monday, longtime Bengals’ assistant Randolph Abraham officially took over the reins from James “Timo” Philip, who retired last year after coaching the Bengals for 30 years.

Abraham played for Philip until 2000 and became his assistant coach after graduating from Nichole’s College in 2004.

“It feels awesome, this is a dream of mine, I’ve wanted to do since I was a student here,” he said. “It’s going to be a grind but I think we’ve got great coaching.”

Last week Abraham joked that he wouldn’t be surprised if Philip turned up at the first day of practice. While Philip was a no show on Monday, Abraham joked that Philip would "hate" how organized practice is.

“He likes to roll with it,” Abraham said of Philip. “Me, I’m the opposite. We’re very organized and precise as you can see. We’re getting a lot done today. It feels like we’ve been here for four hours but we’ve only been here for two. They’re working.”

During the first week of Brighton’s practice last year, Brighton's star tight end Prince Unaegbu suffered a dislocating wrist and played most of the season with a cast on his forearm.

“It feels good, I’ve been waiting all year for this," the 6-foot-6, 240-pounder said. "When I came in today it felt like I was getting ready for a game or something.”

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 Scholar Athletes program is hosting the POWERADE/AE Pre-Season Nike Sparq Football Combine on Saturday at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Dorchester (650 Dudley St.).

Running from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the combine will provide Boston public high school football players with a chance to receive a Nike SPARQ rating, which will allow them to compare themselves to other high school football players. The attendees will also participate in a series of Nike SPARQ training drills.

No more than 25 members of each BPS football team can attend the combine and all students must be academically eligible.

Each athlete will partake in four tests (40 yard dash, pro agility, vertical
jump, and kneeling power ball throw). At the completion each score will be put into
a computer system and the player will then receive a Nike SPARQ rating.

There will also be six stations (agility cones, speed hurdles, speed
ladder, parachutes, power ball, linear speed) with each station lasting between eight to
10 minutes.

An hour of position specific teaching and fundamentals will also be conducted.

For more information contact Chris Rooks at 617-517-4444 or crooks@bostonscholarathletes.org; or Brad Schoonmaker at 617-517-4526
bschoonmaker@bostonscholarathletes.org.

EVENT ITINERARY:

8:00am-9:00am: Registration (handled by BSA staff)

9:00am-12:00pm: Combine

12:00pm-1:00pm: Hydration & Lunch

1:00pm-2:00pm: Nike Sparq Training

2:00pm-2:10pm: Hydration

2:10pm-3:10pm: Position Specific

3:10pm-3:20pm: Hydration

3:20pm-4:20pm: Half Line Drills and Skelly

4:20pm-4:30pm: Hydration

4:30pm-5:00pm Wrap Up

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

Former Boston College basketball guard Chris Herren returned to campus on Wednesday afternoon to speak to students from the Boston Scholar Athlete program about his long battle with substance abuse. (Justin A. Rice / For the Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Eighteen years after he first used cocaine as a freshman guard on the Boston College basketball team in 1994, Chris Herren returned to campus on Wednesday afternoon to speak to students from the Boston Scholar Athlete program about his battle with substance abuse.

The 36-year-old, who will celebrate four years of being sober on Aug. 1, said his drug use wasn’t a reflection of Boston College and he was glad to get the opportunity to make amends.

“Coming back to Boston College on campus is special to me,” he told students from the BSA’s free three-day ‘Summer Zone’ program for Boston public school scholar athletes. “Because at 18-years-old I took advantage of a lot when I had it and I didn’t realize how special of a place it is and what an opportunity I lost by taking advantage of it.”

The former Durfee High star and one-time Celtic candidly detailed his four overdoses in one heartbreaking story after another.

“I played for the Celtics for seven months, that’s it, but it gets me out in front of you guys,” Herren said as he described his drug-filled journey through basketball leagues in Italy, Turkey, China and Germany.

A motivational speaker for athletes of all ages, Herren launched Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren, a developmental company that mentors young basketball players in 2009. He is also the co-author of "Basketball Junkie: A memoir," and the subject of the Emmy Award-nominated documentary "Unguarded.”

Herren’s career at the Heights ended after he suffered a season-ending broken wrist in his debut game. The McDonald's All-American who was featured in Sports Illustrated, Rolling Stone and a book called “Fall River Dreams,” partied hard after his injury and started using cocaine. He failed a drug test and transferred to Fresno State.

Herren excelled on the court at Fresno State despite testing positive for drugs and spending a stint in rehab. He was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in1999 but spent most of his time on the court high on the pain-relieving drug OxyContin.

He was traded to the Celtics a year later and cut seven months after that.

After jumping from team to team across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, Herren’s basketball career ended shortly after he started using heroin in 2004. That year, he was was arrested in Portsmouth, R.I. after he was found unconscious at a Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru with 18 packets containing heroin residue.

Herren finally got help in 2008 from NBA Hall of Famer Chris Mullin, who is a recovering alcoholic himself.

Herren said he put too much weight on basketball when he was a kid and he’s trying to prevent his children and scores of other kids from making the same mistake.

“My love for basketball was taken before drugs entered my life because I put too much emphasis on success in basketball,” he said. “Basketball became all of me. It was my identity. It was my ego, it was everything. … If you don’t make this fun, if you don’t keep this fun, if you don’t love this sport, you’re going to pay a price one way or another. So find that passion or walk away from it.

“I forgot to aspire to be a professional human being.”

Herren said he doesn’t look back at lost opportunities and he gets more satisfaction from preventing students from going down the road he went down than from any point he ever scored or contract he ever signed.

“If I can spare one kid in this room from going down the road that I’ve gone down than I’ve done my job, then I’ve reached my goal,” he said.

Several students approached Herren after his talk on Wednesday.

“I thought it was amazing and I was personally shocked by his experiences,” Burke senior Kirina Laryea said in an interview after the talk. “I’m proud of him that he’s doing something positive with his life. He’s spreading his experiences and trying to help young children today to do better and not fall down the same path he went through.”

One of his most poignant points was when he said seven of the 12 players on his high school basketball team became junkies.

“When we were your age we sat in house parties, we drank a little bit, we smoked a little bit, we talked about going to college, we talked about getting this scholarship, that scholarship but nobody ever talked about being a junkie,” he said. “You have to be very aware of your decisions you make at a young age because it will stay with you when you get older.”

Herren spends much of his time on the road these days, doing about 250 public speaking engagements across the country. He said every so often he will feel envious of someone drinking a beer in an airport bar.

“But for me, I would never make it home,” he said. “I think about if I drink that first beer, if I’m in Philly I’m going to end up in South Philly and my family wouldn’t see me in six days. So I play the tape. I see what’s going to happen from that decision.

“You accomplish things one day at a time, I stay sober one day at a time and that’s it,
’Today I will not get high.’ So there’s never an end point to this for me. You’re never accomplished. Every day you wake up and start over and that’s how I approach my life today.”

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 Scholar Athlete Program released graduation, eligibility and attendance rates for its varsity scholar-athletes during the 2011-2012 school year.

The nonprofit organization designed to support Boston public school athletics reported earlier this month that its varsity athletes averaged a 2.46 GPA this past school year. It also reported that 84 percent of the program’s seniors graduated this spring and 81 percent of seniors “graduated with a plan” to continue their education beyond high school.

“We’re really happy with the graduation rate, very happy, particularly compared to the BPS graduation rate,” BSA Executive Director Rebekah Splaine Salwasser said during a telephone interview last week.

In February, Boston public schools reported a record high graduation rate for all students, with 64.4 percent of students graduating within four years.

Three years ago, the BSA established learning centers for athletes at each of Boston’s 19 public high schools called Zones. Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Suffolk Construction CEO and chairman John Fish collaborated to create the BSA after The Boston Globe ran a seven-part series in 2009 on the sad state of the district's athletic program called "Failing our Athletes."

Each Zone also has its own Zone facilitator that works the scholar athletes and helps them maintain their eligibility to play sports.

The district-wide eligibility standard for athletes is a 1.67 GPA (a C-minus average) but some schools hold their athletes to higher standards. (Boston English High had a 2.5 GPA requirement for athletes last year but will revert to the 1.67 this fall).

Eligibility rates for varsity Zone members at non-exam students this past school year increased from 87 percent in the fall to 93 percent in the spring. The rate of eligibility for student athletes at exam schools (Boston Latin, Latin Academy and the John D. O’Bryant School) ranged from 95 to 99 percent over the course of the school year.

“It hit our target for this year,” BSA Academic Associate Colin Campbell said during a telephone interview. “We want to set up realistic expectations, accurate expectation; 100 percent eligibility, that’s not realistic. ... We were very happy with [the eligibility rate.]

“We want to eventually see that continue to grow but I think it’s positive.”

The BSA noted that the figures it released are only for varsity athletes because JV and freshman rosters are inconsistently submitted by coaches and schools. Splaine Salwasser said it is also hard to pinpoint those statistics because athletes are constantly moving back and forth between JV and varsity squads.

“That’s been a challenge since our existence,” she said. “A lot of that is because a lot of the schools don’t have the numbers for JV programs. … It’s one of those things where in order to get accurate data you need to have consistent access to that data.”

The BSA is also trying to find better metrics to help them track ineligible students who often stop attending the Zone or even stop coming to school.

“We don’t necessarily know who the ineligible students are,” Splaine Salwasser said. “We’re working on how to compile a list of students who are ineligible and working with coaches and working with faculty [to get eligible].”

The data also makes it look like there is a steady decrease in Zone attendance as the school year grew older.

Splaine Salwasser and Campbell said that is partially due to the fact that more sports are played in the fall compared to the winter and spring and because there are more school breaks during the winter and spring seasons.

The average GPA of varsity scholar athletes also dipped from a 2.52 and a 2.46 in the first and second marking term to a 2.35 in the third marking term. But it bounced back up to a 2.51 in the fourth and final marking term of the school year.

Splaine Salwasser attributes that strong finish to professional development sessions they hosted for their Zone facilitators.

“We have monthly professional development for our staff,” she said. “It’s a chance for them to collaborate, for them to brainstorm on everything from curriculum to energy and enthusiasm. And we had a strong focus this year on making sure we ended the year on a good note with high energy to make sure we had the energy to encourage kids to finish strong.”

She said the Zone facilitators will undergo two weeks of training in August just before the start of the new school year and continue to attend professional development throughout the year as well.

“One of our focuses next year will be to continue to put the right people around the table and continue to have a strong facilitator team of people in the Zone every day,” she said. “And to reinforce that and support it with professional development is critical to us.

“[The facilitators] are really at the heart of the success of our program. … I think we are really excited and we are continuing to grow and continuing to challenge ourselves to make sure we are constantly providing academic support to scholar athletes. We need to make sure we achieve higher than the minimum requirement.”

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 Mary Pavlu, Globe Correspondent

Former Durfee High star and one-time Celtic Chris Herren will visit the Boston Scholar Athletes’ (BSA) ‘Summer Zone’ program Wednesday at Boston College, discussing issues he faced as a student-athlete and how he overcame them as part of the free three-day event for 50 Boston Public School scholar-athletes.

The event will be held at 1 p.m. in Boston College's Gasson Hall, Room 305.

Herren is now a motivational speaker for athletes of all ages. In 2009, he launched Hoop Dreams with Chris Herren, a developmental company that mentors young basketball players. He is also the co-author of "Basketball Junkie: A memoir," and the subject of the ESPN documentary "Unguarded."

Additional highlights of the program include:

Wednesday, July 25: Boston College
• 10 am: Guest speaker Steve Donahue, BC Men’s Basketball Coach
• 11 am: Campus tour
• 2:30 pm: High School preparation for college

Thursday, July 26: Northeastern University
• 10 am: Campus tour
• 11 am: College motivation panel discussion with NU students
• 2:15 pm: Professionalism seminar

Friday, July 27: Suffolk Construction Headquarters, Roxbury
• 5:15 pm: Dinner
• 6 pm: Awards presentation by Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish

For more information on the event or the BSA, contact Sarah Blodgett at (617) 557-9190 or sarah@mcdvent.com

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Several teams in the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League started their seasons about a week late last week after league officials cracked down on a long-time residency rule that was never truly enforced before now.

The 43-year-old summer basketball league known as BNBL is — like all programs run by Boston Centers for Youth & Families — only for Boston residents because it’s funded by the city and its taxpayers.

But in past years, a player’s residency was only checked if it was challenged by another team during the course of the season. BCYF Director of Recreation, Sports and Fitness Ryan Fitzgerald said the policy was too hard to enforce once the season already started.

So this year BCYF officials required BNBL players to prove residency before the season started by showing a report card, birth certificate or another document that proved their address is in Boston — a process that delayed the start of the season for some teams.

“This is no different from what a lot of programs and leagues in the city require anyway,” Fitzgerald said. “We had many coaches and players and participants in the program voice concerns on the issue so we’ve taken steps to address it and minimize the infractions.”

While Fitzgerald said he hopes the missed games will be made up on off days, many teams and players a still irked.

“It’s very frustrating because I wanted to play basketball and I wanted to be with my team last week when we should’ve started,” Jaleel Bell of the Dorchester YMCA team said after his squad played its first game last Wednesday night at the Perkins Community Center in Dorchester.

“In Massachusetts you’re a Massachusetts player, if other people want to play its OK. We’re all playing basketball, it’s for the youth, we’re not doing anything dangerous, we’re not doing drugs; we’re playing basketball so it’s something positive.”

Dorchester YMCA coach, Andrew Angus agreed that the league should be open to everyone because it helps keeps kids off the streets.

“We also go down there and join their leagues too, it goes hand-in-hand, I think we’re Massachusetts it’s not anything else, we’re all one,” Angus said.

The former BNBL player, who won three MIAA state titles as a player with Charlestown High from 2000 to 2003, said competing against players from outside the city in the summer made him a better player during the school year.

“It kind of made the league a little better with people who come from all over to just play BNBL [from outside the city]," he said. “That’s just bringing different talent inside the city. You’re just playing everybody. So trying to keep it in the city you kind of take away a little bit but it’s what the city wants I guess.”

Fitzgerald, who played in the league himself as a youngster, said he sees both sides of the issue.

“I can certainly see that point of view,” he said. “As a young kid I was excited to play against all competition no matter where it came from. I get that. The only problem is this is a program run by the City of Boston with city resources so it becomes complicated about who we can provide services to.

“For every person that has [Bell and Angus’] opinion there is another one who feels that it should be City of Boston kids and that’s what the program was started for. I’m not saying either one is wrong but as it is currently constituted that’s what we have to do.”

Perkins Community Center coach Eric Bradshaw said the residency issue has been a problem since he started coaching BNBL 20 years ago. He said he doesn’t’ have a problem with cracking down on residency but said that that BCYF should start figuring out who can and can’t play earlier in the school year.

“Every year it’s always been the same thing,” he said. “I don’t know why it took so long to be honest with you but it’s been an issue for 20 years.”

Fitzgerald said they notified coaches and players of the new policy starting in May.

“We feel there was ample amount of time to get this information,” he said. “But I don’t begrudge anyone who had trouble and I certainly understand it takes more work to collect it. … We knew it might be a little bumpy this year. When things are new and different, especially when they were done the same way for such a long time, there are hiccups.

“But I think next year when people are prepared for it I anticipate it to be a lot more smooth.”

One of the league’s founders, Alfreda J. Harris, said she would’ve liked to see the policy shift happen years ago.

“It’s very simple, the program originated 43 years ago and it’s for Boston residence,” said Harris, who is a school committee member in Boston. “The money comes from city of Boston tax payers, it’s always been that way. It’s better to get it clear now than wait till the end of the season when teams lost to teams because they had illegitimate players.

“I think it was a good idea for Ryan [Fitzgerald] to clamp down and get the paperwork in at the beginning of the season.”

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

Dominique Litif-Nelson (right) and her mother Luanne Litif celebrated the unveiling of the new logo for the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League in May. Litif-Nelson won a contest to design the BNBL logo, which was printed on more than 3,500 Reebok shirts before BNBL play kicked off earlier this month. (Photo courtesy of BNBL)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Since it was founded 43 years ago, the Boston Neighborhood Basketball League has become an institution among school-aged children and teens. The league has been a signifier of summer in the city.

But unlike most popular sports institutions in the city, the league run by Boston Center for Youth & Families and sponsored by Reebok lacked a logo that truly represented its culture.

That's not the case anymore now that 13-year-old Dominique Litif-Nelson won a contest to design the league’s new logo, which was printed on more than 3,500 Reebok shirts before BNBL play kicked off earlier this month.

“I was astonished, I didn’t know what to say,” said the South Boston resident who is entering the eighth grade at the Perry Schoolof her reaction when she was told that she won this past spring. “I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t even believe what happened.”

For her efforts, Litif-Nelson was awarded a voucher worth roughly $400 that allowed her to go online and design two custom pairs of Reeboks, although she wasn’t able to include her new BNBL logo on the sneakers.

“My design was too intricate,” she said.

The contest was launched after last season and was the genesis of a conversation between the Boston Center for Youth & Families and Reebok.

“The league is so historic and we’re going into our 43rd year,” said Ryan Fitzgerald, the center's director of recreation, sports and fitness. “Over the years the logo has changed or been tweaked for one reason or another.

“There are just so many young people involved in it over the years we just thought it would be cool to allow our young, talented artists a chance to design the logo.”

The center started promoting the contest at schools and community centers across the city in the fall and midway through the school year collected nearly 125 entries. The center and Reebok chose 10 finalists before ultimately unveiling the winning logo in May.

“All ages were welcome as long as they were under 18 and a school-age youth,” Fitzgerald said. “We had cute ones from little elementary students in crayon, then we had more advanced candidates as well. We said all along, if a 6 or 7-year-old did something interesting and something in the spirit of BNBL, working with the Reebok designers, we would use it.”

Originally set in front of a generic skyline, Latif-Nelson’s logo was touched up my Reebok designers who incorporated the Boston skyline into it. Fitzgerald said other than the skyline, the logo is Litif-Nelson’ original design.

“She included what basketball meant to her and she included the Reebok logo which is obviously special to us,” Reebok Sports Marketing Basketball Manager Kim Federico said. “It was a great drawing.”

For the last 15 years Reebok has provided in-kind donations to the league in the form of shirts for the players and polo shirts and sneakers for the league’s volunteer coaches.

“Lots of kids wear [the shirts around], they want to show they are part of the league,” Federico said.

Lifit-Nelson, who has been drawing consistently since she was about 4-years-old, was encouraged to enter the contest by the staff at the Tynan Community Center, where she played her first season of BNBL just last summer. She's back for more this summer.

She spent about an hour working on her submissions and ended up entering six logos into the contest.

Inspired by comic book and tattoo art, Lifit-Nelson said she incorporated stars into her logo because she noticed that was a theme in past logos.

“I didn’t know [how good it was], I thought there was other people that were better than me but I wasn’t sure,” she said. “I told my friends and they were like ‘I’m playing BNBL, I’ll root for you.’ They were just like ‘Wow you drew that, I can’t believe you drew that.’ ”

Her mother said she didn’t pass any artistic talent down to her daughter.

“Neither did her father, it must be somewhere down the line, she must be related to somebody — Michelangelo,” Luanne Litif said. “She amazes me.

“She’s just a natural, she’ll just sit down and draw for hours and draw whatever is in her head.”

Both Fitzgerald and Federico said they would like to continue the program for years to come.

“I would love to see it each year and have a new design to be able to include more kids and build a tradition; like some of the NBA players, they have a new shoe each season, let’s roll out a new T-shirt design each season and build some history.

“If we put out it out in the schools we might attract someone not interest in basketball, it doesn’t necessarily have to be someone who plays in the league who can be a winner. Let’s include someone else in the community. It doesn’t have to be someone on the basketball court which is really nice.”

Lifit-Nelson, who hopes to attend Boston Arts Academy next year, said winning the contest hasmotivated her to be more focused.

