If you’re reading this Wednesday night, the Division 1 and 2 girls’ lacrosse champions are being crowned, the final seven softball semifinals are wrapping up — including an Attleboro-Central Catholic Division 1 showdown that was suspended after 10 innings due to darkness Tuesday — and the last two boys’ lacrosse finalists are being determined.
The baseball championships are set for Polar Park on Friday and Saturday, the softball championships will be held those same days at Worcester State, the boys’ lacrosse finals are Friday and Saturday, also at Worcester State, the last two girls’ lacrosse finals are Thursday at Babson, the boys’ volleyball finals take place Thursday (D2 at Worcester North) and Friday (D1 at Newton South), and all 10 boys’ and girls’ tennis finals are slated for Saturday at MIT, with Sunday as a rain date.
Find the full championship schedule here.
Thirteen state final previews* in 13 sentences, let’s go:
D1 baseball (6 p.m. Saturday): No. 2 Bishop Feehan vs. No. 5 Catholic Memorial is a matchup that will make history no matter who wins, as CM is playing in its first championship since 1973, while Feehan is in its first title game in 28 years, seeking its first crown since 1994.
D2 baseball (7 p.m. Friday): No. 4 Milton vs. No. 11 King Philip is giving baseball fans deja vu, as they met up in the 2022 and 2023 finals, with Milton winning both times; KP is the lowest seed to make a championship in any sport this spring.
D3 baseball (3 pm. Saturday): No. 3 Middleborough vs. No. 5 Apponequet features neighboring communities with strong baseball traditions, although Apponequet has never made a final before, and Middleborough hasn’t been here since capturing its third title in 2015.
D4 baseball (noon, Saturday): No. 1 Hamilton-Wenham vs. No. 7 Seekonk is lopsided in recent experience, with Seekonk playing in its fourth title game in five years, which includes back-to-back titles in 2023–24, against an H-W squad that hasn’t won it all in 38 years and hasn’t made it this far in 35.
D5 baseball (4 p.m. Friday): No. 1 English High vs. No. 2 Georgetown is a 2024 rematch, when English captured the first baseball title for a Boston City League team, then English returned last year and lost in extras, while Georgetown, a five-time finalist, eyes its first championship since 2012.
D4 softball (TBD): No. 1 Advanced Math and Science vs. No. 3 Tyngsborough is a matchup featuring just one title (Tyngsborough in 2022; it lost last year’s final) between the programs, but features two of the state’s elite two-way talents in Tyngsborough senior Kylie Hogan and AMSA junior Ava McLeod.
D1 boys’ lacrosse (4:30 p.m. Friday): No. 1 Lincoln Sudbury vs. No. 6 BC High means there will be a new D1 champ for the first time since 2019, when L-S last won it all; in fact, L-S and BC High are the last two teams other than St. John’s Prep to claim D1 titles, with those three programs accounting for the last 10 championships (5 for SJP, 4 for L-S, 1 for BCH).
D2 boys’ lacrosse (7 p.m. Friday): No. 2 Longmeadow vs. No. 4 Mansfield is an interesting matchup of a high-scoring Mansfield team going for its first title against the most decorated boys’ lacrosse program in state history, with Longmeadow making its 40th championship appearance while aiming for its 22nd state title.
D4 boys’ lacrosse (1:39 p.m. Saturday): No. 1 Cohasset vs. No. 2 Nantucket pits the 2024 champ (Nantucket) against the 2023 champ (Cohasset).
D3 girls’ lacrosse (6:45 p.m. Thursday): No. 1 Cohasset vs. No. 2 Norwell is a rematch of last year’s Division 4 final, which Norwell won, 9-8, but Cohasset picked up a 17-5 regular-season win on May 5.
D4 girls’ lacrosse (4:30 p.m. Thursday): No. 1 Sandwich vs. No. 2 Ipswich is one of three 1 vs. 2 matchups in the girls’ lacrosse finals and features a Sandwich squad playing in its first final against an Ipswich team seeking its first title after losing in the 2023 and 2024 finals.
