ESPN

ESPNHS' David Auguste compiled a mock fantasy draft of the top basketball prospects in the 2013 and 2014 classes, and several locals were among the chosen ones.

The six teams were headed by Auguste, ESPNHS' Mike Grimala, ESPN analysts Dave Telep and Paul Biancardi, St. Benedict's (N.J.) point guard Tyler Ennis, and Gonzaga College (D.C.) point guard Nate Britt.

Among the locals selected were two Class of 2014 high-major prospects, New Hampton (N.H.) forward and Haverhill native Noah Vonleh; and Tilton (N.H.) swingman Wayne Selden, a Boston resident.

To see the complete draft, CLICK HERE, and HERE.

Britt and Grimala explain their selections of Vonleh and Selden, resepectively:

Team Britt (@NateTheeeGreat)
G — Nate Britt, Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.)
G — Aaron Harrison, Travis (Houston)
F — Andrew Wiggins, Huntington Prep, (Huntington, W.V.)
F — Noah Vonleh, New Hampton School (Haverhill, Mass.)
C — Kennedy Meeks, West Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.)
Sixth Man — Allerik Freeman, Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.)

GM's Breakdown: We would play an uptempo game, UNC style. We got Meeks inside; he's one of the best rebounders and outlet men in the country. He'll outlet to me and Aaron, and we can get it to Andrew and Noah. Freeman is a knock down 3-point shooter. Aaron and I like to get to the basket and Andrew can get to the basket whenever he wants. SportsCenter plays? Yes. All type of dunks, especially with Andrew. On D, our starting 5 is a big lineup. Meeks is a big body and can block shots. Noah is versatile and can guard 4s and 5s and Andrew is athletic. Aaron is a big 2, and I think I'm a pretty good on-ball defender.

Grimala's Team Lottery (@MGrimalaESPN)
G — Billy Garrett, Jr., Morgan Park (Chicago)
G — Jabari Bird, Salesian (Richmond, Calif.)
F — Trey Lyles, Arsenal Tech (Indianapolis)
F — Aaron Gordon, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose)
C — Jahlil Okafor, Whitney Young (Chicago)
Sixth Man — Wayne Selden, Tilton (Tilton, N.H.)

GM's Breakdown: I've put together the biggest, baddest team in this competition. I've got the best big man in Okafor, a stud power forward in Lyles and a super-sized SF in Gordon. That trio will pulverize opponents on the boards, and my backcourt of 6-foot-5 Garrett and 6-foot-6 Bird can bang, too. Throw in swingman Selden as my James Harden off the bench, and we can play big or small. If we slow it down, we can throw it to Okafor, the best low-post scorer in the country. If we get out on the break, I have two of the country's best above-the-rim finishers in Gordon and Bird. I may not have elite shooters on the perimeter, but with Okafor, Lyles and Gordon under the basket, I almost WANT my guards to miss shots -- those misses become easy putbacks for the best frontcourt in the nation. My team of grinders wouldn't win pretty, but we'd win -- against anyone.

MILFORD, Mass. -- It was only fitting for Milford ace Shannon Smith to finish her season face-to-face with Colonials' starter Sarah Ropiak.

Dominating all year for their respective state softball semi-finalist teams, the Scarlet Hawks hurler started and finished her schedule scraping for a win against A-B's top senior. As was the case in their season opener, the junior again grabbed a slim one-run tilt for top-seeded Milford (20-0) with a 3-2 triumph over guest No. 11 Acton-Boxboro (12-5) on Thursday.

“Being behind [is] something that has not happened too us much this season,” Milford head coach Brain Macchi said. “Shannon threw some pitches that were important for us to get out of jams. She is putting in the work during the offseason (and) coming in physically and mentally strong.”

Smith tossed eight strikeouts for Milford, while Ropiak finished two hitters. The Colonials' senior allowed two additional smacks, with 10 hits and one walk.

BATTLING AT THE PLATE
Macchi looked for aggressive at-bats from his girls, but has preached all season the importance of pumping up the pitch count.