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 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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The majority of the Boston City League boys' basketball coaches voted in favor of creating a third basketball division starting this winter, according to Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still.

“The votes are a majority to implement a new plan and that’s what we are going to go with," Still said during a telephone interview Thursday morning.

Currently, the 15-team boys’ basketball league is divided into North and South divisions.

Teams will be placed in one of three divisions depending on how strong the program has performed in recent years.

Still said the breakdown of the three divisions will be hashed out in the next two or three weeks along with how many times each team plays the teams in their division and outside their division.

“The setup can be changed at any given time as far as something new on the table,” he said.

It’s also unclear how teams will qualify for the city championships. In baseball, the only other City League with three divisions, the top two teams from the North division go to the cities while the top team from the other two divisions qualify as well.

Still said they could either duplicate the baseball format or implement a wild card berth for the team with the best record that doesn’t win its division.

“The logic is to try to get some of the lower level teams to have a successful season and maybe try to bring one of the lower level teams into the championship game,” Still said. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

Another option is to reshuffle the divisions every few years based on how well the teams perform, which is what is done for football, Still said.

“We’ll try to please everybody but won’t,” Still said. “We’ll come up with a formula and work on it.”

Boston English coach Barry Robinson said the creation of three divisions will make it easier for teams in the lower divisions to qualify for the state tournament since it is likely that they won’t have to play the Division 1 and 2 teams as much during the regular season.

Last season English failed to qualify for the Division 2 state tournament by a few games.

“Now we’ll have more teams with a better record that can qualify for the states,” he said recently. “We can also give a team lower the lower tiers the opportunity to win the whole thing in the cities rather than have the powers always winning based on their talent.

“But at same time, if I don’t qualify for cities at least my record will be better than in the past and I’ll get a better seeding for states and that’s ultimately the goal and where it’s at.”

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

Leo Sybertz’s trademark green mesh practice jersey and fishing cap will once again be missing from the sidelines at West Roxbury football games this fall.

The coach who retired after the 2007 season only to return for the 2010 and 2011 seasons was replaced by his assistant coach, Derek Wright, last week. The 74-year-old coach said headmaster Rudolph Weekes wanted a coach who also works in the school.

“I retired from teaching five or six years ago,” Sybertz said during a telephone interview on Wednesday afternoon. “I’m disappointed but he’s the one who makes the choices so it's entirely up to him. I have no qualms against him.”

Wright, 44, who has been a police officer at the school for the last four years, played at Dorchester High and spent two seasons at Boston College. He served as Westie's assistant the last two seasons and said he would’ve liked to have one more year under Sybertz before taking his first head coaching position.

"I’m up for the challenge to be honest with you," he said. "It came a year earlier than I thought, but I’m up for the challenge. I already started preparations for the upcoming season."

Sybertz coached West Roxbury from 1976 to 2007, won 202 games, including five Super Bowls and 13 league championships. He made 10 playoff appearances and sent two players to the NFL.

Sybertz said he never missed more than a few practices during his tenure.

“I honestly know from the bottom of my heart and from the top of my head to my toes, I know every single practice and every single game I always gave it all I had,” Sybertz said. “And that’s what I’m proudest of. You could say I’m a good coach or anything in between but that makes no difference to me.”

Brian Collins took over West Robxury’s program after Sybertz retired in 2007 but stepped down two years later because his wife had a child. That’s when Sybertz was called back to the sidelines to plug the hole.

Sybertz served one season as an assistant at Boston Latin and one season as an assistant at Sharon High before leading West Roxbury to a combined 9-11 record the last two seasons.

“I’m perfectly happy the way things are,” Sybertz said. “I have no axe to grind with anybody, that’s unhealthy to be that way. I’m fine with everything that’s going on. Life is good. I’m a lucky person. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found a coaching job between now and then. There could very well be something out there.

“I still have plenty of stuff left. I’m in good shape. I work out every day; I’m living the good 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.

Photo courtesy of John Maconga

Lou Bergholz leaps to make a save for the combined PW Global Advisors/Edgework Consulting team during last year's SCORES Cup at Gillette Stadium.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The eighth annual SCORES Cup corporate charity soccer tournament returns to Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

The 32-team tournament benefits America SCORES Boston, a non-profit organization that uses soccer to inspire literacy and health in Boston public schools.

The seven-on-seven coed tournament provides corporate soccer teams the chance to show off their skills on the Gillette Stadium turf before watching the New England Revolution play the Seattle Sounders FC.

Each team will play a minimum of three 30-minute games.

Participants also receive an Official SCORES Cup Adidas jerseys, their company logos in the game day program as well as post-tournament activities at Patriot Place.

Some of Boston's largest companies will participate in the event that is expected to raise close to $200,000 for SCORES.

For more information contact Alex Maeder at 617-553-4703 or amaeder@americascores.org. Or you can visit www.AmericaSCORESBoston.org/SCORESCup.

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 Scholar Athlete program will conduct a free six-week fitness program for Boston public school athletes beginning next month.

The BSA Summer Fit 2012 program will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays from July 9 to Aug. 15 at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center on Dudley Street in Dorchester.

"BSA Fit is open to every male and female athlete (or prospective athlete) in our schools," according to the BSA's most recent monthly newsletter. "Come and get ready for the fall season with BSA Fit!"

The six-week program will be operated by BSA fitness and training partner, Athletic Evolution.

"Athletic Evolution’s philosophies are to help athletes train the correct way, while always keeping in mind the reason for training," according to the BSA newsletter. "While mastering the skills of a sport is one element of becoming a better athlete; mastering the training techniques for that sport along with the skills will breed ultimate success in sports."

The BSA is also looking for "smart and driven scholar-athletes" to participate in its three-day Summer Zone Program, from July 25-27.

The program, which will take participants to institutions such as Boston College, is free for qualifying BSA Zone members.

"The program offers an opportunity for scholar-athletes to interact and learn together in a healthy and fun environment with emphasis on leadership skills, team building, and reinforcing athlete self-confidence," the newsletter says. "Activities include a ropes course, team activities, mental and physical challenges, in addition to career and life skills training."

Interested Zone members can apply on the BSA website.

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

East Boston lineman Leo Parnell practices with the South squad at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood for Friday's Massachusetts Shriners All-Star game. Parnell has excelled on the football field despite being legally deaf in one ear and only having 10 percent hearing in the other.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

WESTWOOD — Most of the players running through the tunnel at Gillette Stadium Friday for the Massachusetts Shriners All-Star high school football game will imagine what it would sound like to enter the stadium as a New England Patriot on an NFL Sunday.

Leo Parnell, however, can only imagine what it feels like.

“You can feel the rumble and the vibrations and you know it’s that time,” said the East Boston lineman who is legally deaf in one ear and only has 10 percent hearing in the other. “When you come out of the tunnel and things start shaking it gets your nerves going whether you can hear it or not.”

Playing without a hearing aid because his was stolen several years ago and his family can’t afford a new one, the three-year starter for the Jets on both lines racked up a mantel full of awards during his senior year.

In addition to naming Parnell one of two Boston Scholar Athlete football players of the year, the BSA also awarded Parnell its Academic Excellence award this winter. Parnell was one of nine players to earn a Courageous Player Award from the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association.

Last month, Parnell was one of 34 local players to win the National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete Award.

Parnell, who turns 20 on Friday, said the accolades serve as a reminder of all he’s endured, including scores of ear surgeries that caused him to be held back in elementary school twice. (Parnell received a waiver from the MIAA to play as a 19-year-old this past fall).

The South Boston native who lives in East Boston also says the awards stacked up in his “parlor” — what he quickly explains is his “old school Boston” way of saying living room — are a forewarning as well, “to make sure I’m always straight and narrow and I’m acting respectful to my peers, at a Shriners game and on other teams I will play on.”

This week Parnell’s Shriners teammates named him one of four captains for the South all-stars.

“From day one he’s been here every single day, he’s been working extremely hard in every single drill that we’ve been doing, he shows how to lead in each play,” Weymouth quarterback Cam McLevedge said during Tuesday afternoon’s practice at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood. “He’s 100 percent each time. After the whistle he keeps going.”

East Boston coach John Parziale said that’s often because he can’t hear the whistle.
Parnell also has a difficult time hearing the snap count, which offensive linemen are trained to listen for rather than watching the center snap the ball so they can get off the line of scrimmage faster than their defensive counterparts.

Wearing a helmet doesn’t help Parnell’s cause either.

Parziale’s predecessor, John Sousa, moved Parnell from left guard to right guard during his sophomore year because Parnell hears better in his left ear than he does in his right. Parnell also asks his quarterback to shout the snap count more clearly even though quarterbacks often bark it in a low grinding voice so linebackers don’t pick up on it.

A few months after he was switched to right guard, Parnell developed several tactics to make sure he didn’t jump off sides before the ball was snapped.

“The way I line up I have a peripheral of the ball at all times,” Parnell said. “If I don’t understand [the snap count] I just make sure I keep paying attention to the ball. I line up an inch or so off the [center’s] heel. I line up a little bit farther back so when I look forward I can see the middle to the end of [the center’s] forearm and I can always see the ball.”

Parnell had perfected those tactics so well by his senior year that he made 83 percent of his blocks on the offensive line for the Jets, who lost to Blue Hills by a field goal with 3.7 seconds left in the Division 4A semifinals.

The nose guard and defensive tackle was also the team’s leading tackler, collecting 72 tackles, including 22 for a loss and 9 sacks.

“It’s been a big year for him and it’s been good for East Boston in general,” Parziale said.

As accomplished as he is, Parnell is always overcoming obstacles.

Working with a lot of different quarterbacks this week in the Shriners game is difficult for Parnell because the quarterbacks all have different cadences at the line of scrimmage. Nevertheless, Parnell will still start for South coach John Bartlett on Friday night.

Parnell also filled in at left guard during practice this week even though he doesn’t like to play on that side of the center.

“It shows you the type of character he has,” said Bartlett, who is also the Boston College High coach and athletic director. “He doesn’t complain about it. He just goes right after it. He’s a real inspiration to his teammates.”

On top of all his football accomplishments, Parnell also graduated from East Boston High this month.

“I’m like speechless of everything he’s gotten so far,” Parnell’s mother, Margaret Parnell, said of all her son’s awards. “I’m just in shock to be honest with you. It didn’t hit me till he graduated the other day and I started crying and I realized how much he overcame.”
Six months after Parnell was born he had constant ear infections that didn’t subside no matter how many times he had new tubes put in his ears.

After years of suffering, he was eventually diagnosed with cholesteatoma in both ears. An abnormal skin cyst located in the middle ear behind the ear drum, cholesteatoma can cause dizziness, drainage from the ear and hearing loss.

Over the years Parnell has had 15 surgeries, including one to remove a benign tumor that left a large scar behind his right ear and inflamed part of his head.

“The scar was horrendous, it was really bad and he always thought he looked ugly,” Margaret Parnell said. “He also had to become a lot stronger because of that.”
Another surgery temporarily removed the bones in Parnell’s ears.

“I held onto those tiny bones for a year until they could put them back in,” Margaret Parnell said. “It was pretty cool to have his hearing bones in the cabinets.”

Parnell missed so much school that he was held back in both the first and third grades, his mother said. He was often bullied and made fun of for wearing hearing aids on both ears. His hearing loss also affected the pitch and clarity of his voice. He struggled to pronounce some words as well.

“It’s very nerve racking, people are very judgmental and often times associate hearing loss with speech impediments,” Parnell said. “They think you sound funny or illiterate or stupid.”

His mother would tell her son, “‘don’t worry, blow them off, someday you’ll be something’ … I started to tell him how big he was.”

Parnell started to play football for East Boston Pop Warner when he was 12 years old and then for the Clearance R. Edwards Middle School in Charlestown.

Today Parnell shows few signs of being hearing impaired, and amazingly, he said he never had help from a speech therapist.

Instead, he would retreat to his room with his favorite heavy metal albums, namely Godsmack, and teach himself how to talk properly.

“I would sit there and practice doing what they did vocally and singing and watched myself,” he said. “So I kind of trained myself. My family and my mother was very adamant about it too. She would tell me, ‘You have to speak up, you have to speak louder. Slow yourself down’ and I would take hints from what they did as well as practicing in my room myself.

“I got sick and tired of using the excuse that I couldn’t hear anything.”

He also learned how to read lips, something he mostly relies on now since he’s developed shadow hearing, which means he can’t hear what someone says unless he’s looking at their face.

His ability to read lips has been especially important since he’s been without a hearing aid for almost two years. Parnell and his mother said one was stolen while they were camping in New Hampshire and the replacement went missing as well.
Both cost more than $1,000, according to Parnell’s mother.

“It’s disgusting, she said. “I didn’t think there was a big racket out there for them but I guess where there’s a will [there’s a way] … I have five children and each one we pay for out of pocket. We just haven’t had the money to pay for it.”

Parnell has no problem hearing his heavy metal music, which pumps full blast from his iPod and car stereo. The running joke among his teammates and coaches is that the music caused his hearing loss.

“I don’t really care,” he said of annoying people with his loud music. “I have to deal with people when I’m on the train going to work. Everyone has their own flaws. I just try to be respectful. If there’s a crowd full of people at 6:45 in the morning I may not have it all the way up.”

Cholesteatoma is something Parnell will have to deal with for the rest of his life. He will have to continue to have doctors scrape off the cyst when it grows back every so often and he might have to have new tubes put in soon.

In the fall, Parnell will attend North Shore Community College with the hopes that his grades will improve enough so he can study biology and play college football at a four-year university in a few years. He said both Curry College and Mount Ida College are interested in him and he is also going to look into playing for Gallaudet University, a school in Washington D.C. for the deaf and hard of hearing.

“The schools I narrowed it down to wanted me for both reasons, not just one,” he said pursuing a degree in biology. “I wanted to feel like I was still an everyday student and an athlete at the same time.”

With football on his backburner for the time being, Parnell will make the most of playing his first game at Gillette Stadium on Friday. But he’s trying not to focus on what it will feel like to run out of the tunnel for the Shriners game.

“I can’t even imagine, I don’t even want to know because it’s going to make me so nervous,” he said. “I can’t even imagine how many people are going to be there and the atmosphere and I’m not going to think about it because I don’t want to psych myself out.

“I’m going to go there like a pro player and have the right attitude and focus on the game and kind of take the crowd out of it.”

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

Sophomore John Le and the rest of the Latin Academy volleyball team will be awarded the 2012 MIAA Boys Volleyball Sportsmanship Award on Wednesday during a ceremony before the state championship match at Babson College. (Pavel Dzemianok / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Latin Academy’s volleyball team will receive the 2012 MIAA Boys Volleyball Sportsmanship Award on Wednesday during a ceremony before the state championship match at Babson College.

“We were nominated the last couple years, it was good for the kids,” Latin Academy coach Phuong Cao said. “The referees over the years, they just watched the kids and they nominated us.”

The Dragons (16-5) lost in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 North state tournament bracket to Cambridge Rindge & Latin, which will play for the state championship against Milford at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cao said it’s nice to know the team they bowed out to made it to the final.

“They are good, they are good all around,” he said. “We played them three times this year and they are excellent.”

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

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

Even though the Boston City League softball all-stars don’t get to play at Fenway Park this Sunday like their baseball counterparts, they aren’t being excluded from the day’s events.

Sunday’s all-star festivities will begin at 10 a.m. at Cobe Field in the Fens with the City of Boston All-Star Softball Classic, which the baseball teams will attend as well.

Then, both the baseball and softball all-star teams will travel to Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox take on the Washington Nationals before the City of Boston All-Star Baseball Classic will be played at 5:30 p.m. under the Green Monster.

“Ideally the girls would love to play at Fenway Park too, but it’s not a softball diamond,” said Latin Academy coach Rocco Zizza, who will coach the North all-star team. “I have no complaints but the kids are thrilled about it that they are included.”

The Burke's JoAnne Lee Nieves will coach the South squad.

"A lot of the girls probably don’t get an opportunity to see the Red Sox and it’s nice that the Red Sox are showing their appreciation of the boys and the girls by giving them tickets to the game."

Lee Nieves said she was surprised to be chosen as the coach.

"I myself might have voted for someone else but I’m honored to do it," she said. "I know a lot of the girls because I've coached in the city for a number of years. It’s just nice to see the girls showcased in this type of game."

Zizza also coached the game last year when it ended in a 11-11 tie. Will he go for the win this year?

“I guess so,” Zizza said. “From the point of view of my players it gives them an experience, a little bit of exposure. For the underclassmen that play in an all-star game it does increase their maturity process and makes them a better player. And for those players graduating, it’s a good way to end their career.”

Two of Zizza’s players at Latin Academy, Rachel Wells and Rachel Kerrigan, are getting an opportunity to play on Sunday because their teammates, Sydney McGrath and Auroia O’Brien, have a tournament this weekend for their club team.

“It is fun because it is fun to go with the other kids from the other schools,” Zizza said of coaching the game. “They are excited to be included in a situation like that. My kids love it too.”

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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The second Annual Dream Big! Leadership Conference was held on Wednesday morning at Boston College's Conte Forum.

The conference provided opportunities for high school and middle school girls from economically disadvantaged communities to meet and interact with accomplished former and current female athletes.

The conference was free for the first 150 girls who signed up.

Attendees heard talks given by several former high school, collegiate, Olympic and professional female athletes who are now presidents, doctors, lawyers, financial advisers and sports agents, teachers, non-profit leaders, scientist and coaches.

Some of the women expected to speak at the conference included:

Bridget Belgiovine: Former Collegiate Lacrosse Player & Coach; Wellesley College, Director of Athletics/Chair, P.E. & Recreation

Linda Driscoll: Former High School Basketball, Softball & Field Hockey Player; Dream Big! Founder & CEO

Marsha Florio: Former Collegiate Field Hockey & Lacrosse Player, UMass Boston, Sr. Asst. to the Vice Chancellor of Athletics, Rec. & Programs

Brianna Forde: Former Collegiate Basketball Player; The Boston Foundation, Program Associate - CHAMPS Boston
Angela Hucles: Former 2 Time Olympic Gold Medalist &Professional Soccer Player; CB Richard Ellis, Client Service Assoc.

Megan Leo, M.D.: Former Collegiate Soccer Player; Attending Physician ‐ Emergency Medicine, Boston Medical Center

Dottie Lessard: Former Multi U.S. Transplant Games Gold Medalist in Track & Field; Live Life Fully, LLC, President and CEO

Monique Maye: Former Collegiate Basketball and Softball Player ; Maye & Associates, Sports Agent & Columbia College, Asst. Professor Sports Mgmt.

Tara Spann: Former High School Basketball Player & Coach; Staples, Executive Director, Diversity Initiatives

Lauren Smith M.D. & MPH : Former High School Swimmer, Volleyball and Track Athlete; MA Dept. of Public Health, Medical Director & Chief Medical Officer

Sarah Keohane Williamson: Former Collegiate Rugby Player; Wellington Management Company, Partner

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 Public Schools valedictorians pose for a photo after the annual valedictorians lunch with Mayor Thomas Menino, Superintendent Carol Johnson and the Boston School Committee. The event was held at the Boston Harbor Hotel. (Photo courtesy of Boston Public Schools)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Between advanced placement classes, homework, softball games, and softball practices, its been hard to find time lately to write the valedictorian speech she will deliver on Wednesday.

“It’s been really busy lately because my school has a different type of finals, it’s kind of like defending your thesis in college, I had to write a 10-page paper and defend it,” New Mission High valedictorian Gena White said last week.

“The next couple days I have are definitely devoted to that speech. I’m going to work hard on it.”

The four-time softball all-star is one of three valedictorians from Boston’s public schools who is also an athlete. Daniel Felix, who competed in softball and crew for South Boston High, and Dorchester High baseball and indoor track athlete Amine Elmeghni are also among Boston public schools’ 34 valedictorians of the Class of 2012.