D1 boys’ volleyball (6 p.m. Friday): No. 1 Needham vs. No. 2 Brookline is rematch of last year’s final, which Brookline took in four sets, but after these Bay State rivals split in the regular season, Needham is looking to get back to its 2021-23 success when it strung together three titles in a row.
D2 boys’ volleyball (6 p.m. Thursday): No. 1 Wayland vs. No. 2 Westfield marks the second time in three years they have met in the championship, with Westfield taking a five-set thriller in 2024; this is Wayland’s fourth finals appearance but it’s still seeking its first crown, while Westfield looks to take home the title for the third straight even-numbered year.
* The remaining softball and lacrosse finals either had not been determined by Wednesday morning or were played Wednesday night.
Boys’ lacrosse: Every season since 2021, BC High has run up against St. John’s Prep in the Division 1 playoffs and lost. Not this time. Thanks to Jake Adams’s equalizer with four seconds left in regulation and Nathan Rogers’s OT winner, sixth-seeded BC High ended second-seeded SJP’s run of five straight state titles . . . Baseball: No. 4 Milton fell behind 4-0 then rallied to take down top-seeded St. Mary’s in the Division 2 semifinals, with Peter Buckley’s RBI single to right field plating the winning run . . . Softball: Fifth-seeded Apponequet stunned the top-seeded, two-time defending champion, Dighton-Rehoboth, 2-1, in the D3 semifinals with a brilliant performance from sophomore hurler Reese Taylor . . . Boys’ tennis: In what was the first real shocking result of the tournament, sixth-seeded Newton South went into Danvers and took down the two-time defending Division 1 champions, No. 2 St. John’s Prep.
Athletes of the Week: Apponequet’s Reese Taylor and Reading’s Ryan Pulpi
To reach its first state final in 27 years, Apponequet softball needed a Herculean effort from sophomore Reese Taylor, and she delivered. Facing the two-time defending Division 3 champions, top-seeded Dighton-Rehoboth, in the semifinals, Taylor continued her torrid postseason, striking out 14 in a one-hitter as the fifth-seeded Lakers managed a 2-1 upset. In four postseason games, Taylor has a 1.04 ERA and 43 strikeouts while allowing just 13 hits in 26 innings.
Reading senior Ryan Pulpi finished off an undefeated spring track season in the 100, 200, and 400 meters in style by breaking the 43-year-old Meet of Champions record in the 400, blazing to a 47.33-second finish to top Mike Greene of BC High’s mark of 47.52 seconds, set in 1983, which was the sixth-oldest standing record at the Meet of Champions. Earlier in the meet, Pulpi won the 200 in 21.06, making him one of three athletes to win multiple events, along with Sharon senior Kina Kyei-Aboagye (100, 200) and Cohasset junior Nicholas Askjaer (discus, shot put).
Honorable mentions: Longmeadow senior setter Nhan Vuong cemented the state’s career assist record by finishing with 3,024 following a 3-0 Division 2 quarterfinal loss to Wayland. He is the only boys’ volleyball player in state history to reach 3,000 assists . . . Catholic Memorial junior Amar Skeete surpassed his own state record in the triple jump and obliterated the Meet of Champions mark with a distance of 51 feet, 2 inches, blowing past the 1981 record of 49-06 . . . Lexington senior Ainsley Cuthbertson completed an undefeated season in the girls’ discus with a throw of 41 feet, 2.5 inches at the Meet of Champions . . . Cohasset senior sisters Emily and Avery Regan combined for 10 goals in an 18-2 Division 3 girls’ lacrosse semifinal win over Wayland, with Emily netting six and Avery adding four . . . Franklin sophomore Clara Blongastainer finished the season with 100 goals after scoring three times in a 14-10 Division 1 quarterfinal loss to Westford . . . In her final high school game, a 12-11 girls’ lacrosse loss to Scituate, Medfield senior goalie Athena Polechornis achieved 200 career saves . . . Tyngsborough senior ace Kiley Hogan tossed a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in an 8-0 Division 4 softball semifinal win over Hampshire, adding three hits, two runs, and an