A lofted center field triple by sophomore Sam Bonvino brought home teammate senior Lindsey Read from first for the winner in the fourth, while a frozen rope by junior Carolyn Fairbanks dropped through the glove of leaping center fielder Lindsey Chen to score the first run for the Mid-Wach A Conference champs.

After forcing 28 pitches in the second, a foul-line dribbler by junior Rachel Levine knocked in Fairbanks from second for a 2-2 tie in the third.

“From day one of the season, we talked about having the pitcher work and work and work,” Macchi said. “Sarah Ropiak is a great pitcher and she is going to be around the strike zone. We are trying to put the ball in play and make their team make plays.”

Fairbanks went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Levine also banged out a 2-for-3 day with one RBI.

COLONIAL COMPOSURE
The Dual County (Large) leaders lost their previous matchup 1-0 at home off a wild pitch. Allowing 17 strikeouts in their last battle, coach Mary Matthews looked for stronger at bats in the rematch.

Facing a one run hole, Ropiak finished A-B's fourth straight single to open the third with a blooper for an RBI along the first-base line.

The Colonials pulled ahead off a fielder's choice rip by Lindsey Chen in their following at-bat.

“We accomplished the goals we wanted to accomplish [to] not to give up an unearned run, not to fall apart after something goes wrong, and
to have quality at bats,” Matthews said. “Last time we played them [Smith] just mowed us down. Bunt if you have to [or] slap if you have,
but fight, fight, fight just so you have a chance.”

Maddie Hatch and Kirstin Pfister (one run) led A-B, going 3-for-4.

PAINTING THE CORNERS
Smith has won 19 of Milford's 20 games this season, including her eighth no-hitter yesterday in a 2-0 blanking of Leominster. The junior did not avoid hits this afternoon, but looked to work the corners and limit deep knocks.

Smith allowed only singles with nine Colonial hits.

“A lot of the hits where they scored runs were little bloopers,” Smith said. “Stuff they were getting off the end of the bat. Keep hitting the corners so they can not hit anything too deep and go yard.”

LOWELL, Mass. -– The Acton-Boxborough Colonials rode the left arm and bat of senior Ryan McDonald on Thursday night as they defeated Chelmsford 4-2 in the Mickey Sullivan Baseball Classic at the Lowell Spinners' Lalacheur Park.

McDonald tossed 6.1 innings of one run baseball before giving way to reliever Ethan Dukes, who battled a spirited seventh inning Chelmsford (13-7) comeback for the save.

“Ryan (McDonald) is a bulldog for us,” said A-B head coach Patrick Grucela. “His pitch count was a little high but he just works hard, throws in the mid 80’s and he also trusts his catcher and the game we are trying to call.”

McDonald struck out eight and walked five while surrendering only four hits and two runs on the evening.

“It killed me not to finish it as that is what I strive to do,” said McDonald. “I feel proud that we finished it off as a team and it boosts our confidence.”

Chelmsford’s Mike Rosa had the games only extra base hit in the fourth inning as the junior outfielder laced a double over the head of leaping center fielder Thulani Denaro. Rosa would later score the Lions’ first run of the game on an RBI single by junior third baseman Conor Barry.

Chelmsford lefthander Russell Olive relieved sophomore classmate Quinn Cooney in the third inning and went the rest of the way for the Lions on the mound.

More from McDonald: McDonald not excelled on the mound but he also provided three solid singles and helped his own cause in the third inning when he drove in Billy Jackman with a rip to left center for the game’s first run.

“I was looking for my pitch to hit and Coach (Grucela) always provides us with a good scouting report on all the pitchers we face,” said McDonald. “I just took that into the game today and it worked out.”

McDonald’s 3-for-4 performance at the plate led the A-B hitting attack that also featured two hits each from John Mielke and Andrew Sweet. The Colonials had 10 hits in the game.

Squeeze Play: A-B executed a perfect suicide squeeze in the fifth inning as Mielke laid the bunt down and Joe Euele timed it perfectly and scored. The run gave the Colonials a 4-1 lead at the time.