All 34 valedictorians were honored last week during a luncheon at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

On June 11, Felix will deliver the first-ever Valedictorian speech for the Boston Green Academy. The Horace Mann charter school opened in the South Boston Educational complex in the fall of 2011.

“I think it should be no sweat for me,” Felix, who carries a 4.3 GPA and will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the fall, said of her speech. “I’m just going to talk about how hard my classes were and how hard I’ve been working over the last four years and how we all transferred from different schools.”

The Washington D.C. native moved to Mattapan before her freshman year.

“I’m really happy for myself because this is what I’ve been working hard from day one,” she said. “I didn’t picture myself the first Valedictorian, it’s kind of crazy and unbelievable. It’s unbelievable I made it this far and it’s such an honor. I will forever remember this in my lifetime.”

Elmeghni said he is also still working on his speech, which he will deliver on June 12.

The 16-year-old, who skipped first-grade, carries a 3.95 GPA and will attend Syracuse University on a full academic scholarship in the fall, said sports helped him assimilate to high school life.

“During the first year, because I was so young I was always seen as different,” he said. “Baseball was my path to adjusting to the new school environment and during baseball I met a lot of my friends that I have now, a lot of my close friends. I built a lot of relationships through sports.

“Sports has been the best part of my high school career. It’s been the best part of my high school career. I always looked forward to coming to games and sports. It motivated me to come to school every day because if you don’t come to school the day of a game you are unable to attend the game.”

All three athletes said sports has taught them how to better cope with their academic workloads.

“I think I’m better when I’m busy,” White said. “It makes sure my body is keeping up with my mind instead of me being lazy and just doing academics. I take a lot of rigorous classes. Being able to go to practice and games physically has the function of helping me.

“Even though it does require a lot of hours, in the end I feel it’s worth it because I’m not as stressed as I should be.”

But while they said being busy helps them be more productive, it doesn’t mean it’s always easy.

Elmeghni, who lives in Dorchester, said the key to balancing athletics and academics is, “Just being able to tell yourself you can do the homework when you get home. I think the big part is when I get home after a tiring game I just have to keep myself focused and determined to do the work.”

A larger workload in college was the reason White originaly decided not to play softball at Smith College in the fall. But the Jamaica Plain native, who has a 4.1 GPA, eventually changed her mind.

“At first I was afraid of not being able to deal with the workload because it’s a lot more challenging taking all of those classes at the same time,” she said, “but then I felt I didn’t want to let go of softball yet.

“I felt maybe I should challenge myself.”

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 Ryan MacInnis

Former Lowell Catholic Athletic Director, Mickey Sullivan passed away early Monday morning after a long bout with brain cancer.

Sullivan, who served as Lowell Catholic’s athletic director from 2003-2011, is responsible for the growth in the school’s athletic programs that includes the additions of ice hockey, lacrosse, wrestling and golf.

“He built this program from the ground up,” said current AD Jack Fletcher. “When I was at Chelmsford and he was at Tewksbury, he showed me how things were supposed to be done and I’ll be forever grateful for that.”

Sullivan graduated from Keith Academy, now Lowell Catholic, in 1964 and served as athletic director at Tewksbury and Holliston before coming back to his alma mater. In February of 2011, Lowell Catholic named its basketball court, “Mickey Sullivan Court” in Keith Gymnasium after the former AD.

Sullivan was a longtime member of the MIAA, IABBO 95, and was devoted to the Army National Guard organization. He is also one of the first Athletic Directors to receive the Certified Athletic Administrator designation in the state of Massachusetts and has been a member of the C.A.A. since 1992. Sullivan was also nominated as the 2012 National Interscholastic Athletic Administrator for Massachusetts.

Brighton senior Luis Nunez qualified for the All-State meet last Saturday after clearing 6-feet-2-inches at the Eastern Mass Division 1 state meet. (Photo courtesy of Gerald Howland)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Qualifying for the All-States meet during the indoor track season was a natural progression for Luis Nunez considering he practiced high jump at the Reggie Lewis Center three days a week. Qualifying for Monday’s outdoor All-States meet in high jump, however, was a much bigger feat for the Brighton senior considering he hardly ever practices high jump during the outdoor season.

“He really only gets to practice during meets at White Stadium,” said Brighton track coach Sara Voss Geiman, noting that during the outdoor season they usually practice at their school or at Madison Park’s track, which doesn’t have the high jump set up. “To get to [White Stadium] from Brighton is a trek. The fact that he does what he does with virtually no practice is a testament to what an amazing athlete he is.”

After finishing tied for third at the Eastern Mass Division 1 track meet at Durfee High School last weekend with a leap of 6-feet-2-inches, Nunez will be the No. 15 seed at the All-State meet on Saturday at Fitchburg State University.

“I’m really excited about it, I can’t wait for it to come,” Nunez said. “I really want to improve myself at get into the Top 5.”

Nunez has jumped as high as 6-4 during the indoor season and he said he probably would have a better shot at his goal of qualifying for the outdoor New England meet this weekend if he could practice more. But he also said that he doesn’t mind not being able to practice high jump in the spring because he doesn’t have to worry about over-thinking his jumps.

“For me I have the muscle memory and things like that so it comes naturally,” he said. “That’s kind of one of the things, when I think about it I kind of get nervous, I try to do all types of stuff. When I’m not really thinking about it I jump and do better than when I actually think about it.

“[But] training and everything, I would definitely be better, there’s no doubt about it.”

Nunez has a 4.1 GPA and said he wants to try to walk on to the track team at UMass Amherst in the fall. He said it's not frustrating that he can’t practice high jump in the spring because it allows him to focus on his other events, including the 100- and 200-meter dashes, the long jump and the 4x100-meter relay.

“I want to be able to do different events,” he said.

Nunez’s teammate, senior Laquasia Anderson, will also run at the All-State meet as the No. 11 seed in the 200-meter dash. Anderson was seeded No. 1 in the 200-meter in the Division 1 meet last weekend before finishing second with a time of 26.13 seconds. She also helped Brighton’s 4x100-meter relay team finish 12th with a time of 52.18 seconds.

“There is a part of me that knows she competed well but saved a little bit of herself for the 4x100 so I’m excited to see what she can do with only one race to focus on,” Voss Geiman said.

Anderson had ankle surgery last year after seriously injuring herself during a basketball game.

“I was surprised myself,” she said of how fast she recovered from surgery. “But over the summer last year I played basketball and ran a lot on the weekend and my basketball coach had me running a lot. I just kept running, pushing myself and when I came to track I pushed myself even harder and that was the outcome.”

Anderson, who will try to walk on to the track team at UMass Dartmouth in the fall, will be making her first All-States appearance this weekend.

“I just want to push myself, I’m not worried about being No. 1 and winning, I just want to push myself so I finish,” she said. “One of the things I’m going to take away from track is [my coach] helped me believe in myself because at one point I didn’t and that’s something I’m going to take with me to college and after that.”

The only other athlete from a Boston public school that will be competing in this year’s All-State meet is O’Bryant’s state champion hurler, senior Adrienne Thornton, who won the discus at the Eastern Mass Division 3 meet with a toss of 132-09. She finished third in the shot put with a toss of 38-08.5.

At All-States, Thornton will be seeded No. 1 in discus and No. 3 in shot put behind Mahar Regional’s Sabrina Silva and Wakefield’s Elizabeth Bray.

Thornton’s coach Jose Ortega said their goal is to win both.

“It’s not going to be easy but hopefully she can pull it off,” he said. “She just has to relax and allow her talent and technique to take over. She has it in her to perform well she just has to relax and let it flow and go.”

Ortega, who has won 18 outdoor city championships and 16 indoor city championships at O’Bryant, said that only sending three athletes from Boston public schools to All-States is a “typical” year. Ortega said more city athletes could qualify if more city schools were in lower divisions, where the qualifying standards for the division meets are lower as well.

“That would give us more athletes to qualify for states and a chance to move on to All-States rather than be in their respective divisions and work twice as hard to get to All-States,” he said. “If you want the programs to be more successful you should look into all the teams in Boston being put in one division and more kids would qualify and advance to All-States.”

Ortega lobbied Boston Schools’ Athletic Director Ken Still a few years ago to petition the MIAA with proposal to move the city track teams into Division 4.

“He said present your proposal and to give him data, that’s the hard part is going through and finding all the data to prove our point,” Ortega said. “Without data he cannot present it to the MIAA, which is a legitimate reason.”

Schools are put into division by the size of their student body.

“That’s the problem, our school may be a bit big, but if you look at all the kids coming out for track and field it doesn’t make sense,” Ortega said. “So what if we have 2,200 students, you only get 10 of those 2,200 who come out for track.”

Voss Geiman said she was bummed more athletes from Boston schools didn’t qualify for All-States.

“I was kind of sad because there is such a great camaraderie between the coaches in track and field and actually once we get done with the city meet all the BPS kids feel like we are on the same team,” she said. “It’s too bad there weren’t more people that could go and represent Boston.”

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

Latin Academy's boys' tennis team will host a first-round state tournament match for the second straight year 2 p.m. Sunday at the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club in Dorchester.

The No. 6 seeded Dragons (14-4), who have lost to Andover in the quarterfinals the last few years, will host No. 11 seed Haverhill (10-9) in the Division 1 North bracket.

"The only team in that league we played is the best team, Andover, and we lost 4-1 but it was a match where we were missing one of our players and one of our guys lost 7-5 in the third so it was a good match and that’s really all I have to go by," Latin Academy boys' coach Andrew Crane said.

"Haverhill is somewhere in the middle [of the Merrimack Valley league]," Crane said. "I don't know anything about them at this point other than that."

While Latin Academy's girls' team and both O'Bryant's boys' and girls' teams failed to qualify for the postseason, Boston Latin’s boys’ team will play Marblehead in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Friday at Harvard. The Latin's girls failed to qualify.

“They could make some real noise in the state tournament, they are a strong team,” Crane said of Latin.

If Latin Academy wins, they will travel to No. 3 seed Acton Boxboro (14-2) at 3:30 p.m. on Monday.

Last year, Latin Academy’s boys team defeated Methuen before losing on the road to Andover, which is on the opposite side of the bracket this year as the No. 5 seed.

“It gives everybody confidence, their comfortable in their surroundings so the whole thing is easier obviously,” Crane said of playing at home. “But you don’t make that much of it because you are playing a team you don’t know. The other thing is the seeding is all done on the basis of record, sometimes it works to the disadvantage of a really strong team that’s in a really strong league. We’ve seen that happen before.”

Jimmy Ye will play No. 1 singles for the Dragons. Ye won two matches in the individual state tournament this year before being discarded in a close match to Lexington’s No. 1 singles player.

Crane said his No. 2 singles player is likely to be junior Saiful Mahmood while his No. 1 doubles team will comprise of sophomore Gar Paul and junior Ming Lao.

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

Six Boston schools’ teams will play in the Division 3 North softball bracket, including the city champion Latin Academy squad.

Latin Academy (11-9) plays an extra tough non-league schedule as therefore is only seeded No. 19 in the tournament.

And the Dragon’s coach Rocco Zizza said they have an even tougher draw in the tournament as they are lined up to meet No. 6-seed St. Mary’s (14-6) in the quarterfinals, where Latin Academy has lost to St. Mary’s two of the last three seasons.

Zizza said the first thing he checks when the state playoff pairings are released is where they are in relation to St. Mary’s.

“We can play with anyone in our division but one team that is head and tails above anyone is St. Mary’s,” Zizza said. “They are basically a Division 1 softball team playing in the Division 3 tournament. They usually play for the state championship every year. I think it’s a matter of time before they are moved up a division. It’s really adults among children in Division 3.”

Before the can play St. Mary’s, however, Latin Academy will have to get through No. 14 Trinity Catholic at 3:15 on Thursday. If they win that preliminary game they will travel to play No. 3-seed Marian on Saturday at 4 p.m.

“The first two games we can play with anyone in our Division,” Zizza said.

No. 12-seed South Boston (11-6), also known as Excel High, will host No. 21-seed Brighton (8-8) on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. while No. 13-seed Dorchester, also known as Tech Boston, will host No. 20 NE Metro Tech at 3:15 on Thursday.

No. 17 East Boston (12-8) will travel to No. 16 Matigon at 3:15 on Thursday while No. 18 O’Bryant (10-7) will play at No. 15 North Shore Tech at 3:15 on Thursday.

In the Division 1 North bracket, No. 6-seed Boston Latin (15-5) will play the winner of No. 11 Chelmsford and No. 22 Medford at 4 p.m. on June 2.

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

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.

West Roxbury walked away with a dramatic 15-14 come-from-behind victory against South Boston on Friday afternoon to clinch a berth in Saturday's city championships. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

West Roxbury’s injury-plagued softball team clinched a berth in the city championships on Friday afternoon in the most dramatic fashion possible, a 15-14 win over South Boston.

The come-from-behind victory on the final day of the regular season gave the Raiders the tiebreaker over Dorchester for the wildcard slot in Saturday’s city championship semifinal against East Boston.

“We could win or lose by 20 points in cities, I don’t care,” junior Nadia Ellies said as she walked off Kirby Field in South Boston victorious.

After trailing 8-2 in the early innings, Westie scored eight of its own runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to take a 14-10 lead. South Boston tied the game at 14 in the sixth inning before the Raiders took the lead for good when Ellies scored from third base on a wild pitch.

Westie and Eastie will play at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Clemente Field in the Fens while Latin Academy and O'Bryant will play in the other semifinal at 11 a.m. on Cobe Field, also in the Fens.

The championship game is slated for 10 a.m. on Monday at Cobe Field.

West Roxbury has qualified for the city tournament in two of the previous three seasons but coach Grace V. Diggs said she’s never won the tournament in her 20-year tenure. She said qualifying this year is a bit more sweet than in past years because she has four injured players, including three seniors.

“We’ve had a lousy season as far as injuries but we pulled it off,” Diggs said. “I guess just the luck was on our side … It is special and it’s exciting because we don’t have our full team so that makes it special.”

Trailing 10-5 going into the fifth inning, West Roxbury batted around before it tied the game when Ellies’ twin sister, junior catcher Nakia Ellies, knocked in junior Selena Gonzalez. Nakia Ellies eventually scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball before Nadia Ellis logged an RBI single and junior pitcher Marissa Serrette hit an RBI double to make it 13-10.

After Westie scored another run in the sixth, South Boston responded with four runs to tie the game at 14. Senior infielder Yaritza Otero, senior third baseman Francois Mitchel, senior center fielder Katrina Hernandez and junior second baseman Crystalyn Mitchel all scored runs as Southie only made one out.

Then Serrette struck out the next batter. And after she allowed the go-ahead runner on base, she struck out the next batter to retire the side.

Serrette, who recorded the win by striking out eight batters, also allowed the game-tying run on base in Southie’s final at bat before closing the game on a strike out and a ground out.

“Our outfield isn’t that great because we took a lot of JV players,” said Serrette, who was 4 for 4 from the plate with a double and 2 RBIs. “My focus was getting it over the plate and getting it to the twins’ gloves. I was trying to keep it out of the outfield as much as possible because they are still learning how to catch.”

Nakia Ellies,the team's vocal leader from her perch behind the plate and on the bench, said playing from behind doesn’t faze her team.

“I always play like we’re coming back so yes you can never know what’s going to happen,” she said when asked if she was nervous about South Boston’s comeback.

The twins are not just glad to be going to city tournament, but they are glad to be going together.

“It’s been long season, it’s been a hard season so even getting to cities is an accomplishment for us,” Nadia Ellies said. “This is the second year I’m playing with [my twin sister] so it feels good to be there.”

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

Three-quarters of the Boston City League softball championships are set.

O’Bryant will play Latin Academy at Cobe Field at 11 a.m. in the Fens Saturday morning. East Boston will play a team to be determined by Friday afternoon’s contests at 11 a.m. on Saturday at Clemente Field, also in the Fens.

If West Roxbury defeats South Boston on Friday afternoon they will play East Boston on Saturday. If West Roxbury loses, Dorchester would slide into the city championships and play Eastie in Saturday's semifinal.

“I was in this position last year where I didn’t know who I was playing till I got off the bus and saw Boston International warming up,” Easton Boston coach Thomas Elliott said Friday morning. “You’d like to know who you’d be playing because you go back through and you have your own scouting reports.

“At this point in time it doesn’t really matter, you still have to catch the ball, throw the ball and score runs. Personally it doesn’t faze me.”

But Elliott said his players have been asking him who they will be playing.

“I tell them the same thing, we have to line up, each team has nine girls and you still have to play,” he said. “Hopefully they settle in and are at peace with that explanation but I think they’d like to know who they are playing.”

One thing is for sure, if East Boston beats their mystery opponent on Saturday, they will most likely face defending city champion, Latin Academy, in Monday morning's championship tilt.

Latin Academy hasn’t lost a City League game in five years.

“They are the best, they are the class of the league and rightfully so,” Elliott said. “They have a great group of kids and [coach] Rocco [Zizza] does a good job getting them prepared. If you want to win the city champ it has to go through Latin Academy because they are the class of the league.”

But Zizza, who mostly plays a non-league schedule, says his team is coming off a 13-0 loss to Boston Latin and they have not played O’Bryant yet this season.

“The difficult part is city softball is a lot different than softball outside the city,” he said. “Most of all because of the pitching outside the city, the quality of pitching, is usually a little more quicker. The big thing is seeing a pitcher. That’s the key thing, you’re used to a certain type of pitching, then you get to a situation where the pitching is not the same as you normally see it and that really hurts us.”

Zizza’s team had its best post-season showing of his tenure last spring, making it to the Division 3 North quarterfinals. He’s looking to improve upon that effort this season despite having a young squad.

“This year we are very talented,” he said. “We are very young right now, we only have one active senior and we start five sophomores and two freshmen every game so we’ve taken our lumps outside the city but hopefully that will battle test us for the city championships and also the state tournament.”

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

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.

Photo courtesy of Brian Babineau

Boston Public Schools superintendent Carol Johnson addressed the students at the annual Stay in School Assembly at Northeastern’s Matthews Arena on Thursday morning.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The Boston Celtics honored 600 local students for having perfect attendance throughout the 2011-12 middle school year on Thursday morning during the annual Stay in School Assembly at Northeastern’s Matthews Arena.

Thirteen students were cited for not missing a day of school during their three-year middle school careers. More than 700 students received recognition for their outstanding writing and their participation in an art contest while 35 students were honored as M.I.P’s (most improved pupil).

“The Stay in School program continues to be a great way for the Celtics to recognize the hard work and achievement of these outstanding students, as well as the teachers and administrators who help them to reach their goals.” Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement.

“They have bright futures ahead of them, and I am proud to be here on behalf of the Boston Celtics to honor them for their efforts towards academic excellence.”

The ceremony was the culmination of a yearlong effort focusing on the acronym P.R.I.D.E. (Perseverance; Respect; Integrity; Decisions; Education), which encourages all students to take pride in their classroom work.

The assembly also featured executive director of sports and society at Northeastern Dan Lebowitz, and Northeastern professor and former Celtics guard Dana Barros.

The Celtics's mascot, Lucky, also performed a dunk show. There were musical performances and a mutli-media presentations.

“Coach” Willie Maye served as Master of Ceremonies.

The Boston Celtics Stay in School program has been in the Boston public middle schools for 21 years, hosting assemblies throughout the academic year. Celtics players also visit schools to help motivate students to work hard and stay in school.

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

Barry Chin / Globe Staff

Andy Pierre, who immigrated to Dorchester five months before a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked his native Haiti, will compete in the MIAA Division 4 track meet for the fist time on Saturday.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Shortly after moving to Dorchester from Haiti in 2009, Andy Pierre was summoned by an administrator at his new high school, the Community Academy of Science and Health. Pierre didn’t realize that the administrator, Joel Connor, was also the track and field coach at the Dorchester school known as CASH.

