Twelve things to know from championship weekend| Varsity News

Find the full list of spring champions here, browse back through all the quarterfinal and semifinal results, or check out the Globe Foundation/Richard J. Phelps Scholar-Athletes selections, as well as the Will McDonough Writing Contest winners.

Mark your calendars for Friday, July 10, when the Globe’s spring All-Scholastic picks will be published at Globe.com/Schools, followed by a special section in the Sunday, July 12 newspaper.

We sifted through all 31 MIAA championship games played last week, and here’s the top 12 things to know:

1. With a wild fifth inning that saw the Knights plate 11 runs, all with two outs — tying the 2010 championship-game record for runs in an inning— to blow open the Division 1 baseball final, Catholic Memorial earned the program’s second state title, but first since 1973 (sound familiar Knicks fans?) with a 13-4 win over Bishop Feehan. It was the first title for coach Hal Carey, a 1995 alum and former Harvard standout, who has been the helm for 21 years.

2. Even without its usual elite pitching, Taunton found enough offense and got a gritty relief performance from eighth-grader Ella Parece to capture its sixth straight state championship, 11-8, in a slugfest over Hockomock rival Attleboro. Bella Bourque (3 for 4, home run, three RBIs) and Victoria Corrao (3 for 3, home run, RBI, three runs) paced the Tigers as they won their 80th straight game against in-state competition. The 19 combined runs were the most in a championship softball game, surpassing Amherst’s 10-8 win over Canton in 1978.

3. With 17 kills, including six from the back row, in the Division 2 boys’ volleyball final, a 3-1 triumph over Westfield, Wayland senior Finn Bell finished his high school career with 1,485, the most in state history. His final kill clinched Wayland’s first boys’ volleyball crown. “It’s amazing,” Bell said. “It’s what I’ve been chasing the last four years in my career. Having the final kill too, it’s surreal. The best feeling I’ve ever had on a volleyball court.”

4. In King Philip’s 14-1 statement win over Somerset Berkley in the Division 2 softball final, sophomore Annabelle Curran went 4 for 5, tying Taunton’s Ashleigh Cornell (2003) for the most hits in a state final. In the same game, Ali Gill blasted a three-run homer in the third inning, then added an RBI triple in the same frame. Joseph Case captured its fourth straight title, 5-1, over Apponequet, claiming three in a row in Division 4, then moving up to D3 and winning again.

5. Playing in its fifth championship game in six years — and having lost six times in the state final in a decade — BC High boys’ lacrosse finally got over the hump and captured its second title, 10-9, over Lincoln-Sudbury. After five-time champion St. John’s Prep lost to BC High in the semifinals, the last two programs to claim Division 1 crowns met up in the final, with Murphy Belvin and Nate Rogers both netting hat tricks for the Eagles, who got eight saves from TJ Emsing.

6. Newton South dominated the Division 1 girls’ tennis final, pulling off the only championship sweep for either gender with a 5-0 win over Dual County League rival Boston Latin. It was the Lions’ first title in 49 years.

7. Mamie Kosicki and Sarah Fortier teamed up to help Concord-Carlisle repeat as Division 1 girls’ lacrosse champion. Kosicki made 13 saves and Fortier scored the winning goal with 1 minute, 28 seconds left in overtime for a 10-9 victory over Notre Dame (Hingham). The Patriots rallied from down 5-2 in the first quarter to go back-to-back.

8. Georgetown was about to get no-hit in the Division 5 baseball championship by the English High combo of Juarel Melo and Yuniesky Brea when Ty Southall came to the plate with two outs in the seventh and hammered a two-out triple, forcing extras. Georgetown won it, 3-2, in the eighth on Ryan Skahan’s sacrifice fly for their first title in 14 years. Melo struck out 14 in 5⅔ no-hit innings, although he walked eight, with the pitch limit forcing his early exit.

9. No boys’ lacrosse program is more decorated than Longmeadow, which played in its 41st championship game and captured its 22nd title, 10-5, over Mansfield, despite moving to a new coach in Frank Verde, who took over for Keith Campbell this season. Cohasset, which won the D4 title, 7-6, over Nantucket, is second all-time with 13 crowns.

10. The Sandwich girls became the first lacrosse team from Cape Cod to win a state championship when they vanquished Ipswich, 9-6, in the Division 4 championship. Paige Morrison scored the go-ahead goal with 10:40 left, and Elisabeth Stutzman netted a hat trick. The Blue Knights outscored their opponents 81-18 in the tournament.

11. Programs winning their first championship: King Philip baseball, Advanced Math and Science Academy softball, Maynard softball, Sandwich girls’ lacrosse, Wayland boys’ volleyball, and Mystic Valley boys’ tennis.

12. Potential first-round MLB draft pick and Texas-committed Bishop Feehan ace Brody Bumila just didn’t have it in the D1 championship game. Whether exhaustion or a dead arm, he struggled through two innings, tossing 44 pitches before being pulled after allowing two runs. He did, however, provide a two-run single, then was named Globe boys’ Athlete of the Year on Tuesday at Fenway Park, where he also met with Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Earlier in the week he was tabbed the MaxPreps Male National Athlete of the Year.

Softball: In a Division 1 semifinal that was postponed 16 hours in the 10th inning due to darkness at UMass Dartmouth, Attleboro received an RBI double from Jenna Callahan in the 11th to advance to the final . . . Boys’ lacrosse: The most exciting finish of the sport’s finals saw Cohasset star Gus Greene complete a hat trick by netting the winner with 23 seconds left in a Division 4 triumph over Nantucket . . . Boys’ tennis: With hundreds of spectators glued to his third singles battle, Alex Fine delivered the winning point, triumphing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to give Newton North its first boys’ tennis title in 24 years . . . Girls’ tennis: Freshman Ellen Gilson won her second-set tiebreaker, 7-1, at third singles to hand Manchester Essex the decisive point in the Division 4 final, toppling four-time defending champion and Cape Ann rival Hamilton-Wenham.