“We should have actually squeezed in the second,” noted Grucela. “The same situation came up again in the fifth and I learned from my mistake. That was a big play. We got the bunt down, we did not break too early and it was great execution on the kid’s part.”

Late Inning Rally: Chelmsford second baseman David DeDonato scored on a Dukes wild pitch after reaching on a single to lead off the seventh inning.

The Lions got the potential game tying run on second base but Dukes would battle out of a bases loaded situation and get Barry to fly out to center to end the game.

“I was proud of the way we came out but I was more proud of the way we finished,” said Grucela. “We have been preaching all season to be mentally tough when those moments come up and I think we did a great job of that today.”

D1 Tournament Bound: Both teams will be headed back to the MIAA Division 1 state tournament next week. A-B concluded their regular season with today’s win and finish with a 14-6 overall record.

“That is why we play those teams like Lowell twice, BC High, and Chelmsford,” Grucela said. “Those teams really prepare you for the tournament which we were fortunate enough to make this year.”

Chelmsford concludes their season this weekend as they travel to Wilmington to take part in the Dick Scanlon tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Participating teams include Salem, Wayland and host Wilmington. Chelmsford faces off against Salem at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with the Championship and Consolation games taking place on Sunday.

COHASSET, Mass. — Jamie Faber said pitching is all about confidence.

After his performance against East Bridgewater, the confidence felt by the coaching staff and the rest of his teammates probably grew ten-fold in the Skippers’ (17-2) right-handed pitcher.

Faber was brilliant in Cohasset’s 1-0 victory over the Vikings (13-4) to take the outright lead in the South Shore League as he struck out 10 and only allowed two hits in a complete-game shutout.

The coaching staff has held back Faber from logging major innings before the biggest game of the year, and Faber credited some extra rest to why he was so sharp from the first pitch to his 92nd.

“All day I was thinking about this game,” said Faber. “I knew how good they are and how they can put the ball in play. I just focused...I had more than a week off to prepare myself for this game, so I was full-throttle today.

“It’s not something that I need, but it helps a lot. My velocity tends to get lower towards the end of the innings, but my arm doesn’t even hurt right now, so it helps a lot.”

Freshman Jake Pierce lined a single into right in the first inning off of Faber, but that was all the Vikings would get until their final at-bats. Faber retired 18 in a row at one point, and from innings two through six he was throwing a perfect game. The righty picked up eight of his 10 strikeouts in that timeframe and only went to one, three-ball count as he was putting hitters away quickly.

“That’s one of the best games I’ve seen from my team pitch over the last four or five years,” said Skippers head coach Peter Afanasiw. “Against that lineup, it was unbelievable. I didn’t think one run was going to hold up in the first inning. I’m glad it did.”

Tense Situation in Seventh: Casey DeAndrade — who also started, but more on that later — only saw four pitches in his first two at-bats against Faber. He stayed a little bit more patent in the bottom of the seventh as he broke the string of 18 hitters retired by the Cohasset starter with a liner to right.

DeAndrade put his head down out of the box and with the infield playing back — because of the power the Vikings star posses to all field — he motored his way on to second to put the tying run in scoring position with one out.

Faber locked in to get a fly out to second base on the next hitter, and Colin Gideon-Murphy just got Brett DeBenedictis with his throw from the shortstop position to record the final out of the game.

“(In) last year’s state championship game, I’ve been here before and even in a worse situation with bases loaded no outs in that game,” said Faber. “I fought through that, so I feel it I can get through that then I can get through anything. It’s a game of confidence and I think I had that today.”

DeAndrade Shakes Off Earler Struggles: DeAndrade has been on the losing end of a 1-0 game already this season when he pitched good enough to get a win against Marshfield. In the first inning, DeAndrade was overthrowing, most notably on the third pitch of the game when he let out a loud grunt as he released a high fastball, and not commanding the strike zone.

He needed 24 pitches to get out of the inning and a miscue in the outfield allowed Faber to come around with the only run of the game.

DeAndrade came out for the second inning and the Skippers’ hitters helped him out with an aggressive approach that netted two outs with three pitches thrown. From that moment on, DeAndrade matched Faber pitch for pitch.