“I didn’t even know track when I was in Haiti,” Pierre recalled, “the first time [Connor] called me he was like ‘Andy I need you after school.’ I was like ‘Why, did I do something?’”

Connor thought the 6-foot-2-inch, 150-pounder had potential on the track, even though his only athletic experience was in soccer.

“He looked like a marathon runner," Connor said. "He had the body of a marathon runner; quite frankly he could run for days.”

The 18-year-old — who is listed as a junior but will likely graduate this spring — will compete in the Division 4 Outdoor Track & Field Championship for the first time on Saturday at North Reading High. Pierre finished fourth in the 600 meters in the Division 4 indoor meet this winter before finishing 13th at All-States.

He will be the No. 9 seed in the 400-meter run Saturday with a qualifying time of 52.40 seconds.

“I’m so excited, I can’t wait,” Pierre recalled after winning the 400-meter run in the Boston City Track & Field Championships on May 15 with a time of 52.70. He also won the city title in high jump with a leap of 5 feet 8 inches.

“The first time I went to states I was so scared.”

Pierre’s transition to the track was nothing compared to his transition to the United States.

When Pierre was 6, his mother, Herodia Auguste, moved from Haiti to Boston in search of work. Eight-years later, she finally earned enough money at her job in the food services department at Boston College to send for her 10 children to join her in the states.

“That was a dream,” Pierre said of being reunited with his mother. “I didn’t even recognize her when I got here. We started again; lots of things changed about her.

“She always put in my head that everything is going to be OK.”

Their reunion was five months before a 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010.

Pierre said he lost several family members and friends.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I could be one of them. I always thank God for that.”

Adding to his distress was the fact that Pierre and his older brother, Clifford, spoke little to no English when they first enrolled in school at CASH in September 2009. Clifford also ran indoor track for Connor that first winter and served as his brother’s security blanket during the 2-mile and mile races.

“They didn’t speak a lot of English, so they would run with each other,” Connor said. “His brother wasn’t that good but [Pierre] would always run in races with his brother. I tried to convince him ‘Leave your brother,’ but they would come across the finish line together. I would have to tell him ‘Leave him, you’re better.’”

One day Clifford couldn’t attend a meet because he had a job interview at Boston College.

“So Andy had to run by himself,” Connor said. “He basically took two to three minutes off his time. I told him ‘See how fast you’re running, see what your potential is.’ That was the turning point of his getting it into his head that he could be better.”

Pierre’s progression skyrocketed quickly, but he always played second fiddle in the distance races to Latin Academy’s Robert “Sonny” Finch, who has won the mile at the city championships three straight years.

Impressed by Pierre’s split times of 49 and 50 seconds during his mile runs, Connor decided to switch Pierre to middle distance races before this indoor season.

“Sonny was in his head that he couldn’t beat him,” Connor said. “I said ‘Let me switch him, I knew he’s been working on speed. Sonny won. It was, let him have [the mile], let’s try something new.”

Pierre didn’t protest.

“We felt like I can run faster in shorter races,” Pierre said. “I was like 'All right, whatever you see.' I was willing to do it so I think he was right to say that. … I felt comfortable the first time. I feel comfortable with it.”

And Finch, who had befriended Pierre, didn’t mind that Pierre wouldn’t be around to push him in the mile anymore.

“He was always chasing me, then one day he came to me and said I can’t beat you, he always beat me in the 800 though,” Finch said. “I’m sure he likes being in first a little bit better. Plus we’re buddies. We always congratulate each other. … It was kind of comical to see us in the same race. It was a race of opposites. We run the same speed but look completely different. He’s tall and got that Mohawk and I’m so much shorter than him.”

Considering everything Pierre’s been through, Connor said he’s most proud of how Pierre has handled himself in school. In fact, Connor said that Pierre, who is almost 19, will graduate this year even though it’s his third year of high school at CASH.

Connor said like many Haitian immigrants, Pierre didn’t have paperwork when he arrived at the school so they placed him in freshman classes. Once they received paperwork that proved he completed his freshman year in Haiti, Pierre was put on a track to graduate this year, Connor said.

Pierre was able to catch up on credits through CASH’s dual-enrollment program with Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology as well as the district’s credit recovery program. Connor said Pierre will graduate this spring if he passes the US history and English courses he’s taking through the credit recovery program.

Connor also said the likes of Connecticut College and Roxbury Community College are interested in having Pierre run for them. Connor said the problem is that those schools think he's a junior, so they are working on finding a college where he could walk on to the track team in the fall.

"Maybe not a scholarship but [ a school that would allow him to] walk on saying 'this kid has potential,'" Connor said. “His potential really hasn’t been tapped at all. We practice in the school. We don’t have time to go to White Stadium or the Reggie Lewis Center in the winter so all his practices are in the hallways and he doesn’t have competition to run against.

Track also played a huge role in Pierre’s assimilation to the school and this country, Connor said.

“He’s like a superstar in school and everyone here knows who he is,” Connor said. “That forced him to acclimate to the culture.”

Pierre said he feels fully assimilated and doesn’t miss Haiti at all.

“I feel comfortable here,” he said. “I have things I didn’t have there. Track is one thing I didn’t have when I was in Haiti.”

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 Latin Academy boys’ volleyball team opens postseason play on Thursday afternoon against Greater Lowell Tech at home.

If the No. 5-seeded Dragons (15-4) beat No. 12 seed Greater Lowell Tech (10-10), they will advance in the Division 1 North bracket to play the winner of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin-Lowell Catholic match. Latin Academy lost to No.4 seed Rindge and Latin in the final game of the regular season.

“We’re playing OK, we lost on Monday against Cambridge Rindge and Latin, which is a Top 10 team in the state,” Latin Academy coach Phuong Cao said. “That was a good measure of our team, hopefully they are ready [Thursday.]

“[Rindge and Latin] was our first loss in a while against a very, very good team. We did a lot of good things on that day. I promise you they won’t carry that loss to the next game. Hopefully that won’t have any effect on [Thursday’s] game.”

The Dragons have never advanced past the sectional quarterfinals, Cao said.

“Hopefully we can go a little deeper this year,” he said. “Hopefully we can get past the second round this year.”

Cao said he’s glad his team is opening the tournament at home.

“It helps a lot, at least we start out at home and we don’t have to travel,” he said. “That will help us a lot before we get to the next level, the next round. We don’t have to travel to an unfamiliar place.”

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

Washington Irving basketball coach, Len Brown, addressed about 40 of his former players at the 27th annual Washington Irving Middle School basketball reunion on Tuesday.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

About 40 former players attended the 27th annual Washington Irving Middle School basketball reunion on Tuesday at the Roslindale school.

The theme of the reunion, which is organized by the Warriors for Peace basketball alumni organization, was Support our Troops.

Brown was honored himself during the Boston Middle School League championship games last month.

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 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

When the MIAA seeds for the divisional track meets were released this morning, Brighton High track coach Sara Voss Geiman was surprised to see senior Laquasia Anderson seeded No. 1 in the girls’ 200-meter dash at this weekend's Eastern Mass Division 1 track meet at Durfee High School in Fall River.

“I was hoping she would be in the top three or five at least,” Voss Geiman said during a telephone interview on Wednesday afternoon. “Her being the top seed, I didn’t know it would happen. It was really exciting.”

The feat was all the more remarkable considering Anderson had ankle surgery last year after seriously injuring herself during a basketball game.

“It was a huge change from her junior year now that she’s completely healed and healthy,” Voss Geiman said.

Anderson, who has a qualifying time of 26.4 seconds in the 200, will also run on Brighton’s 24th-seeded 4x100-meter relay team along with senior Tanasha Ward, junior Albertine Samson and junior Esther Nkwah. Samson is also the No. 32-seed in the 100-meter dash with a qualifying time of 13.54 seconds.

Samson and Nkwah attend Boston Community Leadership Academy, which is moving from Brighton to the old Hyde Park High complex next year.

“This is also an exciting year because it’s the last year I’ll be with Albertine and Esther,” Voss Geiman said.

Voss Geiman also said this is the biggest team she’s ever brought to the state meet since she started coaching at Brighton three years ago.

Brighton’s boys’ 4x100-meter relay team [junior Christopher Desanero, senior Luis Nunez, senior Michael Moore, junior Seth Philistin] is seeded 24th with a time of 45.84. Nunez is also seeded 30th in the high jump with qualifying leap of 6-feet.

Voss Geiman also noted that Anderson was pushed all season long in the 200-meter dash by South Boston's Daitannah Smith, who is seeded No. 8 in 200-meter dash in the Division 2 meet at Whitman Hanson Regional High. Smith beat Anderson in the city championships with a time of 26.20 seconds.

Also at the Division 2 meet, Latin Academy eighth grader Ashley Lewis is the No. 20 seed in the 400-meter run. Latin Academy senior Barbara Okafor is the No. 23 in the 100-meter dash.

On the boys' side of the Division 2 meet, Latin Academy sophomore Malik Anderson will be the No. 18 seed in the 100-meter dash and his teammate, Sekou Stuppard, will be seeded No. 24 in the 400-meter run. South Boston senior William Arrington is No. 23 in the 200-meter dash.

Jumping to the Eastern Mass Division 3 meet at Pembroke High, it’s no surprise that O’Bryant’s state champion hurler, Adrienne Thornton, is seeded No. 1 in the discus with a qualifying toss of 120 feet and 9 inches. She is the No. 2 seed in the shot put (34-07) behind senior Elizabeth Bray of Wakefield (42-02).

Thornton’s teammate, Kiana Daley, is seeded No. 3 in the discus with a toss of 112-01 while O’Bryant junior Duncan Malone will be the No. 27 seed in the discus on the boys’ side of the Division 3 meet.

Jamila Jones, who edged out Thornton by half an inch to take the city championship shot put title this year, will be the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Mass Division 4 meet at North Reading High. North Reading sophomore, Emily Murray, is the No. 1 seed in the shot put with a qualifying toss of 36-09.

New Mission senior Akkiea Dickerson is seeded sixth in the 200-meter dash at the Division 4 meet with a qualifying time of 26.6. She is No. 23 in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.3.

In the Boys’ Division 4 meet, CASH junior Andy Pierre is the No. 9 seed in the 400-meter run with a qualifying time of 52.40.

Boston Latin School has a slew of athletes in the Division 1 meet as well, including senior Wilhelmina Moen, the No. 8 seed in the 200-meter dash with a qualifying time of 26.74. Her teammate, freshman Kenedy Barnwell, is seeded No. 17 with a time of 27.06. Barnwell is also No. 19 in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.34 while Denise Yoon is No. 34 with a time of 13.54.

In the 800-meter run senior Ava Violich is seeded No. 29 with a time of 2:28.09 and in the 2-mile run seventh grader Sarah Kiame is No. 26 with a time of 12:07.89 while freshman Alannah O’Brien is No. 28 with a time of 12:08.87.

Boston Latin’s No. 9-seeded 4x100-meter relay team (Moen, Barnwell, senior Maggie Hughes, eight grader Andrea Hatzis and Yoon) has a seed time of 51.53.

In the triple jump, junior Fenintola Abioye is the No. 21 seed with a leap of 33-08.

On the boys’ side, Boston Latin junior Mike Ward is the No. 21-seed in the mile run with a seed time of 4:33.05. He is also the No. 26 seed in the 800-meters with a time of 2:01.54.

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

Latin Academy earned the No. 5 seed in the North and will host 12th-seeded Greater Lowell Thursday at 6 p.m. when the MIAA volleyball tournament opens play. Tournament pairings were announced Tuesday.

The Dragons finished the season 15-4 and were seeded behind No. 1 Haverhill (18-0), No. 2 Lawrence (17-3), No. 3 St. John's Prep (17-3) and No. 4 Cambridge (16-3).

Greater Lowell, from the Commonwealth Conference, finished the spring 10-10. Should LA advance to the quarterfinals it would play the winner of the Cambridge vs. Lowell Catholic first round match next Tuesday.

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 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.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The 27th annual Washington Irving Middle School basketball reunion will be Tuesday from 2:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Roslindale school.

The theme of the reunion, which is organized by the Warriors for Peace basketball alumni organization, is “Support our Troops”

“First of all, this month is Military Month and just the idea of honoring them,” Washington Irving basketball coach Leonard Brown said when asked why this year’s theme was chosen.
“They should know even a school with young kids and alumni, we’re trying to do something that’s bigger than ourselves. We really appreciate what they do for us to make our country safe and they are putting themselves in harm’s way.

“I feel this is a small thing we can do, a grass roots thing, not with celebrities or big time people.”

Brown was honored himself during the Boston Middle School League championship games last month.

Last year’s reunion theme was “Fallen Heroes” in honor of two of Brown’s former players who were killed in the Mattapan Massacre. The September 2010 quadruple killing that took the life of a 2-year-old boy was what propelled Brown to formalize his reunion program and call it Warriors for Peace.

“I’ve lost eight guys due to violence and even one of our teachers on our staff,” Brown said. “Warriors for Peace, that’s when I started the title for what we actually do. Last year, because of all the violence going on in the city, it really hit us hard … I made up this big banner with the [victims] names on it and had T-shirts and had some family up here and dedicated a whole day and event to the fallen heroes.”

This year’s event will feature former and current players dating back to 1984. The program’s Hall of Fame museum will be on display from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. before the colors are presented by the Northeastern Color Guard. There will be a short speaking program and an award ceremony before an alumni basketball game.

Brown said they will also collected donated DVDs send to troops stationed abroad.
City Councilor Rob Consalvo is also expected to attend the event, along with Washington Irving Principal Arthur Unobskey and Assistant Principal Tim McLaughlin, who himself is a veteran.

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.

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.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

East Boston Principal Mike Rubin — who also sits on the MIAA Board of Directors — said on Thursday morning that he plans to pick the brains of the Boston City League football coaches before voting on the latest state-wide football playoff proposal on June 7.

Rubin said on Thursday he would try to schedule a meeting with the coaches ahead of the June 7 meeting, at which board could vote on the proposal. Earlier this month the MIAA’s Tournament Management Committee voted in favor of the proposed playoff.

“I’m trying to get a pulse from the city coaches to see how they feel about it so I asked my coach and I called [Boston schools Athletic Director] Ken Still today to set up a meeting with city coaches," Rubin said. "I want to get their feelings about the new proposal. I want to know how they feel.

"I want to know not just how I feel about it because I’m not the one coaching. ... It’s a busy time of year because of proms, award banquets, graduations and those things in the next couple weeks but I want to have a meeting to be prepared in the best possible light on June 7."

On Friday afternoon, however, Still said a meeting wasn't feasible. He said his department was reaching out to all the football coaches via telephone and e-mail to find out how they feel about the proposal.

"He wants to hear back from [the coaches] on their specific like and dislikes," Still said of Rubin.

Still said he spoke to two or three coaches who don't like the proposal. Still said most coaches in the city are content with the city's current post-season bids. He also said his department doesn't have the money in its budget for travel to more post-season games.

Rubin said he was impressed by a recent presentation on the proposed playoff format to the MIAA but he also said he has the feeling that the city coaches will be against the plan just like they were when a playoff proposal was shot down by the MIAA board of directors in 2010.

Rubin, who sat down with all the the city football coaches before the 2010 proposal was defeated, said he also has an idea how how the coaches feel about the proposal.

“I’ve gotten that feeling but I haven’t talked to them yet,” he said. “The only one I’ve talked to is my coach [John Parziale]. I want to get a collective feeling on how they are all feeling before I go out and say anything.”

On June 7 the 18-member board could either vote to support the proposal, vote to defeat it or push it to a vote of the annual meeting in March 2013. The board can also ask the Tournament Management Committee to come back with more information at the June 18 board meeting.

The board could also vote to approve the two-year pilot proposal but delay the implementation until 2014.

Rubin said his only concern with the proposal is that high school leaders have a chance to see it before it’s implemented.

“I just felt that enough people hadn’t heard the proposal,” he said. “My only concern is making sure all the headmasters and principals get information on the proposal. The MIAA today sent out the proposal to all high school leaders. I just want to make sure everyone has seen the proposal and make sure we’re not pushing anything through without everyone seeing it.”

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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

For the first time in 18 years a girls’ track team other than O’Bryant won the Boston City League Track Championships. What’s even more remarkable about Latin Academy overthrowing the Tigers Tuesday at White Stadium is that they did it with major contributions from five middle school students.

Latin Academy coach Brian Leussler said he's never had so many middle schoolers perform so well in his 10 years coaching the school, which consists of students from sixth-through-12th grades.

“This is really phenomenal," he said after the Dragons scored 126 points compared to O'Bryant's 107. "There’s so many underclassmen that contributed so much.”

During the opening day Monday, eighth-grader Imani Pressley won the 100-meter dash in 13.10 seconds and seventh grader Catherine Van Even finished second in the 2-mile in 14:13.7.

On Tuesday, eighth grader Ashley Lewis won the 400 meters in 1:01.8 while her classmate, Leigha Mills, finished fourth in the 400 meters in 1:06.4. Finally, eighth grader Britney Firmin won the 800 meters in 2:31.8.

Pressley, Lewis, Mills, and Firmin also teamed up to win the 4x400-meter relay in 4:36.3. An all senior Latin Academy quartet (Barbara Okafor, Samanda Jean, Roxlind James, and Monique Cox) won the 4x100-meter relay in 54.5 seconds to sweep the relays for the Dragons Tuesday.

Cox also won the 400-meter hurdles (1:13) while James won the high jump (4-06).

“We’re lucky because we have a lot of upperclassmen who inspire and lead the underclassmen,” Leussler said.

Lewis said it also helps to have other middle schoolers on the team.

“We’re always there to support each other,” she said. “When we doubt ourselves before a race we always encourage each other and say we can do things even though we’re running against people a lot bigger than us.”

Pressley, who missed the qualifying mark for the state meet by .1 seconds, added, “This is my first year running track, so they help me out a lot.”

While Firmin missed the qualifying mark for the state meet by one second despite shattering her own personal record by 10 seconds, Lewis qualified for the state meet in the 400 for the second straight year.

“At states, I’m the only person of 130 people who is not in high school,” she said. “My goal is to try my best because I can’t do better than my best. I’ll try to do better the next year compared to the other years.”

Leussler wasn’t disappointed that Pressley and Firmin missed states so narrowly.

“They will have plenty of time to go to states,” he said. “They are only eighth graders.”

Mills agreed.

“If we can do this well in the eighth grade,” she said, “and keep working and training, we can do so much better in the future.”

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

When O’Bryant track & field coach Jose Ortega first asked Emily Prado to run the 2-mile three years ago, the long-distance assignment brought her to tears.

“When he told me to run the 2-mile I cried,” the junior recalled during the first day of the Boston City League Track & Field Championships on Monday at White Stadium. “I went into the bathroom, I didn’t tell my teammates, I didn’t tell my coaches, and I started to cry.

“But when I did it, I thought this is something I’m finally good at. I told myself, ‘stick with it, something good might happen.’ I never pictured myself running it for three years.”

Prado not only stuck with it, she has won the event at both the outdoor and indoor city championships for three straight years.

On Monday she did so by setting her personal record, 14 minutes 10.50 seconds — about 40 seconds faster than her previous PR.

O’Bryant, which is going for its 19th straight city title in outdoor girls’ track, was also in first place in the team standings (76 points) after Monday's opening day events. Adrienne Thornton won the girls’ discus for O’Bryant with a toss of 120 feet, 9 inches while her teammate, Kiana Daley, finished second after recording a personal record (112-01).

Thornton, a state champion thrower finished, second in the shot put (33-00.50) behind New Mission/Boston English’s Jamila Jones (33-01). Thornton also finished second behind Latin Academy’s Monique Cox (1:13) in the 400-meter hurdles by .60 seconds.

Her throwing coach, Ted Loska, said she threw well considering she hurt her ankle on a hurdle and the throwing circle was soaked by rain in the middle of the meet.