King Philip became the only school to claim baseball and softball titles in 2026 on the backs of a pair of pitching stars. Apponequet had teams in both finals, while Cohasset pulled off the feat in lacrosse.

A JV starter last year, King Philip junior righthander Matt Labriola emerged during the playoffs, going 3-0 with 29 strikeouts and one run allowed in three postseason starts. He saved his best for last, a four-strikeout, four-hit gem over 6⅔ innings as King Philip defeated Milton, 4-1, in the Division 2 baseball championship for the school’s first title.

KP senior McCoy Walsh nearly ended her decorated career with a perfect postseason. The Hofstra-bound righthander didn’t allow a run over her first 33 postseason innings before surrendering one in the sixth inning of the Division 2 softball championship, a 14-1 rout of Somerset Berkley, giving KP its first softball crown in 10 years and sending coach Katie Fallon-Comeau into retirement with a title. Walsh finished the tournament with 60 strikeouts after fanning 12 in the championship.

Honorable mention: The Abington boys’ 4×400-meter relay broke the state record twice in a week. Juniors Aiden Calcano Da Silva, Nathan Calcano Da Silva, Lucas de Oliveira, and Nazir Paulding finished in 3 minutes, 16.03 seconds at the Meet of Champions on June 6, shattering the previous mark of 3:18.04, set by Northampton in 2017. On Saturday in Maine, the Green Wave quartet raced to a 3:15.01 time, a New England Championship meet and state record . . . Catholic Memorial’s Liam McKinney fired a complete game, allowing two earned runs, while also collecting three runs, two hits, and an RBI at the plate in the D1 final . . . Middleborough senior EJ Wanke had three postseason saves, including pitching the seventh inning of a 2-1 D3 championship victory over Apponequet, while also providing both of the game’s RBIs. The South Shore MVP finished the season with 10 saves . . . Seekonk junior Brayden McBride ripped a two-run double down the third-base line with two outs in the seventh inning to flip a 3-2 deficit and give the Warriors a 4-3 win in the D4 baseball championship . . . With a three-run homer, Joseph Case sophomore Alyana DeJesus drove in four runs in a 5-1 D3 softball final over Apponequet. In the same game, junior Lila Alvarez struck out 11 and allowed just five hits . . . Maynard sophomore Maddy Karlon recorded a 1.05 ERA and 65 strikeouts in five complete games while leading Maynard to the D5 softball title, 4-2, over Hopedale . . . Scituate senior Luke Spaulding scored twice in the opening minute and finished with a hat trick in a 7-4 D3 boys’ lacrosse championship over Dracut . . . Senior Ava MacLean scored five goals, the most in a lacrosse title game this year, as she lifted Walpole to a 12-11 victory in the D2 girls’ championship game . . . Avery Regan paced Cohasset with three goals as the Skippers avenged last year’s title-game loss with a 9-6 D3 final win over Norwell . . . Senior Amir Tomer powered Brookline to back-to-back D1 boys’ volleyball titles with 20 kills and three aces in a 3-1 rematch victory over Needham. Junior Kais Al-Fakhuri added 11 kills, and junior Luka Gallucci finished with seven blocks . . . Junior Laina Dubin won a marathon three-set match at first singles to clinch the Division 3 girls’ tennis title for Martha’s Vineyard, 3-2, over Dover-Sherborn . . . Sophomore Sophia Lafontant was named MVP of the Patriots Girls’ High School Division 1 Flag Football Championship as she led St. Mary’s to a third-straight title, 12-6, over Leominster. Fitchburg won the D2 title, 15-14, over Peabody.

Coach of the Week: Marcus Craigwell became the first Black coach to win an MIAA boys’ lacrosse state title Friday when BC High held off Lincoln-Sudbury, 10-9, in the D1 final. Craigwell, born and raised in Dorchester, didn’t play lacrosse until he attended Weston as a METCO student and picked up a spring sport. Craigwell was Weston’s captain and leading scorer as a senior, then played at Kent School, then picked up a long pole and held down the defense for Hobart College.

After four years as the head coach at Wayland, during which he earned DCL Coach of the Year honors in 2018, Craigwell took over for Steve Lydon in 2019 following BC High’s state title run.

“It’s an accomplishment,” Craigwell said of becoming the first Black coach to win a title. “It shows progression in a sport and shows the sport is for everyone. It’s great to be part of history and hopefully motivate young Black coaches to do it as well. I think Massachusetts lacrosse is heading down a good path.”

— Nate Weitzer

👨‍🎓Watch the Globe Foundation/Richard J. Phelps Scholar-Athlete and Athletes of the Year honored at Fenway Park.

🥎 Globe correspondent Matty Wasserman broke down exactly how Taunton went about capturing its sixth straight softball title.

⚾ Georgetown’s Ty Southall breaks up a no-hit bid with a two-run triple with two outs in the seventh inning, forcing extras in the D5 baseball final.

🥍Gus Greene delivered Cohasset a D3 state title with this goal with 23 seconds remaining in regulation.

Why would the parents go to these lengths? Why not just teach their children to own it?

We’ll bring back the student photojournalist gallery next week, so today enjoy this incredible gallery of state championship photos from our staff and freelance photographers.

Photo gallery: The Globe’s best images from the spring high school sports state championships

Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.