DeAndrade was near perfect from the second inning on as he only allowed a single to Faber in the sixth inning for the second hit of the game for the Skippers. The Vikings ace threw 49 pitches after the first inning to get the complete game. He threw 73 pitches and only 20 balls and finished with six strikeouts.

“I think was overthrowing (in the first inning),” said DeAndrade. “I was a little pumped up. That was the football player in me. I started to settle down.”

“With Casey he’s a football player,” added Vikings head coach Pat Cronin. “I always tell him before the game started that ‘you have to gear it down. If you can someway put it on the backburner we need you under control.’”

AUBURN, Mass. -- By its own admittance, Plymouth North is not a team stockpiled with bashers up and down the lineup -- and Eagles coach Dwayne Follette will be the first one to tell you that.

What Plymouth North has reverted back to is a combination of small ball, aggressive baserunning and solid defense to register wins. All were put on display tonight as the defending Division 2 state champion Eagles scored seven runs in the sixth inning to rally back for a 9-4 non-league victory over Auburn.

“All year we have had a good pitcher on the mound and we just battle,” said Follette, whose club improves to 13-6. “Today we executed small ball which was great. We’re not crushing the ball and we’re not a great hitting team. We are solid and found a way to win tonight by laying down bunts, executing a squeeze and we were very aggressive on the base paths. We're not afraid of any situation that comes our way.

"This was a big game for us and a big game for them. We like playing each other because we both are looking to judge to see where we are at. We know we are going to have to play this style of baseball in the postseason tournament to be effective.”

With the loss, the Rockets (16-4) saw their five game win streak snapped. But through five innings, they held a 4-2 lead as starting pitcher Connor Fuller was doing an admirable job keeping the Eagles offense in check.

However, with his pitch count continuing to rise (115 pitches total), the senior lefty began to lose steam in the sixth. Fuller lasted 5-1/3 innings, allowing five hits while striking out nine. The Eagles, who were having problems catching up to Fuller’s fastball early, changed their strategy later on as they tried to force Fuller into delivering more pitches to the plate and worked executed the little things that win games.

In the decisive sixth, Plymouth North opened by putting two on with one out. Jaime Delano bounced a dribbler down the third base line for a single. On the play, in his attempt to throw out Delano, Auburn third baseman Zack Tower threw wildly to first as the ball deflected off of first baseman Mykal Diaz. Pinch runner Ben Waltuch would score on the play, coming around from second base to make it a 4-3 game. Tyler Lamonda came on in relief of Fuller.

But with runners on second and third, Pat Horgan delivered a two-run single up the middle to put the Eagles in front to stay. As it turned out, Plymouth North was just getting started.

A walk to Brian Christian put two more runners on. Leadoff batter Cody Homes then dropped down a bunt for a single. Horgan, standing on second at the time, never stopped running on the play and would score the Eagles’ sixth run. Following a steal of second by Holmes and a walk to Jamie Dougherty, Plymouth North loaded the bases.

Connor Follette, who had struck out his previous three trips to the plate, was given the sign for a squeeze. The senior executed it perfectly to score another run for the Eagles. Before this inning finally came to a close, junior David Murphy singled to left plating two more and put Plymouth North ahead by five.

“We hadn’t played a team that has put the pressure on us the way they did,” Auburn coach Eric Swedberg said. “I blame myself a little bit. When you have a senior captain you let his pitch count go to 115 which is a little high. I should have put my emotions aside but I didn't. When Connor started that sixth inning I didn’t think I was going to need anyone else. He started good but I don’t know what happened thereafter.”

Eagles senior pitcher Vinny Tavernelli, albeit not overpowering, used a mix of fastballs and a looping curve to keep the Rocket hitters off-balance. Tavernelli lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits before Holmes came on to shut the door the rest of the way.

These two clubs are no strangers to one another. In 2008 and 2009 they met in the Division 2 state finals. Plymouth North captured the title in 2008 while the Rockets returned the favor the following year. Since then, both teams have scheduled a regular season meeting each year and that trend is expected to continue come next season.