Latin Academy was second in the girls’ team standings (58.50 points) after Imani Pressley won the 100-meter dash (13.10) and Roxlind James won the high jump (4-06).

The remainder of the running events are slated for Tuesday at 3 p.m.

“It’s slipping away from us,” Ortega said of winning his 20th straight girls’ city championship. “It’s not looking good … This is just the field events. The running events is a whole different system. It’s not going to hold up. The meet is not over. It’s not even half over.”

But while Ortega wasn’t so confident about Tuesday’s running events, he said he’s never seen anyone dominate the girls’ 2-mile in the city like Prado has the last three years.

“I don’t think anyone has won it consistently, back-to-back-to-back,” Ortega said. “That’s an unusual event. No one wants to run it. That’s a long race. It takes someone who is mentally fit to run that race.”

Ortega said it’s one of the hardest events to consistently win.

“You just don’t know,” he said. “Anyone can win it.”

That was evident on Monday when Boston Latin Academy seventh-grader Catherine Van Even finished second in only her third time ever running the event.

“I saw everyone ahead of me was picking up the pace,” she said after clocking a time of 14:13.70. “Everyone was going faster so I decided to pick up the pace.”

Prado wasn’t nearly as good as Van Even when she was in middle school. Prado attended middle school at the Hernandez School so she couldn’t compete in high school track before she got to O’Bryant in the ninth grade.

“In seventh grade I got last place all the time, I was terrible,” Prado said of middle school track, which doesn’t include a race longer than 800-meters.

Prado’s middle school coach, Michael Baugh, however, saw potential in her.

“He said ‘She’s more of a distance runner,’” Ortega said of Baugh, who currently coaches Dorchester High. “He said, ‘the more she runs the better she gets.’ I said I’ll take your word for it.”

Even after she settling into the 2-mile, Prado has had some ups and downs. She said she wasn’t feeling motivated during her last two races going into cities and did not perform well.

“The last two races I didn’t really believe in myself,” she said. “But I had support from my team and my cross country coach and my track coach. It was awesome. It’s like I don’t push myself until the cities. That’s where it all goes down and my adrenaline level kicks in.

“I just told myself I want this."

And now she wants the four-peat.

“I think so,” she said. “I hope so.”

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 was paced by Yao Tan’s victory in the 2-mile (11:20.6) during the first day of the Boston Public Schools Track & Field Championships. (Billy Owens / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

After the first day of the Boston Public Schools Track & Field Championships on Monday afternoon at White Stadium, the O’Bryant boys’ track team is in line to win its first outdoor track & field city title in two years.

The Tigers (49 points) lead Latin Academy by six points.

O’Bryant junior Duncan Malone qualified for states in the discus after winning the event with his throw of 120 feet, 9 inches, a personal record.

“I’m happy,” Malone said. “It was weird because it [could have been] my last thrown of my whole entire season. It was my last thrown and I pulled it off.”

Malone also finished second in the triple jump (37-10) behind South Boston’s William Arrington (39-05.50). O’Bryant freshman Brian Donna won the 400 meter hurdles in 1 minute 2.90 seconds while his teammate, Michael Allen, took the city title in the javelin with a toss of 137-09.

Latin Academy was paced by Yao Tan’s victory in the 2-mile (11:20.6).

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

Former Boston English High and University of Arkansas middle distance runner, Said Ahmed, started Boston United Track and Cross Country last summer. The organization offers Saturday track clinics at the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex from November to May and at Madison Park High School during the summer months.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Some of the best and most disciplined athletes in the city will descend upon White Stadium Monday and Tuesday for the Boston City League /Track & Field Championships.

One common denominator between all of the athletes competing is that each team is led by one full-time coach, along with the help of volunteers.

That’s why former Boston English High and University of Arkansas middle distance runner, Said Ahmed, started Boston United Track and Cross Country last summer. The organization offers Saturday track clinics from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Melnea A. Cass Recreation Complex (120 Martin Luther King Blvd.) from November to May and at Madison Park High School during the summer months.

Ahmed, 29, said while suburban teams often have a head coach for boys’ and girls’ track along with coaches to teach sprint, distance and jumping events, Boston schools only have one fulltime coach for both boys’ and girls’ track.

Ahmed's clinics teach basic fundamentals of running that the city's track coaches don’t always have time to address during practice.

“When you have 20 or 25 kids how are you going to teach every kid what they need to know?” the former Charlestown High track coach, said. “The reason we created this is so the kids, during their own free time, can come here during the weekends. This clinic is for them to pick up little details that they are missing and a lot of things that will prevent them from getting injured.”

O’Bryant track coach, Jose Ortega, who has won 18 outdoor city championships and 16 indoor city championships, said he has two volunteer coaches that come to practice and meets when they can. He said he tries to get his athletes to attend the clinics as much as possible.

“That’s another outlet for coaches who can’t get volunteers, who can’t do it all, that’s a great outlet for kids to go on the weekend and get extra help,” Ortega said. “It’s just like tutoring. They are getting tutored on the techniques so they can better perform.

“I’m always sending my kids there. The problem is do they go? A lot of them do live in certain parts of the city that they can’t get to it. I always encourage the kids to go there.”

After graduating from English High in 2001, Ahmed attended Arkansas on a track scholarship and graduated in 2005 with a double degree in sociology and criminal justice. Ahmed, who competed in the mile, 800- and 1,500-meters, also ran professionally for Nike until 2009. He has since worn several hats at Charlestown High, including dean of discipline, community field coordinator and track and field coach.

Currently a community field coordinator at the Jeremiah E. Burke School, Ahmed gave up coaching track at Charlestown High two years ago because he realized he didn’t have time to teach all his athletes properly. Last summer he started the Boston United program.

The clinics are for all ages and usually feature five local track coaches, including Boston schools throwing coach Ted Loska and Emmanuel College coach Tony DaRocha.

One of Ahmed’s former Charlestown athletes, sophomore Ahmed Ibrahim, has used the clinics to improve his skills.

“It gives us the basics of running,” he said. “You practice your form, you practice drills, those little things you do in a race you can do on Saturdays and during the week you can do the actual running. Some guys hurt themselves during the week so it’s really good to come on Saturdays to practice your form and get yourself straight.

“You need extra focus on [the fundamentals.] Coach can give you some advice during the week but he’s not going to be able to go over the whole thing. So we devote one whole day practicing the aspects of running.”

But Ibrahim said he also likes the intimate nature of only having one coach during the week that he can get to know well. Former O’Bryant and UMass-Lowell cross country runner, Ruben Sanca, agreed. He said only having one coach in high school taught him how to learn on his own.

“It made me a little bit more independent,” said Sanca, who graduated from O’Bryant in 2005 and now works at UMass-Lowell. “When you got to college that’s what happens, you have 90 other people on your team and you have to become a little bit independent to learn from yourself and move on.”

In town for last month’s Boston Marathon, elite runner Desiree Davila, said it would be tough to run in a program that only had one fulltime coach.

“Even for one coach to get a number of kids out and organize a run for them is hard because it’s a lot of numbers,” said Davila, who sat out this year’s Boston Marathon to focus on the London Olympics this summer. “So to be able to put in all that extra work I’m sure it’s a huge task.”

Davila, who was second in last year’s Boston Marathon women’s race after running the fastest American women’s time ever, helped run John Hancock’s second annual Scholars and Stars-World Class Athletes Inspiring Teen Achievers during last month’s Boston Marathon. The clinic gave 150 students from Boston the opportunity to participate in four interactive stations facilitated by the elite athletes at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

“Sometimes it’s not the main thing, it’s not going to school and showing up,” Davila said. “It’s studying, it’s going home and reading and things like that. The more opportunities like this that they have hopefully they’ll get excited about that and they’ll seek it out on their own and when that becomes an option maybe more opportunities will be created for them as the need becomes bigger.”

Ahmed certainly hopes Boston United Track and Cross Country gets bigger. And he said that he would like to see a day when all 19 high school track teams in the city pool their resources and train together with coaches who specialize in different events. Ahmed acknowledged the logistical challenges of holding one practice for every track team in the city, especially during the spring season when, unlike the indoor season, several schools have their own track to practice on.

“But again, where do you benefit the most?” he said. “Is it for the kids or [the coaches] convenience? Pool your resources and maybe you get some college interns who graduated high school and want to get experience in coaching.”

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

Who's the fastest runner in Boston? We'll find out this week as the Boston City League holds the city track championships at 3 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday at White Stadium.

Monday’s lineup will include the field events (javelin, shot put, discus, and high jump) along with the hurdle races and the 2 mile. Tuesday will feature the standard running events.

In the girls’ action, O’Bryant will look to defend its 18 consecutive titles, but it will have to fend off Latin Academy, which won the indoor championships the past two years after a long O’Bryant run.

“I think my girls' team has a really good chance,” Latin Academy coach Brian Leussler said. “O’Bryant consistently does very well. Brighton girls have looked very good this year as well as New Mission, English.”

In the field events, look for O’Bryant’s Adrienne Thornton to dominate the discus and shot put.

While Leussler expects the girls’ competition to be tight, he notes that the boys’ competition won’t be as close.

East Boston typically dominates the boys’ competition. The defending champion Jets take control in the field events, and a good showing would allow them to come out of Monday’s competition with the title locked up.

“The only strategy is to try and limit the points East Boston can get in the field events,” Leussler said.

The Jets have the strength to take top two in the discus and javelin, which would give them 36 points in just two events -- a margin that will be hard for any team to overcome.

Brighton and O’Bryant will be the toughest competition for Eastie.

Each of the Boston City League teams will try to put forth their best in hopes of winning some hardware.

“They’ve been preparing all season,” Leussler said. “There is nothing extra to really do.”

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.

Pavel Dzemianok for The Boston Globe

Latin Academy junior Jimmy Ye defeated O'Bryant's Tony Huang on a rainy day at the Sportsmen's Tennis Club. Latin Academy and O'Bryant are the only tennis programs in the city besides Boston Latin School.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

DORCHESTER —Just about every other high school tennis team in the state was sidelined on a recent rainy afternoon earlier this month. But inside the cozy confines of the Sportsmen’s Tennis Club in Dorchester, Latin Academy defeated its rival, the John D. O’Bryant School.

“I was actually hoping we were going to get rained out today because I was going to go home and sleep,” said O’Bryant No. 1 singles player, junior Tony Huang, after Sportsmen’s shuffled its schedule to squeeze the match into its indoor facility on May 1.

“But I think I appreciate that we have an indoor facility because we’re not going to be scrambling to get all our matches in at the end of the year.”

After defeating Haung (6-0, 6-1), Latin Academy junior Jimmy Ye recalled what it was like before Sportsmen’s started arranging for the teams to play indoors on rainy days. He said there was one season when they played a match every day for the final three weeks of the season.

“It was very time-consuming, very stressful,” said Ye, who is in the Top 50 of the USTA New England Under 18 rankings. “After matches you get home at 7:30 and have to do homework and have papers due at the end of the year.”

The two Boston Public School teams are likely the only teams in the state to have an indoor facility at their disposal free of charge. They are also two of the most dominant teams in the Greater Boston League, playing against the likes of Cambridge, Everett and Malden. In fact, Latin Academy boys’ team has only lost one GBL match since they joined the league in 2009. O’Bryant’s program only formed five years ago and both its girls and boys teams made the state tournament for the first time last year.

“The great part of this for me is I’ve been involved with youth tennis in Boston from a number of different angles,” said Latin Academy boys’ coach Andrew Crane, who was the program director of a Boston-based youth tennis organization called Tenacity for more than 10 years. “And what’s been perfectly obvious through all of these programs is that kids, once they get to know what tennis is all about, they love to play it.

“City kids love to play tennis. People think ‘well city kids all want to play basketball.’ Once kids get to know tennis, they love to play.”

And providing the two teams with free access to their club couldn’t fit more into the mission statement of Sportsmen’s, which was founded in 1961 as the first African-American non-profit tennis club in the country.

“Here are two teams that wouldn’t be able to compete if we weren’t doing what we are doing, so it really completely falls in line with our mission,” said the club’s executive director, Toni Wiley. “Our mission is for kids to be able to have access to tennis and access to quality coaching and courts and to be able to open up doors, whether that’s college scholarships or being able to play in the local or regional tournaments. So being able to support these two teams is a big part of that.

“One of the most fun events we have all year is when the two teams are playing each other. We typically do a cookout and a lot of parents come and we really try to make it a good time to support both teams and see some good tennis and really have fun.”

Humble beginnings

When the tennis program at Latin Academy started in 1999, Boston Latin School was the only Boston Public school with a tennis program.

Crane said he started a Saturday program for Boston high school students at Sportsmen's in late 1997 or early 1998 on behalf of the Boston Tennis Council. Most of the students who participated were from Latin Academy, so Crane approached the school’s headmaster about starting a team. After she said yes he helped find a volunteer coach. (It wasn’t until his role with Tenacity wound down that he took over the coaching reins of the boys’ squad in 2009.)

The team was co-ed for the first few years because they didn’t have enough players to field boys’ and girls’ teams. They didn’t even have uniforms in the beginning before eventually securing donated soccer jerseys.

“I said ‘Great, whatever, as long as we look like a team,’” Jimmy Hite, who recently stepped down as the Latin Academy girls’ coach, recalled.

After a few seasons, Hite asked K.D. Hicks Insurance Agency to donate real uniforms, which they did for five years.

The team wasn’t affiliated with a conference and had to scramble to schedule non-conference matches. Both Hite and Crane said some teams weren’t crazy about traveling to Boston for matches. Another issue in the beginning was that many of the players skipped the matches because they were too scared to play.

“I made it mandatory that every player had to come to every match so they could see what was going on, they could see ‘I could beat this one, I could beat that one, can I play next week?’” Hite said before adding, “They are tough and know how to fight and know how to suck it up. They don’t fold under pressure. They rise to the occasion. All you have to do is bring it up in them, make them realize you’re just as good if not better than these kids. These are inner-city kids, they are tough.”

After a while the players developed the confidence and skills they needed to win, which wasn’t such an easy pill for some of their suburban opponents to swallow. In high school tennis players call the match themselves on an honor system.

“I would see the anger, I would see a lot of goings-on as far as calls being made, a lot of them making calls with their heart instead of their eyes,” Hite said of some of the opposing players. “It was tough for them to accept.”

A few years after the program started it split into a boys and girls teams. And in 2007 a team was started at O’Bryant with help from a USTA New England grant. To this day, the two teams are open to players from every public high school in the city, with Latin Academy drawing from half of the city and the O’Bryant drawing from the other half.

O’Bryant remains Latin Academy’s little sibling when it comes to competing but on the way to qualifying for its first state tournament last year, the O’Bryant girls’ team beat Latin Academy for the first time in the program’s history. Even though they only won because one of the Latin Academy players forfeited the final match, O’Bryant still celebrated like they won Wimbledon.

“We were happy and were singing and dancing all over the place,” said O’Bryant No. 1 singles Jendayia Lubin.

Latin Academy and O’Bryant joined the Greater Boston League in 2009. Both the boys and girls Latin Academy squads have finished with the best record in the league each year; although, as an associate member of the league, they can’t be considered league champions.

The girls’ team has also qualified for the state tournament three straight years, making it to the quarterfinals of the North Division 1 bracket in 2010 while the boys lost in the quarterfinals to Andover in two out of the last three years.

“The point to be made is that there are a whole bunch of kids playing high school tennis having a great time and having some success and it crosses ethnic backgrounds,” Crane said. “It’s all kinds of kids. I got all kinds of kids on my teams whose families came from all different parts of the world. I truly believe this is a sport that kids, no matter what background or previous athletic experience, will enjoy. This is a sport for girls who don’t have a sport. They can learn to play and get good at if they are willing to work at it and have a sport they can play the rest of their lives. That’s the beauty of tennis.”

Work in progress

One of the reasons Latin Academy and O’Bryant have found so much success on the tennis court is because they are able to draw players from across the city, concentrating the talent on two teams. Expanding the sport to other schools throughout the district would dilute the talent pool but that is still Crane and Hite’s goal.

“It would be a lot of hard organizing work,” Crane, 65, who abandoned a career in state politics and as a trial lawyer to work in youth tennis fulltime, said of expanding into other high schools. “You have to go into some of the schools that aren’t getting players and really organize those kids because once you get them interested, they will play.

“I can guarantee you I could go into virtually any high school in the city and recruit the kids and teach them to play and have a team. We could do that if we had a real place for them to play for both a boys’ team and a girls’ team.”

That means having four or five suitable courts close to the high schools so students don't have to travel across the city to practice and play matches. Crane noted that there is no space between the courts at Boston English High and therefore they are unsuitable for high school matches.

Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still, however, said money is also an issue and, as always, so is participation. Still said he would be open to expanding tennis in the city schools, but he hasn’t seen a consistent number of players trickle out of the Tenacity program and onto the Latin Academy or O’Bryant team.

“It’s a numbers game and the numbers aren’t there,” Still said before adding, “If [Tenacity is] teaching tennis to over 300 kids for the summer and they are all out of BPS middle schools, where are they at? Where are they going? Not everyone is going METCO. Not everyone goes to a private school.”

Some of the city’s best players have in fact gone to suburban schools through the METCO program or to private schools. And another issue is getting the players to play in the offseason. Crane said a recently created Tenacity middle school program will help. The program allows middle school students to play tennis three to four days a week during the school year, whereas before they just played in the summer.

Another issue is that the Tenacity players have a difficult time progressing beyond a certain point because they mostly play against other Tenacity players. Crane said he is working to solve that problem by starting a program that will allow at-risk youth to pay a discounted rate of $22 to $24 to enter regional USTA tournaments.

“It’s really an exciting development,” he said. “I think will happen. The truth is the cost of tournament play is extremely difficult for low income families to bear.”

Ye, Latin Academy’s No. 1 singles player, said his classmates don’t respect this sport and don’t realize how well he plays it.

“Nobody even knows about the tennis team, people just look at it as another sports team, they don’t recognize it,” he said. “It doesn’t have all the glamour that football and basketball get.”

Latin Academy sophomore DiAndrea Galloway has played No. 1 singles since seventh grade and is ranked No. 29 in the New England USTA Under 16 rankings. She worries that there won’t be anyone to pass the torch to when she graduates.

“I feel like some people might not want to take the lead because they are scared they might not be the right person for it,” she said. “I feel it will go down. I’ll help encourage people younger than me to help out.”

Coaching in the city is also a major challenge. Coaches have to strike a balance between working with a team’s top players and teaching the players who have little to no experience. Unlike suburban teams, assistant coaches are an anomaly, forcing a city team to use its top players as assistant coaches or sorts.

“It’s not easy at all,” O’Bryant girls’ coach Maria Velasco said. “You have to be patient. You have to have a lot of patients and be on top of the girls all the time.”

Her counterpart at Latin Academy, Hite, stepped down recently because the added paper work that is required of coaches in the city became too stressful after his mother died last month. But the 67-year-old still has high hopes for high school tennis in Boston.

“My hope is tennis will grow in a [huge] way here in Boston before I die,” Hite said. “I would like to see tennis in every high school in Boston. That’s the way 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.

The following is a press release from the Boston Athletic Association:

Boston, MA. May 10, 2012. -- The Boston Chapter of Links, Incorporated (The Links) embarks on a three year commitment with the Martin Luther King Jr. K-8 school in Dorchester, MA to provide an overall health and wellness program.

In partnership with the King School leadership team, the Boston Athletic Association, the Boston Public Schools, and other sponsors and community stakeholders, The Boston Chapter of The Links, Inc.’s “Fit for the King: A Health and Wellness Project” will create and offer a menu of comprehensive fitness, nutrition, and health and wellness programming for the King School community designed to enthusiastically engage students and parents while promoting healthy living.

“The Boston Chapter of Links is excited to work with the King School as part of our signature program,” said Pamela Everhart, President of the Boston Chapter of Links, Inc., “The program is part of our mission, to provide volunteer services in arts, youth, international and national trends that work to strengthen families and communities.”

