10 high school takeaways from Friday, when the boys' tennis semifinals solidified and Dedham hired a football coach
1. Boys' tennis semifinals
Fourteen of the 16 semifinalists have been determined, and all four No. 1 seeds are still dancing. The only seed lower than No. 7 is No. 13 Latin Academy, which took down No. 5 Medfield, 3-2, in the quarterfinals. The field:
Division 1
No. 5 Concord-Carlisle vs. No. 1 St. John's Prep
No. 6 Lexington vs. No. 2 Acton-Boxborough
Division 2
No. 4 Duxbury vs. No. 1 Hopkinton
No. 7 Westborough vs. No. 3 Sharon
Division 3
No. 13 Latin Academy vs. No. 1 Bedford
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No. 2 Martha's Vineyard vs. No. 6 Weston/No. 3 Newburyport
Division 4
No. 5 Cohasset vs. No. 1 Manchester Essex
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No. 7 Sturgis West vs. No. 7 Mystic Valley/No. 2 Lynnfield
2. Rugby finals set
With top-seeded Hanover's 64-5 demolition of Algonquin in the Division 2 semifinals, all three rugby championship matchups are solidified: No. 2 Xaverian and No. 1 BC High will face off in Division 1, and No. 2 Brookline and No. 1 Hanover battle for the Division 2 crown, both on June 14 at Curry College. No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury faces No. 1 Belmont in the girls' rugby championship game, also June 14 at Curry College.
Algonquin junior Preston Biamou is pulled down during a 64-5 semifinal loss at Hanover.
Laura White/Algonquin High School
3. Upset city
With the two boys' volleyball Cinderella's, No. 26 Barnstable and No. 27 Taunton, both seeing their fairy-tale runs end in the Division 1 quarterfinals, there is now just one team seeded in the 20s remaining across all sports, and that's No. 21 Bishop Fenwick girls' tennis, which topped No. 13 Danvers, 3-2, Friday to advance to the Division 3 semifinals.
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The first big upset of the girls' tennis tournament saw No. 8 Winchester knock off No. 1 Boston Latin, so far the only No. 1 tennis seed to falter thus far.
And in softball, sixth-seeded Lincoln-Sudbury handed No. 3 King Philip a 4-1 loss in the quarterfinals, making the Warriors the highest-seeded team to be bounced from the softball brackets to date.
4. Three stars
Erin O'Day
, Uxbridge — The junior, who is committed to UMass, was sensational, striking out 20 in a 1-0 one-hitter against Abington, and scoring the game's only run. She now has 47 strikeouts in three playoff games.
Simon Vardeh
, Newton North — The senior caught fire, slamming down a career-high 36 kills, including eight in a row during a stretch in the second set, to lead the Tigers to a 3-1 win over Lexington in the Division 1 quarterfinals. Teammate Paul Nelson dished 50 assists.
McCoy Walsh
, King Philip — We don't usually put athletes from eliminated teams here, but the junior did her best to keep the Warriors playing, striking out 14 and eclipsing 600 career strikeouts in a 4-1 Division 1 quarterfinal loss to Lincoln-Sudbury.
5. Going, going, gone
All four of the day's home runs came from the same game, and represented four of the five runs scored in
Nicole Lent
launched a pair of shots for L-S, while her older sister,
Ashleigh
, hit one as well. Not to be left out, KP's only run came on
Liv
Petrillo's
solo blast.
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6. Daily lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Avery Regan
, Cohasset, 6
Sadie Lopez
, Notre Dame (H), 5
Reese Hansen
, Cohasset, 4
Cole Hogencamp
, Mansfield, 4
Jill Martin
, Chelmsford, 4
Holly Panttila
, Norwell, 4
Points
Lexi Davos
, Norwell, 8
Regan, Cohasset, 8
Kate Greer
, Cohasset, 6
Lopez, Notre Dame (H), 5
Panttila, Norwell, 5
7. Daily strikeout leaderboard
Erin O'Day
, Uxbridge, 20
McCoy Walsh
, King Philip, 14
Lila Alvarez
, Joseph Case, 13
Elsie Testa
, Abington, 8
8. College corner
Texas Tech freshman
Sam Lincoln
, who pitched Taunton to its fourth-straight state championship just 12 months ago, made her College Word Series Finals debut, striking out four in three relief innings as Texas won, 10-4, to capture the national championship.
The Red Rangers trailed, 10-0, when Lincoln entered the game in the fourth inning. She didn't allow a hit the rest of the way, walking two.
Lincoln a 6-foot lefthander, finished her freshman year with an 8-3 record and 3.65 ERA, striking out 52 in 69 innings.
Working!!
— Carrie Consalvi (@cmiconsalvi)
Northeastern graduate student
Will Jones
, a Hamilton-Wenham graduate, was chosen as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District 1 Player of the Year.
A lefthanded pitcher, Jones went 11-1 with a 2.62 ERA, striking out 75 batters in 72 innings and tossing five shutouts. A first-team All-CAA selection, he was 11-0 with 1.82 ERA entering NCAA Regionals and set a Huskies single-season record for wins.
He is the second Northeastern player in a row to win the award, following Peabody native and St. John's Prep graduate
Tyler MacGregor
.
𝗡𝗖𝗕𝗪𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝟭 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿
Will Jones becomes the second Husky in a row to claim District 1
📝
— Northeastern Baseball (@GoNUbaseball)
9. Coaching carousel
Dedham has a new football coach.
The Marauders have hired
Doug Carilli
, most recently the defensive backs coach at Curry College. The Dedham resident, who played at Curry, has also worked at Rivers, Westwood, Weston, Framingham, and BC High, where he was defensive coordinator.
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'Throughout the selection process, his commitment to the town, his vision for the future of our football program, and his focus on the growth and development of our student-athletes clearly distinguished him from a strong pool of candidates,' the school's athletic department posted on X.
We are excited to announce the appointment of Doug Carilli as the new Head Football Coach at DHS.
Coach Carilli, a proud Dedham resident, brings a wealth of coaching experience and a deep passion for our community.
— DedhamAthletics (@DedhamAthletics)
10. Star list
The Eastern Mass. Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Stars were announced Friday.
The EMLCA League Reps Committee elected
— EMLCA (@EmlcaCoaches)
Brendan Kurie can be reached at
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