The Eagles jumped on Fuller for a pair of runs in the opening frame. Murphy (2 hits, 3 RBI) singled in the team's first run. Moments later, with Dougherty, who had walked, on third and Murphy on first, Follette called for a double steal which worked to perfection as Dougherty slid home to make it 2-0.

But in the bottom of the inning, Auburn answered back. Tyler Desjardins reached on a Tavernelli throwing error on a comebacker and Mike Vaitkunas singled. That set the stage for Diaz, who blasted a curve deep over the left field fence for a three-run homer putting the Rockets in front 3-2. Auburn added a solo run in the fifth on a RBI single by Tower. But the two run cushion the Rockets enjoyed would be brief as the Eagle offense exploded one inning later.

“We came out on top with a good comeback victory,” Murphy said. “We played well all-around. We came off the bus fired up to play this team because we knew how good they were. Vinny did a nice job and pitched great for us. Even when we were down we still felt comfortable and started to get the pitches we wanted to see. We were able to take advantage of what they gave us to earn this win.”

This afternoon, the MIAA unveiled the girls lacrosse seedings for the North and South districts. Lincoln-Sudbury (19-1) and Winchester (19-1) grabbed the No. 1 overall seeds in North Divisions 1 and 2, respectively; Needham (19-1) and Duxbury (13-4-2) took the top seeds in South Divisions 1 and 2.

To view all the brackets, CLICK HERE.

Central Mass. will unveil its seedings tomorrow; Algonquin is expected to take the No. 1 overall seed. Western Mass. will unveil its seedings on May 31.

Here is how the North and South shaped out.

North Division 1
1. Lincoln-Sudbury (19-1); 2. Andover (17-3); 3. Reading (16-4); 4. North Andover (14-5); 5. Masconomet (15-3); 6. Westford (16-4); 7. Central Catholic (13-5); 8. Concord-Carlisle (12-6); 9. Framingham (11-8); 10. Chelmsford (13-7); 11. Arlington (12-8); 12. Beverly (12-6); 13. Peabody (11-5); 14. Lowell (8-9-2); 15. Medford (9-7); 16. Haverhill (5-11)

North Division 2
1. Winchester (19-1); 2. Ipswich (13-3); 3. Wayland (13-4-1); 4. Marblehead (14-4); 5. Belmont (10-5-1); 6. Bishop Fenwick (11-5-2); 7. Newburyport (10-5); 8. Danvers (12-5-1); 9. Shawsheen (9-2-3); 10. Manchester Essex (10-6); 11. Arlington Catholic (12-7-1); 12. Hamilton Wenham (9-6); 13. Austin Prep (11-8-1); 14. Burlington (10-7-1); 15. Tewksbury (4-11); 16. Wakefield (10-8)

South Division 1
1. Needham (19-1); 2. Notre Dame (19-1); 3. Westwood (18-2); 4. Natick (16-3-1); 5. Franklin (13-5); 6. Wellesley (11-7); 7. Newton North (12-5); 8. Walpole (11-7-1); 9. King Philip (13-7); 10. Hingham (13-7); 11. Dartmouth (16-2); 12. Marshfield (12-3); 13. Plymouth North (10-7-2); 14. Norwood (10-8); 15. Braintree (10-8); 16. Whitman-Hanson (12-6); 17. New Bedford (10-6-2)

South Division 2
1. Duxbury (13-4-2); 2. Sandwich (15-2-1); 3. Hopkinton (13-4-2); 4. Medfield (13-5-0); 5. Norwell (12-7-0); 6. Apponequet (18-0-0); 7. Scituate (15-5-1); 8. Nauset (16-4-0); 9. Archbishop Williams (18-2-0); 10. Ursuline (15-4-0); 11. Ashland (12-5-1); 12. Cohassett (10-4-2); 13. Hull (13-4-0); 14. Dover Sherborn (8-7-3); 15. Foxboro (10-7-1); 16. Canton (9-8-0); 17. Nantucket (9-9-0); 18. Martha's Vineyard (8-1-7); 19. Hanover (8-8-0); 20. Bourne (8-7-3); 21. Cape Cod Academy (7-6-1)

St. John's Prep hockey standout Sam Kurker will be heading to Boston University in the fall, he announced via his Twitter account Thursday.