As part of the 125th anniversary of the Boston Marathon, the BAA awarded the Links a grant to support programmatic efforts at the King School.

The B.A.A.'s contribution will include funding recreation activity during recess, before and after school; equipment to be used by the school and physical education programs; as well as an in-school running club and regular appearances at the school. The B.A.A. has also invited the King school to participate in its events and programs throughout the year.

“We are happy to be partnering with the Links and Boston Public Schools on such a great program that promises to make a difference in the lives of these students and families,” said B.A.A. President Joann Flaminio. “Our objectives in this, our 125th anniversary year, include renewing our commitment to youth athletics.”

A kick-off for this project is set for May 12th at 10:00am at the King School with Boston Superintendent Carol Johnson, King School Principal Jessica Bolt, B.A.A. President Joann E. Flaminio and Boston Chapter of Links President Pamela Everhart. Here the Links will unveil their plans to support the school throughout the next three years and celebrate the new project with a celebration filled with fitness, music and arts, from face painting to drumming to double-dutch.

The Fit for the King: A health and Wellness Project will be supported by volunteer hours provided by members of the Boston Chapter of Links, Inc. as part of their commitment to community service.

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 Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

The second item on Tuesday’s Boston Public Schools Committee meeting, after the traditional pledge of allegiance, was recognition of the middle school basketball championship teams.

The school committee recognized both the Rogers Middle School girls’ team and the Orchard Gardens boys’ team for their accomplishments in winning the Boston City Middle School championships.

Rev. Dr. Gregory G. Groover, chairperson, along with Superintendent Carol Johnson, presented the award to the girls’ squad, which defeated Edison 48-41 to win the title.

“We are thrilled to honor the boys’ and girls city champions,” said Groover.

He then presented the plaque to the members of the team in attendance along with assistant coach Lajuane Harvey.

“We extend our congratulations to you and with you continued good fortune,” said Johnson.

Harvey said his team was excited to be honored, but a little nervous, not knowing what to expect.

“It’s the school’s first championship and they had an undefeated season,” Harvey said. “They are very excited and we are proud of our girls. We had a bunch of eighth grade girls, and had good balance and good chemistry. It was a good season.”

Following the recognition of the girls’ team, Vice-Chairperson Michael O’Neill presented the Orchard Gardens boys’ squad with their plaque, “in recognition of winning the 2011-2012 Boston Public Schools middle school championship,” O’Neill said.

Orchard Gardens defeated Tobin 36-35 in overtime to take home the city title.

“It meant a lot of them, when the regular season ended it was school vacation, so it was nice to come get recognized,” Orchard Gardens coach Nate Proulx said. “They were really excited about it.”

The night was more than just a recognition of the two championship teams, but a recognition of the progress the Boston Public Schools has made in the area of athletics, specifically middle school athletics.

“[Middle school athletics] is everything, it’s the feeder system to high school,” said Proulx. “Middle school is the place where you can catch a kid who is off track a little bit.”

Following the presentation of the plaques to the two squads, Superintendent Johnson also took a moment to recognize Darlene Knight, who is in charge of middle school sports under BPS Athletic Director Ken Still.

“We’ve had a really great increase in student participation in the middle years,” Johnson said. “And I think it’s been more competitive.”

Johnson also noted the increase in female participation in sports, especially at the middle school level.

“It has been an important aspect in giving our children more physical health and education,” Johnson said, citing Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s support of the fight against childhood obesity.

Johnson credited the hard work of Knight, along with the coaches and administrators of the schools and Boston Public Schools’ relationship with the Boston Scholar Athlete program, for the increase in quality and participation of the athletic programs in the Boston public middle schools.

Pavel Dzemianok for the Boston Globe

East Boston freshman infielder Stephanie Rizzo beats the throw to home on Tuesday afternoon at Madison Park. The Jets crossed home plate 19 times compared to the Cardinals eight runs.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

ROXBURY -- After she scored a run in both the first and second inning on Wednesday afternoon, Nicolette D'Andrea was the only batter in East Boston's lineup that failed to cross home plate in an eight-run third inning that broke open the Jets' 19-8 victory at Madison Park.

In the second inning, D'Andrea's base hit brought home sophomore outfielder Hannah Lunetta to give East Boston the 3-2 edge. Then D'Andrea stole second and third before crossing home plate herself on an error.

But when East Boston (5-5, 3-0 Boston City League North) batted around in the third to go up 12-2, D'Andrea was picked off at second base.

No harm no foul. The senior second baseman finished the game with two hits, two sacrifice bunts and two RBIs.

''I guess you could say that,'' she said when asked if the third inning broke open the game. ''We kept bringing on the runs.''

Madison Park (5-4, 3-2) avoided the 10-run mercy rule by scoring five fifth-inning runs to cut the score to 13-7. And after the Jets added three more runs in the sixth, the Cardinals once again avoided the mercy by making the final out of the inning with bases loaded.

The sixth inning ended when Eastie freshman pitcher Danielle Elliott's short hit bounced back to senior catcher Betsy Maysonet, who then tagged freshman infielder Stephanie Rizzo out at home.

''We made a point of not letting it happen today,'' Madison Park coach Gladys Perez-Byrd said of the mercy rule. ''I told the girls 'We are home, we have to dig in and get some runs to make it go the full seven innings'.

''And they did that. They came through.''

Madison Park junior first baseman Krystal Edwards hit an inside-the-park home run in the final inning off a hard shot up the middle that went between the outfielders. It was her fourth home run in two games.

''I saw the hole, I was focused, zoned in and slammed it with all my might and just kept running,'' said White, who was 3 for 4 with three stolen bases. ''I couldn't have done it without my team.''

East Boston senior shortstop Mackenzie White almost had her own home run but it landed foul. She ended up getting a double on the at-bat, her second of the game.

''I was so mad at that one that landed foul,'' said White, who went 5 for 6 with six RBIs. ''At least I got another double.''

Elliott (3-4), the freshman pitcher, got the victory after fanning five batters.

Sitting atop the North conference, East Boston hopes to meet South conference leader,
Latin Academy, in the City Championships. In the Cities last year, Latin Academy scored seven runs in the final inning to beat East Boston, 7-6, in the title game. They beat the Jets again, 7-4, in the first round of the state tournament.

Thomas Elliott, who is in his 28th season as Eastie's coach, was more focused on the immediate before Wednesday's game. The Jets still have two more North conference games against O'Bryant and Fenway.

''The road to the championship runs through Madison Park,'' he said before the game. ''If we cross that line we gotta go through O'Bryant next week and then Fenway the week after that.''

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

Following are the proposed alignments for the new state-wide playoff system. Schools can appeal their placement. If approved, it would start in 2013.

Eastern Mass.

Division 1 North
1. Lawrence
2. Lowell
3. St. John’s Prep
4. Acton Boxboro
5. Malden
6. Everett
7. Lexington
8. Methuen
9. Peabody
10. Andover
11. Chelmsford
12. Central Catholic

Division 1 South
1. Brockton
2. BC High
3. New Bedford
4. Framingham
5. Weymouth
6. Newton North
7. Attleboro
8. Xaverian
9. Brookline
10. Bridgewater- Raynham
11. Franklin
12. Catholic Memorial

Division 2 North
1. Haverhill
2. Cambridge
3. Newton South
4. Westford Academy
5. Lincoln-Sudbury
6. Lynn English
7. Billerica
8. Waltham
9. Lynn Classical
10. North Andover
11. Malden Catholic
12. Reading

FULL ENTRY

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.

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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Former NBA employee Christopher Rooks started his new job as the Boston Scholar Athletes program's athletic director last week.

Rooks will manage all athletic programs run by the nonprofit organization designed
to support Boston Public School athletics.

“What I’m really excited about is the opportunity to work with the kids, work with the constituents in Boston and grow a program that helps them use the foundation of athletics to improve themselves as individuals, academically as well as in life,” Rooks said during an interview on Tuesday morning.

Founded in 2009 by Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Suffolk Construction CEO and chairman John Fish,  the BSA provides support to all 19 Boston Public High Schools, 157 athletic teams, 3,900 players and 132 coaches.

The program, which was started after the Globe ran a seven-part series on the sad state of the district's athletic program called Failing our Athletes, has also established learning centers for athletes at each of Boston’s public high schools known as the BSA Zones.

“I am excited to have Chris on the BSA team,” Fish said in a statement.  “The
experience and relationships he gained working for the NBA, combined with his
passion for athletics and professional development, will elevate the BSA
athletic program to a whole new level as we work to help Boston’s
scholar-athletes play to achieve.”

Rooks spent more than 11 years working for the NBA. He was most recently a senior manager
for player development who was responsible for the creation and administration
of athlete life skills programs, transitional workshops, awareness and prevention seminars and professional development resources.

“I come from a background of business development and player development,” Rooks said. “For the last six years I worked in the player development department where our role was to work with teams, players and our partners to try to benefit the personal, professional and social development of our players."

Rooks said his background in the NBA will help him build rapport with the BPS student-athletes.

“One of the things we wanted to make sure that the [NBA] understood is that the fame and the popularity of both [the players] and their sport kind of obligates them to take a position in social responsibility because of so many people who are looking up to them,” Rooks said. “It’s one of
the things we really pushed hard was that guys do more in the community so they can
be seen because of the impact they have."

At the BSA, Rooks will be responsible for building long-term local and national
relationships as well as providing leadership, strategic direction, management
and coordination for all aspects of the BSA’s athletic program. Rooks will
also be responsible for the development of relationships with the BSA’s current
and potential markets along with increasing the program’s athletic support for
players and coaches.

Rooks received his bachelor’s degree in economics from Ohio State in 1994 and he earned his master’s degree in sport administration in 2000 from OSU. Rooks replaces Evan Davis, who is currently the chief operating office at the Sports Legacy Institute.

“I’m really excited to be here working with the quality staff at BSA, the folks at BPS athletics and our athletic community here throughout all of Boston,” Rooks 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 Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

The Everett softball team scored 13 runs in the seventh inning to post a 17-1 victory over Latin Academy on Monday.

Neither team sent a runner across the plate through three innings before Everett managed a run in the top of the fourth. Cleanup hitter Tori Cyrus (3 for 5, 5 RBI) drove in in first baseman Alea Mortinelli before getting thrown out at home trying to stretch her hit into a home run.

Latin Academy answered in the bottom half of the inning after stringing together two hits and taking advantage of a few passed balls.

Everett’s offense got going in the fifth inning and scored four runs. It was the hitters’ third time at the plate and they managed to figure out Latin Academy pitcher Sydney McGrath. The Crimson Tide strung together four hits, led by Mortinelli.

She picked up two RBIs in the inning with a hard single down the right field line.

“She usually goes 3 for 4. She’s one of the quickest ones on the team. Anytime she’s up people always expect her to be on base,” Everett coach Stacy Poste-Schravo said.

McGrath retired the side in the sixth. She finished with four strikeouts and four walks over seven innings, and allowed 13 hits.

Everett blew the game open in the top of the seventh with 13 runs on six hits. It sent 18 batters to the plate, and the first nine hitters scored before Latin Academy was able to get an out.

“They like to wait until the end to hit, usually the fifth inning,” Poste-Schravo said.

“The thing is one girl gets a hit and then they all start following. It’s like a little bit of confidence for them.”

Crimson Tide pitcher Franki Perreault pitched seven innings, striking out six, with no walks. She allowed five hits.

“She’s coming off of a broken shin last year and she’s good. She’s gotten stronger as the games have gone on,” said Poste-Schravo. “She bears down when she needs to and she has a strong defense behind her when they do make contact.”

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The Beantown Jumpers qualified three teams for the 39th Annual American Double Dutch League World Championships during Saturday’s Massachusetts State Double Dutch League Tournament at Northeastern University.

The World Championships will be in Sumter, SC from June 14 to 16.

The Beantown Jumpers seventh-grade doubles team, nicknamed the Beantown Bombsquad (Ella James, Joselyn Cotto, Janelle Vasquez and Juliette Silva), qualified for Worlds along with the Beantown Jumpers eighth-grade singles team, Dopetastic (Xavier Thompson, A'shia Rainey and Asma Rivera). The organization's seventh-grade singles team, the Jets (James, Cotto and Typhanie Holt) also qualified.

The Beantown Jumpers is an after-school program based out of the Timilty Middle School and the Mildred Avenue Middle School.

"We are all so excited for ourselves and for each other,” Beantown Jumpers co-coach Lynne Travers said in an e-mail. “This team is like one big family and we are always there for one another. The kids are so selfless and giving of their time, their energy and of each other. There isn't a week that goes by that my heart isn't bursting — for them, for what they are accomplishing, and for how much they appreciate being a part of the Beantown Jumpers.

“They are the highlight of my day at work and seeing them blossom and grow as young adults, athletes and students makes me so proud."

Another Boston-based Double Dutch organization, the Rope Burners, qualified two teams for Worlds. The eighth-grade singles team nicknamed Beyond Perfection (Kiarra Williams, Jaida Adams and Sarina Gaines) and a high school singles team, Unexpected (Amber Edwards, Krystal Edwards and John Edwards) will be making the trip to South Carolina this summer as well.

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 Globe

By far the best boys' volleyball team in the city, Latin Academy struggles to find opponents that can prepare them for the state tournament. The team also struggles with stereotypes that their sport is only for girls and Asians.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Less than an hour after their match against Latin Academy began last month, several members of the West Roxbury boys’ volleyball team waited outside their opponents’ Dorchester school building for rides.

“We got killed,” a Westie player said.

Inside the Latin Academy gymnasium the Dragons practiced for about another hour after beating the Raiders — a common post-match practice for a team that dominates the four other schools (Madison Park, Brighton, O’Bryant and West Roxbury) that play in the City League.

Latin Academy (9-3 overall, 7-0 Boston City League) laments the fact it must play each league team three times per season, saying it makes it difficult to prepare for the state tournament. They schedule the best opponents they can possibly find for non-league contests but are only allowed to play 20 matches a season.  

Still, the exam school qualifies for post-season play practically every year but has never advanced past the sectional quarterfinals. Last spring LA went 15-5 and lost to Central Catholic in the North quarters.

“The City [League] is not really a challenge for us,” senior co-captain Vincent Tran of Dorchester said. “I’d rather have a challenge and lose to make us better players. It’s like practice. It doesn’t make us play harder.”

Tran said he can see how setting up for practice after their home matches could humiliate their opponent but he hopes it will serve as motivation for the other teams in the city to pick up their games.  

“I definitely would be mad if I was that team,” he said. “I don’t’ care if they see us [practice after a match]. Maybe it might motivate them to work harder to play against us. It would definitely be more fun.

“I definitely encourage other people to try [volleyball] out.”

Boston schools Athletic Director Ken Still said the city needs to put on more clinics for young boys so that they can start playing the sport in middle school or younger.

“Some of the other schools try to put a team together to get these young men to realize, ‘Hey I can do this, I can jump and hit’ but it’s a fight,” Still said. “That’s why clinics to me are one of biggest things you can do.”

Even the best program in the city has a hard time recruiting players to a sport that many students believe is more for girls. And Latin Academy fights the added stereotype that the sport is only for Asians. Of the 20 players in the program, only three students are not Asian.

And only a few of the players are 6-feet or taller.

“I try to get a lot more height on the team. We have wonderful skill but not any height. In volleyball you need that,” said Latin Academy coach Phuong Cao, who joked that he has an easier time recruiting players from his calculus class at the school than from the Dragon’s basketball team. “We try to recruit more basketball players … The kids think it’s an Asian sport somehow, they don’t know why it is. I told them [you will see] it’s not if you watch the sport on TV. I guess they don’t see it that way.”

Senior co-captain Kevin Tse of Mission Hill said he doesn’t mind that the sport is seen as an Asian endeavor in his school.

“It’s a stereotype in our school, like ping pong,”  said Tse, who also plays in an all-Asian club league. “I just take it as a joke.”

But just because Tse recruited some of his Asian friends to play on the team doesn’t mean that he isn’t expanding his network of friends by playing volleyball.

“I would never hang out with half these kids without volleyball,” Tse said. “They are all in different grades.”

Senior Courtney Atherly is one of the only black players on the team and at 6-foot-1-inches is also one of the tallest members of the team. But this is his first year playing volleyball and he said the learning curve is steep. 

“The hardest thing [to learn] was serving because I didn’t have any coordination and the second hardest thing was passing because my arms were not able to go straight,” he said, before noting that he didn’t have a hard time fitting in with his new team.  “Some of the players I was friends with already so once we started I was friends with everybody.”

Atherly also said his non-volleyball playing friends thought the sport was easy until they tried it themselves.

“At first people think it’s not that hard,” he said. “Then they come to the game and watch and see us tripping and falling. Once they practice it they realize it’s tough.”

Tran said the sport is more pressure-packed than people realize.

“They think it’s easy because it’s not a contact sport, not physical, but it is when you’re on the court,” he said. “There’s lot of pressure on you, your blood pressure is up. There’s a lot of pressure on you to get to the ball. You don’t want to mess it up for your team.”

Tran said he likes the teamwork aspect of the game as well.

“When someone on the team messes up you have to tell him, ‘It’s okay, you’ll get the next ball,’” he said. “We’re always encouraging each other.”

LA's boys’ volleyball program started in 1992, four years after Cao graduated from Boston Technical High School in 1988 — which was housed in Latin Academy's current building on Townsend Street in Dorchester.  

Cao’s family immigrated to Boston in 1981 and he said he was too focused on academics to care about sports in high school. Cao didn’t pick up volleyball until some friends urged him to play for Boston University’s club team and he didn’t start coaching until three years ago when Latin Academy’s boys’ and girls’ coach, Robert Hui, stepped down after 11 years.  

Cao also coaches the girls’ squad and the school’s JV volleyball teams.

“We do a lot of advertising and we go to the playoffs every year,” Cao said when asked if the student body is aware of the program’s success. “They know, it’s just hard to get the interest.”

And when students new to the sport do come out for the team, Cao said it takes them a few years to learn the skills they need to play properly. He said passing is the toughest concept to grasp for new players.

Tse, the senior co-captain, said he wasn't interested in volleyball his freshman year when some friends showed him YouTube videos of the male version of the sport.

“My friends told me to join and I was like ‘It’s a girls’ sport,” he said. “I thought it was a girls’ sport, then they showed me some videos of them hitting each other in the face with spikes.”

Volleyball has had the added bonus of increasing the former basketball player's vertical leap.

"When I started playing volleyball I could barely touch backboard," Tse said. "And now I can almost touch rim."

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

Photo courtesy of Pam Rogers

Patriots quarterback Ryan Mallett and Boston high school student Fred McAfee enjoyed a football clinic for special needs students at Harvard last week.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

New England Patriots quarterback Ryan Mallett, defensive end Alex Silvestro, punter Zoltan Mesko and players from Harvard's football team conducted a football skills clinic last week for 125 special needs and at-risk students from Boston and Chelsea public schools.

Conducted at Harvard’s Jordan Field on Wednesday, the clinic included passing drills, strength exercises, punting instruction and an obstacle course.

The clinic was organized by AccesSportAmerica, a not for profit organization that inspires higher function and fitness for children and adults living with disabilities through high-challenge sports and training.


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 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.

<p class="byline">By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent</p>

Latin Academy girls’ tennis coach, Jimmy Hite, who helped found the school’s tennis program more than a decade ago, resigned last week and was replaced by Sportsmen’s Tennis Club’s new strength and conditioning coach, Calvin Carter.

Hite, a local tennis legend and fixture at Carter Playground near Northeastern University, said paperwork and bureaucratic red tape increased significantly since Latin Academy’s program started as a co-ed squad.

The 67-year-old’s mother also died about four weeks ago and he said the stress was too much to take.

