Eight high school takeaways from Friday as the MIAA playoffs ramp up

31-05-2025

Next stop, Friday night's roundups, featuring recaps of more than 70 games:
1. Milestones
Scituate senior
Kate Stone
notched her 150th career goal and 200th career point while recording a hat trick in a 10-8 Division 2 girls' lacrosse first-round win over Algonquin.
Methuen junior goalie
Meghan Terry
made 16 saves in a 17-9 Division 2 prelim win over Hopkinton, including the 300th of her career.
Greater Lowell senior
Emma Finch
finished her senior season with 54 goals, and she will graduate as the program's all-time leader in goals with 153.
2. Upset central
The highest-ranked teams to be eliminated Friday were Oxford softball — ranked No. 12 in Division 4, the Pirates fell, 5-4 to No. 21 Lynnfield — and Wesborough girls' lacrosse, also ranked 12th in Division 2, which lost, 8-7, to No. 21 Northampton.
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Other seeds in the teens that were toppled: No. 13 Norton boys' volleyball, which fell, 3-2, to No. 20 Lynn Classical in the Division 2 first round; No. 13 Notre Dame (Worcester), which suffered an 8-6 loss to No. 20 Monty Tech in the Division 3 first round; No. 14 Sturgis East girl's tennis, which lost, 3-2, to No. 19 Palmer, and No. 15 Arlington boys' tennis, which fell, 3-2, to No. 18 Andover.
The largest upset of the day, by difference in seedings, was No. 39 Greater Lawrence softball taking down No. 26 North Reading, 7-3, in the Division 3 preliminary round.
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3. Walkoff wins
Boy, were there some dramatic ones.
It doesn't get much more intense than a 0-0 game in the bottom of the seventh, but that's what No. 23 Triton faced against No. 42 Ursuline in the Division 3 softball preliminary round.
Ava Johnson
was hit by a pitch, stole two bases, and with two outs raced home on
Izze Turner's
single up the middle for a 1-0 walkoff win.
Giving that finish a run for its money, No. 31 Sturgis East softball trailed, 2-1, in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded when
Sam Orcutt
, who had homered earlier for the team's first run, launched a grand slam for a 5-2 walkoff win over No. 34 Mystic Valley in the preliminary round of the Division 5 tournament.
No. 25 Tantasqua baseball survived an upset bid from No. 40 Lowell Catholic when
Brandon Phillips
managed an RBI infield single in the bottom of the seventh for a 3-2 Division 3 preliminary-round win.
In the Division 3 softball tournament, No. 31 Blackstone Valley's
Julia Trujillo
tied the game with a triple in the bottom of the ninth, then came around to score the winning run on
Payton Smith's
walkoff single, completing a 3-2 preliminary-round victory.
This one wasn't technically a walk off, and maybe we need a new category for these types of games, but No. 33 Martha's Vineyard baseball won an epic 12-inning Division 3 preliminary-round matchup, 4-3, over No. 32 Ashland on
Eli Bryant's
sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th.
4. Three stars
Mackenzy Ponte
, Westport — The senior, in her sixth year on varsity and fifth as the Wildcats' starter, struck out 10 in a five-inning no-hitter to beat English High, 23-0, in the Division 5 preliminary round.
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Dakota Vaudreuil
, Bartlett — The senior struck out 17 in a five inning no-hitter to defeat Kennedy Academy, 24-0 in the preliminary round of the Division 5 softball tournament.
Bella Mara
, St. Paul — The senior did it all, striking out eight without allowing a run and going 3 for 3 with a double and two home runs in a 10-3 first-round win for the No. 7 Knights.
5. Going, going gone
We mentioned Mara's two home runs for St. Paul, and Orcutt's walkoff grand slam for Sturgis East, but there was plenty of notable power displays across the Bay State.
Wakefield's
Jackie Sullivan
blasted a grand slam, Hudson got back-to-back blasts from
Lauren O'Malley
and
Taylor Attaway
, Lynnfield got homers from
Olivia Kelter
and
Morgan Hubbard
, and Westport's
Lauryn Souza
and Upper Cape's
Jaelynn Harraden
both raced to inside-the-park round-trippers.
Also homering were Wakefield's
Chloe Seto
, Chelmsford's
Jenna Nigro
, and Sutton's
Kaila Wheeler
.
6. Daily lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Bella Young
, North Middlesex, 8
Mac Cole
, Pentucket, 7
Sal Brogna
, St. Mary's, 6
Kiera Fitzpatrick
, Methuen, 6
Mason Gadbois
, Essex Tech, 6
Lillian Gikas
, Tyngsborough, 6
Addie Hajj
, North Reading, 6
John Powers
, Lynnfield, 6
Finn Racki
, St. Mary's, 6
Kelan Cardinal
, Lynnfield, 5
Casey Collins
, Essex Tech, 5
Alexis Deschenes
, Tyngsborough, 5
Kate Fitzpatrick
, Methuen, 5
Cassie Gallagher
, Billerica, 5
Daniel Hanafin
, Foxborough, 5
Nate Stys
, Pentucket, 5
Points
Young, North Middlesex, 9
Gadbois, Essex Tech, 8
Gikas, Tyngsborough, 8
Timothy Tavares
, Essex Tech, 8
Cole, Pentucket, 7
Alexis Deschenes
, Tyngsborough, 7
Ki. Fitzpatrick, Methuen, 7
Gallagher, Billerica, 7
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Nolan Jennings
, Burlington, 7
Stys, Pentucket, 7
Cardinal, Lynnfield, 6
Nevin Maher
, Essex Tech, 6
Powers, Lynnfield, 6
Michael Torrisi
, Pentucket, 6
7. Daily strikeout leaderboard
Dakota Vaudreuil
, Bartlett, 17
Emma Penniman
, Triton, 16
Tessa Francis
, Marblehead, 11
Mackenzy Ponte
, Westport, 10
Sophie Baker
, Medfield, 9
Molly Abdella
, Tahanto, 8
Bella Mara
, St. Paul, 8
8. Coaching carousel
Mike Scammon
has doubled his duties at North Andover, where he will take over as the girls' volleyball coach in the fall. Scammon has served as the Scarlet Knights' boys' volleyball coach for the past five seasons, winning a Merrimack Valley Conference title in 2021, when he was named MVC Coach of the Year. The Methuen native and teacher at Methuen High also serves as the program director for the New England Storm volleyball club.
NEW GIRLS VOLLEYBALL COACH
Excited to announce Mike Scammon as our new Girls Varsity Volleyball Coach!
— Scarlet Knights (@NA_Athletics)
Brendan Kurie can be reached at