Kurker, an ESPN Boston All-State first-team selection in his senior year, originally committed to the Terriers for the 2013 season, but will arrive a year early on Commonwealth Ave.

Earlier this week, Kurker was selected in the USHL Entry Draft, 134th overall by the Indiana Ice.

The Reading native scored 32 goals with 28 assists for 60 points for the Eagles last season while leading Prep to the Super 8 crossover round. He is ranked 36th overall among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in this year's draft class.

ESPNU's basketball recruiting section updated its national rankings for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 classes this afternoon. For the respective classes, this is the first ESPNU 100 for 2013, Super 60 for 2014 and Terrific 25 for 2015.

Northwest Catholic (Conn.) forward Kuran Iverson is the lone New Englander represented in the Class of 2013, coming in at No. 80, but there is plenty of local flavor in the underclass rankings. Haverhill native Noah Vonleh comes in at No. 4 overall in the 2014 class; the power forward was named to ESPN Boston's inaugural MIAA All-State Team in 2011 as a sophomore at Haverhill High, before transferring to New Hampton (N.H.) and reclassifying.

Below are the locals represented on the new rankings:

ESPNU 100 (Class of 2013)
80. Kuran Iverson, 6-8 SF, Windsor, Conn./Northwest Catholic

Super 60 (Class of 2014)
4. Noah Vonleh, 6-8 PF, Haverhill, Mass./New Hampton (N.H.)
12. Wayne Selden, 6-5 SG, Boston/Tilton (N.H.)
18. Chris McCullough, 6-9 PF, Bronx, N.Y./Salisbury (Conn.)
53. Kaleb Joseph, 6-3 PG, Nashua, N.H./Cushing Academy
56. Jared Terrell, 6-4 SG, Weymouth, Mass./New Hampton (N.H.)

Terrific 25 (Class of 2015)
18. Jarred Reuter, 6-8 PF, Rochester, Mass./Tabor Academy

For the complete rankings, follow the links here: 2013, 2014, 2015.

ESPN's Paul Biancardi breaks down the new rankings over on Recruiting Nation Basketball, and highlights several of the aforementioned locals, excerpted belo:

SG Wayne Selden (Boston/The Tilton School)
When it comes to power and strength Selden is at the top of the class. His ability to overpower defenders, even ones bigger than him, with his college-ready body is what separates him from the pack. He is physically dominant on the fast break, finishing through contact.

PF Noah Vonleh (Haverhill, Mass./New Hampton)
He has a strong frame and his physical tools are becoming elite as he grows into his body. Vonleh's versatility and ability to create his own shot off the dribble make him unique. His handle is a weapon that we just don't see that often at this stage for players with his frame.

For Biancardi's full breakdown, CLICK HERE (Insider only)

Courtesy of Bedford High Athletic Director Keith Mangan, below are the all-stars for the Large and Small divisions of the Dual County League.

Newton South first baseman John Jennings, a UMass commit, took MVP honors in the Large division. Waltham's Notre Dame-bound catcher Jack LeClair, a Notre Dame commit, took MVP honors in the Small division.

The league will be hosting an all-star game on Tuesday at Lowell's Lelaucher Park. The Small All-Stars will play at 4 p.m., followed by the Large All-Stars at 7 p.m.

Athletic directors, coaches and administrators are encouraged to send league All-Star lists to editors Scott Barboza at sbarboza@espnboston.com or Brendan Hall at bhall@espnboston.com.