“They turned it into a logistical nightmare,” the retired Cambridge police officer said Wednesday evening. “It was getting ridiculous. I do it because I like it. The money is nothing, it’s not minimum wage. You have to have a love for it.

“I have a medical condition, a heart condition, high blood pressure. My doctor told me not to get upset. They were really starting to get me upset. And with my mother passing away I was under the gun. I told them I have to do what’s best for me, this is becoming a headache.”

Hite noted that while most tennis coaches in the state have assistants and an athletic director at the school they coach at, Boston schools have one AD for the entire city and there is no money in the budget for tennis assistants.  He also said his no cut policy means that he had to simultaneously coach his star players and teach students with no tennis experience.

But Boston schools’ Athletic Director Ken Still said paperwork comes with the territory.

“It is part of the ballgame, you know it is part of the ballgame,” Still said. ”You get in the ballgame, you are going to have to do exactly what’s needed by your coach.  … Every coach has to do administrative work and coaching in order to be able to do the job.”

While Still said the decision was Hite’s alone, he made it clear that Hite was struggling with the job as of late. 

“Jimmy had a difficult following the rules and regulations as far as paperwork and showing up on time and paying attention to the schedule over and over,” Still said. “He made the decision that he thought it was too much on his plate so he let it go."

When Hite helped start the tennis program at Latin Academy, Boston Latin School was the only Boston Public school with a tennis program. The original Latin Academy team was co-ed because they didn’t have enough players to field a boys and girls team. They didn’t even have uniforms in the beginning and eventually used soccer jerseys before  finally securing real tennis shirts.

The program split into a boys and girls teams a few years later and joined the Greater Boston League, which both the boys and girls have dominated three years running; although, as an associate member of the league, they can’t be considered the champions.

The girls’ team has also qualified for the state tournament three years straight, making it to the quarterfinals of the North Division 1 bracket in 2010.

“I felt bad for the girls,” Hite said. “It hurt me to my heart when I sat and talked with them. They understood but it was like being abandoned. But I have to look out for my health.”

The team’s new coach, Carter, only moved to Boston on March 1 and has coached high school and college track but has never coached a tennis team. Carter, who played tennis at a junior college in California, is the cousin of Frank G. Williams, Jr., a Boston police officer who runs youth programs at Sportsmen’s.  

Carter, 55, doesn’t think handling the extra paper work will be a problem because coaching Division 1 track in Sacramento meant juggling recruiting and coaching. 

And sophomore DiAndrea Galloway has been Latin Academy's No. 1 singles player since seventh grade and is like an assistant coach. Carter also noted that there are plenty of pros and coaches around Sportsmen’s (where the team plays and practices) to help the team tactically. 

“They are an excellent group of girls,” Carter said. “I’m surprised they get on the bus so quietly, you know how girls can be.”

Carter said he would like to return to coach the team next year and at some point he’d also like to sit down and pick Hite’s brain.

“It’s always daunting when you have someone else’s shoes to fill,” Carter said of Hite. “But I don’t think the expectations are high for me right now. They just wanted to have someone with guidance for the girls.

“I’m glad to help do it; really glad.”

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 Eric Russo, Globe correspondent

In just his second start of the season, Fenway junior Eddie Santos tossed a one-hitter in Wednesday’s 14-2 win at Snowden.

Santos, a first baseman, made a smooth transition to the mound for a pitching staff that will be busy this week.

"He's been doing everything I've asked him to," said first-year coach David Walsh. "I told him he needed to throw strikes to help out the staff because we have four games this week. And that's what he did, he pounded the strike zone and let the defense do the work behind him."

Jonathan Vega led the offense, going 4 for 4 with four RBIs and four stolen bases.

"He made the pitcher work," said Walsh. "He did very well and set things up for the big guys in the middle of the order."

Fenway improved to 3-5.

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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Sport in Society at Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association will begin accepting applications for an anti-bullying leadership training initiative Tuesday.

With support from the PI Garden Fund, a two-day summer training institute on anti-bullying leadership and education will train student-athletes, adult advocates, and community members on how to create a bully-free culture in their schools.

Beginning Tuesday, schools can submit applications for the Aug. 9-10 institute at the MIAA Conference Center in Franklin

Applications are due June 1.

"The initiative will raise awareness about the severity of bullying in our schools, open dialogue among student leaders, challenge their thinking, and inspire leadership in preventing the devastating effects bullying has on young lives,” a flyer for the institute says.

The student-athletes and adult coordinators from each school will prepare to engage with middle school students on the subject of bullying. Dates for future middle school trainings will be scheduled by the schools and there is also the possibility of a community awareness-raising session.

For more information contact Caitlin Geddes at 617-373-4889 or at C.Geddes@neu.edu.

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

Keith Parker will become just the third coach in Boston English history to be inducted to the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Sunday and two longtime rivals couldn’t be happier for him.

‘‘We had some great times together,’’ said former East Boston coach John Sousa. ‘‘Keith Parker is just a great role model, just a great presence for these kids in the city. I can’t tell you how many kids he’s taken under his wing and got scholarships, set up for college and given them guidance. He gave them what they don’t have in their home life. He’s given his heart and soul to English and this is well deserved and it’s an honor for me to present him the award.”

Parker will be one of six coaches inducted into the hall of fame at an annual awards banquet Sunday night in Randolph. He’ll join Tony Wood of St. John’s of Shrewsbury, North Quincy’s Ken McPhee, Bay Path’s Al Dhembe, Dighton-Rehoboth’s Dave Driscoll and Mahar’s James Woodward.

Known to his players simply as PK because that’s the way he signed into school each morning, Parker will be just the 15th coach from Boston to be inducted into the hall of fame, including two coaches from Boston Latin School. Bill Ohrenberger, who was inducted in 1965, and William Stewart, who was inducted in 1984, are the only other coaches from English in the football hall of fame.

‘‘It’s a special honor,’’ Parker said. “I’m thrilled to be able to be inducted.”

Parker chose to be introduced by Sousa, also his former assistant of 14 years and who retired from East Boston in 2009, the same year Parker retired.

Sousa is likely to be the next coach from Boston inducted into the hall of fame and he said he will return the favor by having Parker induct him. Parker will give a speech Sunday in front of about 50 family, friends, former colleagues and former players who will attend the ceremony as his guests.

‘‘I’ll be quite welled up because as I said I’ll have five tables worth of family and friends that are going to be there,” Parker said. “In my acceptance speech I’m going to point out a few things that it’s not easy to be a coach at Boston English for 30-plus years.’’

After his tenure as English’s head coach ended in 2009, Parker finished his career 141-169-5, with five Boston City League titles and two Super Bowl titles.

"He’s done a great job, and he stayed with it,” said former Boston Latin coach and Hall of Famer Paul Costello. ‘‘There were times he had better people than we did and he gave us a tough time. Other times we had a great team and he gave us fits. Most of the time he was always in the game.

‘‘He was a class act. When I retired [in 2000] they came over at halftime and gave me a plaque from English. That was very thoughtful, very classy.’’

In his first year as head coach in 1980, Parker went 8-1-1 (including a victory against Latin) and won the English’s first city title in 14 years. Parker would not beat the Wolfpack again until his best season in 1997 when the Bulldogs topped off an undefeated campaign with a 24-18 win against Greater Lawrence in the Super Bowl.

"This induction, me receiving this honor totally verifies the years I spent at English High School because you don’t get this honor unless you deserve it,’’ Parker said. ‘‘And it’s an honor from my peers.’’

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 Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

West Roxbury held on to a late two-run lead to defeat Burke, 18-16, in girls’ softball Wednesday afternoon at Casey Field in Dorchester.

The teams went back and forth, but West Roxbury (5-1) was able to take advantage of its offensive opportunities to collect the win.

“Clutch hitting (was the key),” said West Roxbury assistant coach Wilson Mercado. “We struggled a bit defensively, but we were able to pick it up offensively in the later innings.”

The Raiders scored in each of the first six innings, including a five-run second and five-run fifth.

Burke scored in each of the seven innings, but wasn’t able to get enough runs off West Roxbury pitcher Maritza Serrette. The junior went all seven innings to pick up the win. She also contributed with the bat, going 4 for 5.

Also aiding the Raiders offense was junior catcher Selena Gonzalez, who went 2 for 4.

West Roxbury is in first place in the Boston City League and Mercado says his team has been able to put all aspects of the game together.

“Defense and offense on the same day,” Mercado said. “Last year we would have good defense one day and good offense another, but this year we have put them together.”

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 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.

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.

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

Canton defeated Latin Academy, 9-3, Monday morning on the strength of pitcher Samantha Sullivan’s six-hit performance at Playstead Park.

The win is the third in a row for the Bulldogs, pushing them to .500 after they dropped their first three games of the season.

“We lost our first three games with sloppy play and now we are doing much better with the fundamentals, making much less errors,” said Canton coach Amico White.

The Dragons came out strong, scoring a run in the bottom of the first. They capitalized on a lead off walk and rare error by the Bulldogs, which allowed the second batter to reach on a dropped third strike before third baseman Marijana Stranjina hit an RBI single.

Sullivan picked up her performance after that, putting together a 1-2-3 inning in the second and then allowing just three hits over the next three innings.

Sullivan went all seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs while striking out four.

“She did great. She kept the walks down, she has great fielders behind her and that’s her job,” White said. “Throw the ball over the plate and she has a great field behind her.”

The start was the second of the season for Sullivan, who threw a no-hitter in her first appearance, a 12-0 win over Randolph Saturday.

The Bulldogs picked up their first run in the third inning, capitalizing on key misplays by the Dragons’ defense. Canton then scored two more in the fifth off a single from second baseman Meaghan McKenna, on which she scored after a miscue by the Latin Academy defense. With a runner on base, McKenna picked up two RBI, pushing the score to 3-1.

“We didn’t show up ready to play, we made a lot of mental mistakes and physical mistakes early. We gave them four to six outs every inning,” Latin Academy coach Rocco Zizza said.

Latin Academy pitcher Sydney McGrath pitched well, striking out 12 while walking only one.

“Our pitcher pitched well enough to win, no question,” Zizza said. “She pitched great. She pitched great, but as a team we didn’t play well.”

The Bulldogs netted another two in the fifth inning, stringing together two hits to get the offense going.

““Basically we needed to get back to the basics,” White said of his offense. “We weren’t hitting well. We need to hit solid line drives and stick to the fundamentals and that’s pretty much it. And we did.”

The Dragons got two runs back in the bottom of the sixth, making the score 7-3, but that’s as close as they would get. With two hits and a hit batsman, Latin Academy recorded the two runs, with both RBI coming from Stranjina. She was thrown out at second later in the inning as the Bulldogs nearly turned a double play.

“On offense we ran into outs easily, so that’s a big thing,” Zizza said.

Canton saved its best offense for the end of the game, scoring four more runs in the top of the seventh to cushion their lead, highlighted by a home run from first baseman Olivia Murphy.

Latin Academy falls to 2-5 on the season after playing five tough non-conference games. They’re 2-0 in the Boston City League.

“I schedule games outside the city because we want fierce competition,” Zizza said. “It’s a process. I don’t care about the record right now, all I care about how we play and we didn’t play well today.“

Pavel Dzemianok/For the Globe

Latin Academy senior Robert Finch of West Roxbury didn't mind finishing second to last in the Boston Athletic Association's Invitational Mile for the second straight year.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

There's no such thing as a free lunch and there's also no such thing as free running sneakers. "It’s nice to get all this free gear because, I mean, these shoes, there’s no way I’d be able to buy them so it’s nice to be able earn them,” Robert Finch of West Roxbury said of his complimentary orange Adidas sneakers after finishing second to last in the boys’ Boston Athletic Association Scholastic Invitational Mile for the second straight year.

The Latin Academy senior ran the race — which loops around Boylston and Newbury Streets before finishing on the Boston Marathon’s finish line — Sunday morning in a time of 5 minutes, 8.2 seconds.

“I’m kind of a big fish in a small pond; I’m the best in the [Boston City] league but it doesn’t really compare to some of these other guys,” Finch said of the race, which features two athletes from each city or town along the Boston Marathon course. “But it’s nice to have someone to chase. To get a better performance, I need to race people who are faster than me. It’s nice I get to do it at least once a year.”

Finch said the race also gives him a boost going into the heart of the City League season.

Boston Latin junior Michael Ward finished the race in 4:40.6, just missing a top-three finish. Framingham's Ben Groleau won the race in 4:27.2 while Justin Keefe from Newton North (4:39.7) finished second and Tim Bolick of Hopkinton (4:40.4) was third.

“I went out and I stayed with the Brookline pack because I knew they were solid guys,” Ward said. “I stayed there till about 800 [meters] and then moved up and followed one of the Brookline guys [Mark Perry] in the last lap and just kicked it in and got caught at the line for fourth.”

Ward was running the race for the first time.

“My teammates have done it the last few yeas so they gave me some pointers,” he said. “I was just running. I knew a lot of the guys in the race so I used that to help me through it.”

Ward’s Latin School teammate, Ava Violich, finished 11th in the girls’ race in 5:49.5.

“It was fun,” the sophomore said. “I've never run in road races, on concrete, before. It just gives me a feel of what it’s like to really run the marathon.”

O’Bryant junior Melissa Jean was disappointed with her last-place performance of 7:03.3.

“I did not know the course, I did not know any of the competitors,” she said.

The morning also featured a boys’ and girls’ middle school 1-kilometer race. John Lara of the Rafael Hernandez School in Roxbury led the first half of the race before being eclipsed by Zachary O'Leary of Ashland, who won in 2:54.5.

“It’s all right, everybody loses,” Lara said “I was trying to get the win but he caught me. I was out in front [for one lap] and he caught me.”

Lara finished in 3 minutes flat while his brother, Joel Lara, finished sixth in 3:13.7 to give Boston first place in the team standings.

“I felt famous," Joel said of crossing the marathon finish line.

In the middle school girls’ race, Mia Sheets, was eighth (4:01.1) and Kalsia King finished 11th (4:10.4) despite falling down and hurting her elbow at the start of the race.

“I started off trying to get to the front and I tripped and I rolled to the ground,” King said with a bandage on her right elbow. “I had to strive for a little bit, I had to catch up a little.”

Finch, who will attend George Washington University in the fall, said he's not running in college, but he will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington.

"I don’t think I’m fast enough to run competitively in college," he said, "but I’ll be running the rest of my life whether competitively or not."

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

Pavel Dzemianok for the Boston Globe

The high school boys got off to a fast start in the Boston Athletic Association Scholastic Invitational Mile on Sunday morning.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Ben Groleau is hitting .500 lifetime at the boys’ Boston Athletic Association Scholastic Invitational Mile.

Running the race — which loops around Boylston and Newbury Streets before finishing on the Boston Marathon’s finish line — Sunday morning for the fourth straight year, the Framingham High senior had a winning time of 4 minutes, 27.2 seconds. The race features two athletes from each city or town along the Boston Marathon course.

“That was rough,” said Groleau, who also won the race as a sophomore. “Coming into it I knew it was going to be a hard field, I knew I was going to have to take it out early, but man I didn’t know I had [that kind of kick] in me. I’m excited. I guess experience paid off a lot.”

Groleau said he was surprised to win by such a large margin. Justin Keefe from Newton North (4:39.7) finished second and Tim Bolick of Hopkinton (4:40.4) was third.

“You can’t get caught up behind anyone right off the bat,” Groleau said when asked about what he’s learned from running the race in the past. “On a course with this many turns, you get boxed in way too much on the corners so you have to take it out. I knew that going in, so I jumped in front at the beginning of the race and I figured I’d let those guys figure it out.”

In the girls’ race, Newton North sophomore, Evelyn Heffernan, won with a time of 5:23.1. Shelby Aarden (5:24) of Hopkinton was second and Melissa Lodge (5:24.8), also of Hopkinton, third.

“It was great,” Heffernan said. “The crowd is incredible and they are really helpful. There are people all around and they just push you through the whole thing and it’s great.”

A freshman, Aarden was running the race for the first time.

“I was trying to keep up with the leaders,” Aarden said. “At the end I had some more energy so I went ahead, I passed one or two in the final 100 yards.”

The morning also featured a boys’ and girls’ middle school 1-kilometer race. Zachary O'Leary of Ashland won the boys’ race in 2:54.5, ahead of John Lara of Boston (3:00) and Thomas D’Anieri of Wellesley. Leah Metzger of Newton won the girls' race in 3:35.9, ahead of Piper Higgins of Wellesley (3:43.3) and Nicole Anselmo of Natick (3:44.5).

“I was really nervous so I just decided to go out and have fun,” Metzger said.

O’Leary said, “John Lara caught me at the end of the first lap; I had to pump through it. I couldn’t feel my legs. The first lap I had to pump it. Then I said to myself ‘I have to kick it in.’

"I can't feel my legs right now but it was worth it."

In the high school boys’ race, Newton North’s Keefe didn’t have enough kick to eclipse Groleau. Keefe was running the race for the first time.

“I was hoping for the win but what can I say, he has the most experience,” Keefe said of Groleau. “He’s a strong kid. I’ll get him later in the season.”

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

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

The six Boston Marathon runners raising money for the Boston Scholar Athlete Program have received words of encouragement from friends, family and colleagues during training.

But they never expected a pep talk from Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

“This weekend is marathon weekend, I want to congratulate the runners who are running the Boston Marathon for the Boston Scholar Athlete Program, I’ll be watching you,” Menino said during the first-ever Boston Scholar Athlete Zone Party on the floor of the TD Garden on Tuesday night.

The gala raised $1.9 million for the program which has established a dedicated, staffed learning center for athletes inside each of Boston’s 19 public high schools. The program was co-founded by Menino and Suffolk Construction CEO and Chairman, John Fish.

“That was great, I didn’t expect that at all," BSA Academic Associate Colin Campbell said. "To have him recognize us meant a lot to us. Even though it was at such a big event, where people are putting a lot more into it than we are to fund raise, and [for him to] recognize us along with everyone there to support our program overall was great.”

Besides Campbell, Nicole Reither of Swampscott, Michelle Nielsen of Falls Church, Va., Kate Hensley of Quincy, Joseph Cappellano of South Boston and Liz Collins of Boston are the other BSA or Suffolk Construction employees running.

So far they have raised about $23,000 for the BSA.

“Every one of the runners for our team has a connection to BSA which is unique,” Campbell said. “I think that’s something you don’t see in a lot of other charity teams. They don’t have that connection. So for us explaining BSA [to donors] has been great."

Each runner has a month after the marathon to raise a minimum $5,000 or the difference comes out of their pocket. And in these tough times many charity runners have had a hard time finding donors to reach their goals.

Joseph Cappellano, a senior facilitator for BSA who works with athletes at Boston Latin School, said it can be tough to raise money since they all know each other and are all raising money for the same cause. But he also said they’ve come up with creative ways to raise money such as conducting a March Madness bracket.

“Most of us have reached [$5,000] or are close but obviously our goal is not to stop at $20,000 but go beyond it,” Cappellano said.

The South Boston native said his friends and family are receptive to helping Boston Public School athletes.

“As soon as I tell them we’re trying to revamp high school sports in Boston they are kind of like ‘I wish they had that when I was there,’ ” he said. “So people are very, very receptive.”

Another challenge is the fact that while the group trains together, Hensley is the only one with marathon experience.

“It’s interesting, we were all athletes in high school and college and we all have old injuries and they start to come back to haunt you,” Cappellano said.

On Monday, the group plans to start the race together and then branch off as the race progresses. They hope to all run under four hours.

“It’s a little up in the air,” Cappellano said when asked what time he is shooting for. “Before Tuesday would be nice.”

For more information on the BSA runners, go to their fundraising website.

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

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 Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

The Boston City League track teams were in action on Thursday’s rainy afternoon as the city schools competed in a dual meet at White Stadium in Dorchester.

Nine girls teams and nine boys teams came out to compete in the second meet of the season.