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Kodai Senga gives flailing Mets rotation a rare positive before losing steam

New York Post

10 hours ago

New York Post

Kodai Senga gives flailing Mets rotation a rare positive before losing steam

Access the Mets beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets. Try it free Kodai Senga said Thursday night's outing against the Braves was the best he'd felt since returning from the 15-day injured list last month. By the sixth inning, however, Senga found himself in a bit of a jam as he started to lose the aggressiveness and conviction he had been throwing with for a majority of the night. Advertisement After walking Matt Olson, giving up a single to Drake Baldwin and allowing Michael Harris II to put runners on first and third on a sharp ground ball to center field, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza decided to give Senga the hook and hand the game over to the bullpen. Senga may have been the first Mets starter in over a week to complete five innings, but the relievers couldn't finish the job in a 4-3 loss to complete the three-game series against Atlanta at Citi Field. 'At that moment — 93 pitches, I think it was — I got a pretty, pretty good arm [in Tyler Rodgers] ready to go there, too,' Mendoza said when asked if his decision to take Senga out was because of the home run Ozzie Albies hit off him in the fourth or just how he felt at that time. 'Just couldn't get that last one there. But I thought Senga, overall, was really good.' Advertisement Kodai Senga delivers a pitch during the Mets' 4-3 loss to the Braves on Aug. 14, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post There haven't been many positives for the Mets to take away from this stretch of mounting losses, but Senga gave the club a slight glimmer of hope in an otherwise tough pitching stretch. And yet Senga, who has not gone six innings or more since June 6, had to watch from the sidelines as Albies ripped an RBI single to give the Braves a 2-1 lead. CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS Advertisement 'I think it kind of goes back to the things we could have done better,' Senga said through a translator when asked if he expected to face Albies. 'There was that previous at-bat, I threw a fastball to a guy that's waiting for a fastball. Hit it out. And if maybe things were different, I would've had that last hitter. Maybe not, I don't know. But it kind of goes back to the preparation part and making sure I can do everything I can right now so it helps in the future.' Kodai Senga walks off the mound after getting pulled in the sixth inning of the Mets' loss to the Braves. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post Having thrown just 74 pitches by the end of the fifth inning, Senga snapped the Mets' five-game streak of starting pitchers failing to complete such a stretch. In 5 ²/₃ innings, the Japanese hurler allowed five hits, two earned runs, one walk, seven strikeouts and one home run. Of his 93 pitches, 61 were strikes. Advertisement 'I was able to throw all my pitches how I wanted to manipulate them,' Senga said after Rodgers, Ryan Helsley (who took the loss) and Edwin Díaz combined for the bullpen. 'I think each pitch was up to the standard of competing with the hitter, and if I can continue this [moving] forward, I think I'll be able to string along some good outings.'