LARGE DIVISION
MVP - John Jennings, Sr. 1B, Newton South

All-Stars:
Jesse Feldstein, Jr. C, Newton South
Peter Sikalis, Sr. C, Acton-Boxborough
Tom O'Brien, Sr. 2B, Westford
John Troy, Sr. SS, Westford
David McCullough, Sr. 3B, Lincoln-Sudbury
Dan Cellucci, Sr. SS, Lincoln-Sudbury
Malcolm Nachmanoff, Jr. OF, Boston Latin
Mike Lenane, Sr. OF, Boston Latin
Mike Bibinski, Sr. OF, Westford
Brian Carroll, Jr. OF, Lincoln-Sudbury
Sid Warrenbrand, Soph. RHP, Lincoln-Sudbury
Ryan McDonald, Sr. LHP, Acton-Boxborough
Pat Naughton, Soph. LHP, Boston Latin
Will Alden, Sr. RHP, Westford
Thulani Denaro, Sr. LHP, Acton-Boxborough

SMALL DIVISION
MVP - Jack LeClair, Sr. C, Waltham

All-Stars:
Anthony Cacciatore, Sr. OF, Waltham
Joe Dwyer, Soph. 1B/DH, Waltham
Sean Kelly, Sr. OF, Waltham
Nick Neshe, Soph. P/1B, Waltham
Richie Scanlon, Jr. P, Waltham
Curtis Tirone, Soph. IF, Waltham
Kyle Laughlin, Sr. C, Bedford
Devin Liang, Sr. P, Bedford
Derek Amodei, Sr. DH/1B, Concord-Carlisle
Gibson Holland, Sr. OF, Concord-Carlisle
Phillip Mitchell, Jr. OF, Concord-Carlisle
Vincent Wnukowski, Sr. IF, Concord-Carlisle
Chris DiMico, Sr. OF, Wayland
Matt Goddard, Jr. 3B, Wayland
Andrew Herstine, Sr. DH, Wayland
James Goulart, Jr. OF/1B/P, Weston
Gage Hartman, Sr. OF, Weston
Brooks Parker, Soph. P/IF, Weston
Noah Tocci, Jr. C, Weston

Keith Mangan of Bedford High this morning passed along the softball All-Star teams for the Dual County League.

The DCL's All-Star Game will be played Monday at Weston High School in a 6:30 p.m. start.

Athletic directors, coaches and administrators are encouraged to send league All-Star lists to editors Scott Barboza at sbarboza@espnboston.com or Brendan Hall at bhall@espnboston.com.

Large School Division:
Player of the Year - Sarah Ropiak, Acton-Boxborough

All-Stars:
Sarah Ropiak, Acton-Boxborough
Maddie Hatch, Acton-Boxborough
Nicole Geoffrion, Acton-Boxborough
Hannah Graney, Acton-Boxborough
Lindsay Chen, Acton-Boxborough
Courtney Hoban, Boston Latin
Mary DeMoura, Boston Latin
Mallory O’Brien, Boston Latin
Paige Mulry, Boston Latin
Andrea Epstein, Newton South
Annie McDonald Schwartz, Newton South
Joy Lang, Newton South
Erin Deneen, Lincoln-Sudbury
Becca Ryan, Lincoln-Sudbury
Taylor Galland, Lincoln-Sudbury
Christie Raymond, Westford Academy

Small School Division:
Player of the Year - Galen Kerr, Concord-Carlisle

All-Stars:
Abby Bruins, Concord-Carlisle
Galen Kerr, Concord-Carlisle
Ali Colleran, Concord-Carlisle
Angela DeBruzzi, Concord-Carlisle
Ali DellaVolpe, Concord-Carlisle
Marina Boebel, Bedford
Emily Medwar, Bedford
Marissa Cammarano, Bedford
Katie Gildea, Bedford
Miranda Skurla, Bedford
Natasha Arsenaue, Waltham
Marlene Sullivan, Waltham
Taylor Scafidi, Waltham
Paige Hovsepian, Waltham
Kristen Welby, Weston
Ariana Vasaquez, Weston
Nichole Bell, Wayland
Olivia Shaw, Wayland
Melanie Barber, Wayland

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Over the past six years, Duxbury has found itself a great opponent for the final game of the regular season in perennial New Hampshire power Bishop Guertin.