RBI . . . Advanced Math and Science junior Ava McLeod not only tossed five hitless innings in a 5-0 D4 softball quarterfinal win over Lunenburg, but she belted a three-run homer and added an RBI single . . . Milton senior Victoria Fish’s 100th career hit was a home run in a 3-2 D2 second-round softball loss to Wakefield . . . Georgetown senior Maddie Grant eclipsed 800 career strikeouts during a 5-0 D5 second-round softball win over Greenfield . . . Norton senior Liana Danubio notched her 700th career strikeout during a 14-1 D3 second-round softball win over North Reading . . . Silver Lake junior Anna Craft had her 100th career hit during a 6-5 D2 second-round softball win over Reading . . . The English High duo of Jaurel Melo and Luis Mejia took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of their 10-0 D5 baseball quarterfinal victory over Hopedale, and the one hit allowed was erased by a double play. Melo struck out nine of the 13 batters he faced, walking one, before Mejia threw the final three innings, allowing one hit. Mejia added an inside-the-park home run, a triple, and an RBI single, then followed up with a two-hit shutout in which he fanned nine and collected two hits in a 3-0 semifinal win over Drury . . . Hamilton-Wenham’s Cormac Heney fired eight two-hit innings with 14 strikeouts in a 2-1 D4 baseball quarterfinal win over Sandwich . . . Apponequet’s Peter Kanakis singled home Bryce Figueroa for a 2-1 walkoff win over Hanover in the bottom of the ninth to reach the D3 baseball championship . . . Ipswich senior Finn Wright became the school’s career boys’ lacrosse points leader with 266, while also reaching 200 career goals, when he scored four times in a 17-1 D4 boys’ lacrosse win over Lunenburg . . . Lincoln-Sudbury senior Brendan Dooley scored nine times in a 17-5 D1 boys’ lacrosse semifinal rout of Acton-Boxborough . . . Cohasset senior attack Tim Donovan surpassed 200 career points with four goals and two assists in a 19-6 D4 boys’ lacrosse quarterfinal win over Bourne/Mashpee . . . Abington junior Gunner Hanna and senior Matt Grafton both surpassed 100 career goals durig a 14-4 D4 quarterfinal win over Lynnfield . . . Winthrop senior Seth Sacco topped 100 goals for the season with five in a 17-4 D4 second-round win over East Bridgewater.
Coach of the Week: Medfield boys’ lacrosse coach John Isaf recorded his 250th career win with a 14-5 triumph over Foxborough in the second round of the Division 3 tournament. Isaf has won four state championships, most recently in 2024.
The Big Moment: Watch these highlights 🎥
🥍We’ve got two highlights from this one: First Jake Adams ties it for BC High with four seconds left in regulation, then Nate Rogers finished it in overtime to snap five years of heartbreaking losses to St. John’s Prep in the D1 boys’ lacrosse bracket.
⚾ In the bottom of the ninth inning, Apponequet’s Peter Kanakis connected on an RBI single to left, plating Bryce Figueroa for the walkoff win in the D3 semifinals.
⚾ Bishop Feehan’s Eddie Ritchie ripped a two-run triple to deep center to help send the Shamrocks to the Division 1 baseball final.
🥍⚾ We got a kick out of this video of the Milton boys’ lacrosse team taking a break from its season-ending banquet to cheer its baseball team’s semifinal win.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
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Four winners of Will McDonough Writing Contest announced
The Will McDonough Writing Contest got a remodel this year, transforming from an essay contest for grades 4-12 to a high school sports journalism contest. Held in memory of longtime Globe sports columnist Will McDonough, who died in 2003, the contest received more than 90 entries from students across New England, and they were judged on “how well they express and support ideas, opinions, and claims, with sports as a central element.” This year’s winners:
Grade 12: Devyn O’Donnell, Cranson West (R.I.)
Grade 11: Joseph Manzi, Cranston West (R.I.)
Grade 10: Ada Ferguson, Oakmont Regional
Grade 9: Ella Fireman, The Rivers School
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie.