The boys’ results were highlighted by a tie between East Boston and Latin Academy at 52 points. O’Bryant picked up the most points in the meet with 72 in a win over West Roxbury, who collected 13 points. O’Bryant also defeated Brighton 61 to 39. Madison Park picked up 58 points in a win over Charlestown (nine points) and West Roxbury lost their second match-up with 12 points to Brighton’s 43. South Boston defeated New Mission 47 points to 34 points.

O’Bryant picked up wins in three events, including both relays. The Tigers won the 4x100 in 50.70, over a second ahead of second place finishers South Boston. They also took the 4x400 relay in 4:40:00, 10.1 seconds faster than Madison Park, which finished second.

The Tigers’ third win came in the 800-meter, which Patrick Powell finished in 2:17.70.

Also picking up three wins was South Boston, who controlled the field events. Carson Passes won the discus, throwing for 99 feet and 11 inches. Tony Nguyen took home the shot put with a distance of 37 feet, 5.5 inches. The Knights’ third victory came in the 400 meter, where William Arrington finished in 55.2 seconds for a full three-second victory.

Madison Park, East Boston and Brighton each picked up victories in two different events to help bolster their point totals.

Boston Latin Academy, who won the Boston City League indoor track championship this past season, finished in the top three in six of the 15 events, including a win in the 1-mile from Sonny Finch who finished in 5:25.40.

West Roxbury and Madison Park took the jumping events with the Raiders’ Jonas Ogaus taking the long jump at 18-feet 1-inch and the Cardinals’ Kevin Bevnardez winning the triple jump at 35-feet 2-inches.

In girls’ action, Brighton picked up the largest point total of the afternoon with a 67-18 win over West Roxbury. The Raiders also picked up a loss to O’Bryant, 60-18. O’Bryant’s second win came with a 52-46 takeover of Brighton. Latin Academy defeated East Boston 54-44 and New Mission/English defeated South Boston 49-19. The biggest margin of victory came in Madison Park’s 40-8 defeat over Charlestown.

O’Bryant’s Adrienne Thornton, the state record holder in the 20-pound throw and defending New England champion in the discus, won the discus throwing for 120-feet, 3-inches.

Latin Academy won six events on the girls’ side including both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Each of the four individual events won by the Dragons was claimed by a different athlete, marking the team’s depth.

Brighton took three events highlighted by Jaquasia Anderson’s narrow defeat of New Missions Akkeia Dickerson. Anderson finished in 26.3, just three tenths of a second ahead of Dickerson. Brighton’s Esther Hkwah won the long jump at 15-feet 1-inch and also won the 100 meter hurdles as the only female racing.

New Mission, Madison Park, South Boston, and East Boston each had a winner in one event.

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 Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The Boston Public Schools baseball and softball games scheduled for Thursday afternoon have been postponed due to poor weather conditions, according to an athletic department official.

The track meet between Charlestown, Madison Park, East Boston, Latin Academy, O'Bryant, West Roxbury and Brighton will go on as scheduled at White Stadium.

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; Burke at South Boston; 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.

Justin A. Rice for the Boston Globe

Defending Boston Marathon champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel show off their strides during the second annual Scholars and Stars-World Class Athletes Inspiring Teen Achievers event on Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Warming up with Boston Public School track athletes at the Reggie Lewis Center on Wednesday afternoon, Bill Rodgers was thrilled to hear some of them talk about one of his old high school haunts: White Stadium in Franklin Park.

“I ran there when I was in high school myself,” the four-time Boston Marathon champion said. “So there’s kind of a connection in this sport which I think is very powerful. Sports bring people together, especially this sport, not just marathoning but track.”

Rodgers was one of several current and former Boston Marathon elite runners to train with more than 150 track athletes from Boston schools Wednesday afternoon during the second annual Scholars and Stars-World Class Athletes Inspiring Teen Achievers.

Defending Boston Marathon champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel were also on hand despite the fact that they just landed in Boston earlier in the afternoon.

Mutai said the students are at a crucial developmental age.

“I’m happy to be in this, it makes me remember my past when I was in school, so to give them ideas [is nice],” Mutai said. “When you sacrifice [at] this age for sure it will make you a success in your career."

But Mutai also said he was stubborn at that age.

“I remember at that time when someone wants to teach you, you think he’s lying to you, but after that now I know [better],” he said.

Students participated in four interactive stations with the elite athletes.

Rodgers instructed the students in “dynamic drills,” while a core training workout was conducted by Greg Meyer, the last American men’s winner at Boston.

Mutai and Kilel instructed the students on proper running form, and Desiree Davila, who will run the marathon for Team USA at the London Olympics this summer, led a plyometrics workout.

Davila, who was second in last year’s Boston Marathon women’s race after running the fastest American women’s time ever, did not start running the marathon until after college.

“They are showing me it’s never too late to reach your full potential,” New Mission sophomore Troy Lilly said. “A bunch of people on my team have been running since middle school and I feel like they look down upon me but I heard a story from [Davila] that she started after college. So I feel like I can do a lot more to improve myself.”

The event was cosponsored by John Hancock Financial and the Boston Scholar Athletes Program.

“It’s a lot of extra little things they are learning today, running is obviously part of it but there’s a lot of extra little things that go into it and that’s kind of a parallel for life in general,” Davila said.

“You gotta do all the extra work and find out ways to make yourself better at whatever it is you are trying to get after. So hopefully they realize that. Sometimes it’s not just the main thing, it’s not just going to school and showing up. It’s studying, it’s going home and reading and things like that.”

O’Bryant junior Melissa Jean said meeting the elite athletes, “feels like you are in a dream, you get to meet great people who work hard to get where they are."

Jean also will compete in the Boston Athletic Association’s Invitational Mile on Sunday for high school students, which concludes at the Boston Marathon’s Boylston Street finish line.

“I’m just hoping I can give it my best shot and have fun,” she said.

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

By Hannah Becker, Globe Correspondent

A group of Boston area middle and elementary school students recently participated in the Boys and Girls Club National Swim Championships in St. Petersburg, Florida, as part of Team New England.

Each of the 10 middle school students are members of the Blue Hill Boys & Girls Club, which established its aquatic program in 2008.

Team New England finished second overall and won the Team Spirit Cup at the meet, which was held from March 30 to April 1.

Nine of the 10 swimmers are from Dorchester or Mattapan, and 13-year old Jaida Alverez is from Hyde Park and attends Boston Teachers Union.

Ten-year-old Qwaneyce Taylor of the Richard J. Murphy School of Boston finished in eighth place in the 9-10-year-old 100 yard butterfly. Also finishing in the top 8 was Pablo Azamore, an 8-year-old student at the Perry School in South Boston. He placed sixth in the 8-under boys 50 yard backstroke.

The additional members of the Blue Hill Bearcats who traveled to Florida for the national meet include Christian Kelle (13, Up Academy, South Boston), Zhaniya Bryant (12, Boston Trinity Academy, Boston), Kyle Reid and Kayla Reid (11, Wellesley Middle School), Arianna Williams (10, William Elementary School, Neeham), Sierra Sinclair (9, Bates Elementary School, Wellesley), China Nelson (9, Young Achievers, Boston).

All of the students who participated in the meet either placed in a relay, in the top 16 individually, or scored points for Team New England.

Former Charlestown High guard Akosa Maduegbunam signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Penn State on Wednesday afternoon as his mother looked on. (Justin A. Rice / For the Boston Globe)

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Moments before former Charlestown guard Akosa Maduegbunam signed a national letter of intent to play basketball for Penn State on Wednesday afternoon in the Townie's gymnasium, Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso explained when Maduegbunam should place the crisp new Penn State hat on his head as carefully as a clergy member telling a groom how to place the ring on his bride’s finger.

“I know, I’ve seen it on TV, I’ve just never been a part of it,” Maduegbunam told his old coach, surrounded by family, friends, classmates, and media members.

After averaging 22.3 points per game as a junior for the Townies, Maduegbunam decided to complete his senior year at Winchendon School despite receiving an athletic scholarship to Boston University. He repeated his sophomore year at Charlestown after transferring from Cushing Academy halfway through the year but was eligible to graduate from Charlestown after his junior year.

“We’re very proud of his accomplishments at Charlestown High school and we’re very proud that he has become a young man right in front of our eyes,” Cardoso said during the press conference. “I’ve known Akosa for a couple years now and one thing I can say is he’s a hard working student athlete. He cares about school as much as he cares about basketball and that’s what gives him an option to go to such a great school like Penn State University.”

Maduegbunam said it took a village to get him to this point.

“I want to thank everybody, my little brother, my older sister, all my aunts and uncles and all the male role models I had in life with my father passing early,” he said. “I thank Charlestown High for letting me play my game and being the student athlete I’ve always dreamed of becoming.

“Early in my career I had doubts of ever becoming a Division 1 basketball player but along the way I’ve always had big brothers in my life to build my confidence up, to help me realize I could go after whatever I want. It’s been a long time coming and I still have a long way to go.”

Maduegbunam’s mother, Gina Maduegbunam, said, “I’m really very happy today for my son, I’m very proud of him, he worked hard to be here and I wanted to use this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported him along the way.”

Akosa was also accompanied by his mentor Marques Simpson and Charlestown Headmaster Margaret Bledsoe.

“We’re very proud of Akosa and we’re very proud of our sports program and we’re very proud of the way we use sports as a way to be successful academically and to learn to be more successful in life,” Bledsoe said. “We’re looking forward to more signings in the future and we’re very happy about this one.”

During the press conference Maduegbunam was asked what his top three choices for colleges were.

“Penn State, Penn State, Penn State,” he said with his new hat firmly placed on his head.

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

Justin A. Rice for Boston.com

Boston Scholar Athlete program founder and Suffolk Construction CEO and Chairman, John Fish, speaks at the first-ever Boston Scholar Athlete Zone Party at TD Garden on Tuesday night.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

The first-ever Boston Scholar Athlete Zone Party was held on the floor of the TD Garden Tuesday night. The gala benefited the two-year-old program that has established learning centers for athletes at each of Boston’s 19 public high schools.

“The Boston Scholar athlete program believes there is a link, a proven link, between athletics and academic achievement,” said BSA founder and Suffolk Construction CEO and chairman John Fish.
.
Fish and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino collaborated to create the BSA after the Globe ran a seven-part series on the sad state of the district's athletic program called Failing our athletes.

“The mayor called me about two and a half years ago and said, ‘John we have some challenges with the Boston Public Schools athletic program, I think we can make a difference by putting some additional resources and putting some advice and guidance into it,’” Fish said. “That’s all our team needed to hear was [that we had] an opportunity to work with Boston Public Schools and [Superintendent] Carol Johnson.

“As a result of that phone call we are sitting here tonight and we’re impacting over 4,000 high school athletes in the city of Boston.”

The program — which also provides uniforms for more than 157 teams, skill clinics, all-star games and banquets for 13 sports — has kept 92 percent of its participants eligible to play their sports and has increased SAT scores by an average of 150 points, according to Menino.

“We know it’s working, so let’s come together to reach even more of the young people in our city,” Menino said.

Menino said while Fish defers credit he actually deserves most of it.

“I can remember the day he came to my office after it was reported [in the Globe] about the athletic programs in the Boston Public Schools, he came with the idea and he said ‘I’m going to make sure we have a program in Boston that works both scholastically and athletically for the young people in our city,’” Menino said during the event. “John worked at it, he put his resources behind it and built a great team.

“We wouldn’t be here without the foundation John set up, the Suffolk Red and Blue foundation. … enough can’t be said about this great program. This is a true public private program that is helping the Boston Public School students excel in the classroom, on the field and after graduation.”

West Roxbury High senior football and basketball player Muller Mirville said his GPA increased from a 2.0 to a 2.6 after attending the Zone.

“As of right now it’s getting higher and higher,” he said. “The Zone is a place where people that were in your footsteps help motivate you to become in a position that they are in, which is successful. The experience tonight went well; I see the people that are helping me out and are funding what’s helping me become a successful person.”

BSA Executive Director Rebekah Splaine Salwasser said some of the students in the program have increased their GPA from 1.0 to 4.0.

“And all have improved their chances of graduating from high school by 28 percent as members of our program,” she said. “Tonight we are here to honor the commitment that all these young people have made to improving their opportunities for success.

“All of us in this room contributed to that opportunity. We must continue to work together to provide structured, enriching, sustainable academic and athletic support for our youth."

She said the program is beginning to change the culture of athletics in the district.

“Together with our partners we are starting to see an increase in school and community pride and a renewed sense of confidence," she said, "particularly with our young female athletes.”

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

By Zac Vierra, Globe Correspondent

In the fall, senior left fielder Mitchel Francois runs track for South Boston. The speed paid off for Francois on Tuesday as she legged out a two-out infield single in the bottom of the seventh inning to drive in the winning run as South Boston defeated Brighton, 15-14, in softball.

With the score tied at 14, junior Syndey Cunningham hit a leadoff single then stole second. After a popup, senior Katrina Hernandez walked. Cunningham and Hernandez then had a successful double steal.

“We ran the bases really well today,” said South Boston coach Mary Linehan. After a strikeout, Francois stepped to the plate. She hit a slow roller between the pitcher and the first baseman.

“When the pitcher got the ball she was going to throw to first but Mitchel was already there,” said Linehan. “She hustled right down the line.” Cunningham scored easily on the play as the Knights walked off with the win.

The game went back and forth for the first few innings, with the Knights taking a 12-7 lead after four innings. Brighton then stormed back with a five-run top of the fifth to tie it.

Senior Eileen Soto came in to pitch for South Boston in the fifth and after struggling in her first two innings, settled in and worked a scoreless top of the seventh, giving the Knights momentum for the bottom of the inning.

“It was a good game by both teams,” said Linehan. “Both teams didn’t let up.” South Boston (2-1) will play Snowden on Wednesday.

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Former Charlestown guard Akosa Maduegbunam will sign his letter of intent to play basketball at Penn State 2 p.m. Wednesday at Charlestown High School.

After averaging 22.3 points per game as a junior for the Townies, Maduegbunam decided to complete his senior year at Winchendon School despite receiving an athletic scholarship to Boston University. He repeated his sophomore year at Charlestown after transferring from Cushing Academy halfway through the year but was eligible to graduate from Charlestown after his junior year.

"Charlestown is where I first got to display my talent, it’s basically where I got my confidence," Maduegbunam said about the signing being at Charlestown during a telephone interview on Monday afternoon.

Charlestown coach Edson Cardoso said Penn State asked to do the signing at Charlestown High, which Maduegbunam had no problem with.

"I'm the type of young man that family is everything," he said. "I'm blessed coach is back in my corner. He's great. He’s been to family events and I'm able to talk to him about anything."

Cardoso said Maduegbunam is proof that players can use the Boston City League to springboard into a Division 1 school. Cardoso also expects senior Rony Fernandes to earn a basketball scholarship.

"It also shows that they worked hard and are a prime example of a kid from the inner city that if they do what they have to do, you have an option in front of you," Cardoso said.

Even though he's not going to BU, Maduegbunam will still be playing for the Terriers' former coach, Pat Chambers, in Happy Valley. He said the fact that Chambers spent time in Boston will help ease his transition to a new school and environment.

"That makes everything so much easier," Maduegbunam said. "Coach Chambers, he's just the man. Having him there makes it a lot easier. If I'm home sick, we can probably talk about things.

"He has a lot of confidence in me and makes me confident."

Maduegbunam said he tries not to let the recent child sex abuse scandal in the Penn State football program distract him from his goals, but added that Chambers is the type of coach who can help heal the school's sports culture.

"I know that has nothing to do with the basketball program, people make jokes here and there but that’s not my focus," he said. "Everything else I have to minimize as just a distraction. I couldn't tell you more about it. All I know about Penn State is basketball and academics."

Between his mother subscribing to the Big 10 Network on Direct TV and watching ESPN3 online, Maduegbunam watched as much Penn State basketball as possible this winter. In addition to studying the Nittany Lions on TV, he said he also maintained a 3.0 grade point average at Winchendon and averaged 19 points per game.

On top of that, he said he also learned how to play within a system and to play team defense while at Winchendon.

"I took it as a job here in Winchendon," he said.

Penn State originally made him an offer last summer, according to Maduegbunam, but ended up not having a scholarship available in the Class of 2011 for him.

"Since I wasn't able to sign back in November I always thought April would never come," he said. "Now that the day is approaching I'm excited, I'm ready to get to work. It's just another step closer, just another checkpoint. I'm happy for the people who got to see me grow and for myself I just want to continue to grow and encourage others to push me anytime I seem misguided."

Maduegbunam said he'll always be willing to come back to talk to Charlestown High's teams to "let them know it is possible coming from the city of Boston. There are a lot of distractions and rough neighborhoods. But everything is possible if you put the time in."

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

By Justin A. Rice, Globe Correspondent

Boston public high school track teams will train with current and former Boston Marathon elite runners on Wednesday afternoon, including defending Boston Marathon men’s and women’s champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel.

The second annual Scholars and Stars-World Class Athletes Inspiring Teen Achievers will give 150 students the opportunity to participate in four interactive stations facilitated by the elite athletes at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

Mutai and Kilel will instruct the students on proper running form while a plyometrics workout will be led by Desiree Davila, who will run the marathon for Team USA at the London Olympics this summer. Davila was second in last year’s Boston Marathon women’s race after running the fastest American women’s time ever.

Four-time Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers will instruct the students in “dynamic drills” while a core training workout will be conducted by Greg Meyer, the last American men’s winner at Boston.

The event is being cosponsored by John Hancock Financial and the Boston Scholar Athletes Program.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Suffolk Construction CEO and Chairman, John Fish, who co-founded the Boston Scholar Athlete Program, will be on hand to address the students. Members from John Hancock’s Employee Marathon Program will also be there along with John Hancock Financial Executive Vice President Jim Gallagher.

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

By Ayoub Kourikchi, Globe Correspondent

Seventh-grade pitcher Olivia McGrath earned her second consecutive win as defending Boston City League champion Latin Academy Dragons cruised to a 12-6 win over league rival New Mission Monday at Playstead Park.

McGrath (2-0), fresh from a seven-strikeout performance against South Boston, fanned five, allowed one walk and two hits in two strong innings. She drilled a triple on a full count to knock in two runs in the fourth inning that pushed the Dragons’ lead to 10-6.

Junior pitcher Sydney McGrath relieved her younger sister in the sixth inning and collected three strikeouts to close out the six-inning affair.

“Olivia is our varsity pitcher and she is smooth just like her older sister,” said seventh-year coach Rocco Zizza. “Both sisters have a fierce rivalry and are always competing against each other and that motivates them in practice. This is [the] third McGrath that I have coached and they have all been ultra competitive.”

The Titans jumped out to a first-inning 2-0 lead.

The Dragons rebounded in the second inning to claim a 3-2 lead.

Freshman second baseman Julianne Coleman (3 for 3 with three runs scored) carried the heavy bat and drove in sophomore shortstop Rachel Kerrigan, who singled, and freshman left fielder Vicky Brown, who reached base on an error.

Later in the inning, Rachel Wells singled to left and knocked in sophomore catcher Eliza Laden-Mauro.

The Titans fell apart late in the game after committing five errors and issuing eight walks.

“A lot of our offense stemmed from New Mission’s mistakes, they had more errors and [issued] walks than us, and we capitalized on that,” Zizzo said. “Those mistakes allowed us to have base runners in every inning and we were able to over match them. They had great athletes but we had better softball players.”

Junior third baseman Aurora O’Bryant had a base-clearing double in the fourth inning to knock in two Dragons and extend the lead to 9-2.

Wells, Coleman, and Anna Kopp scored the Dragons' final three runs on two hits, two walks, an error, and two fielder’s choices in the sixth inning.

“We are a very young team. We have a lot of sophomores and freshman and they are all out there having fun,” Zizza said. “It was close for a little bit but we played tough and as long as we play well we are going to win.”

The Dragons (2-0) face Everett Wednesday.

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