All but one of the six meetings have been highly competitive, and Tuesday afternoon saw the two squads put together a defensive masterpiece. All six starting long poles and three long-stick midfielder's on each side are committed to play at the Division 1 college level next spring, and they were the key factors for the majority of this interstate showdown.

Ultimately, a three-goal spurt midway through the fourth quarter decided it as top-ranked Duxbury rallied from a 5-3 deficit to take a 6-5 triumph over the Cardinals at Babson College's MacDowell Field.

"It felt like we were playing Garden City's defense there," Sweet laughed when asked about the high level of defense. "[Bishop Guertin] were tough to beat one on one, they played great team defense, they packed it in and they got key goaltending. That's a good formula for keeping the score down. It was a great high school lacrosse game and it could have gone either way. I'm glad that we had that little run and were able to get some key defensive stops at the end."

The Cardinals (15-3) tried to break open what was a 3-3 game when Tommy Vailas made a beautiful alley-dodge to free himself up for a goal late in the third, then opened the fourth with a nice rip down near the baseline by Luke Roever.

The way Guertin was playing defensively, it was going to prove difficult for the Dragons to make one of their patented runs, but sure enough, they did exactly that. In an extra-man situation, Will Siefert fed Seamus Connelly down low and the big attackman used a great stick fake to pull Cardinals goalie Colin Dulea out of position for a score.

Henry Narlee won the next faceoff and James Burke swooped in on the ground ball, as he has done all season, and fed Siefert for an easy look in transition to tie the game. Just over a minute later, Sam Sweet produced a tremendous individual effort to get free and set up Jack Sullivan for a goal that not only put Duxbury in the lead for the first time, but also held up as the game-winner.

"We were just moving around on the crease and my guy slid early and went to Sam and he just made a great look in the crease," described Sullivan. "It was kind of nerve wracking on the crease with the ball. We worked hard, we're a fourth quarter team and we gave it our all at the end. Narlee did great on the faceoffs, won those three in a row to get us those three goals."

BIG MAN GOES OFF ON THE BIG STAGE
It seemed the like the impressive size of the Guertin poles fed right into the best aspects of Seamus Connelly's game. The 6-foot-2, 200-plus pound Duke commit was able to body up against the Cardinals poles and use his exceptionally talented hands to rifle shots home to the tune of a four-goal game.

He even showed a little of his flashy side, using a nice stick fake where it looked as though he would shoot behind his head, then whipped the ball around from the front on the first score of the Dragons' game-deciding run.

"Shay [Connelly] played great today," praised Sweet. "He played with some energy, he played smart and he hit his shots. Lacrosse is funny. You can have great players out there and its really a game of matchups. They were a little bit slow to slide to him on those goals and they paid a price for it and Seamus stuck his shots. It was awesome. He played a great game."

Added Connelly, "One of our things is to keep believing. We knew we could pull it out. We've been down a lot in games and we've always come back. It's just a matter of our seniors looking each other in the eye and knowing we could do it. Our offense was really helping me get the space I needed to shoot. It was the kind of day where it was my turn to shoot. Any other day it could have been Sief or Sammy or anybody else."

DEFENSE STEALS THE SHOW
Connelly popped in the second of his four goals with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter and the game ended up tied, 2-2, at the half. Fans who weren't at the game might look at that score and say, "Good thing I didn't go. Must have been a boring game."

Not even close. You missed brilliance on display.

The fans who did make the trek to Babson College saw two defenses playing at the highest of levels a pair of New England high school teams are capable of. We've come to expect this from the Dragons, who have been all year long by close defenders Max Randall (Dartmouth commit), Matt O'Keefe (Johns Hopkins) and Jay McDermott (Syracuse), as well as lethal LSMs Reilly Naton (Yale) and James Burke (Penn State).

For perhaps the first time all season, aside from Garden City and Irondequoit, the Dragons met their match in the defensive zone. The Cardinals are led by long poles Bob Fahey and Kyle Karaska, both of whom are UMass-commits, and LSM Jay Krzyston (R.I.T.).

That unit was able to force turnovers, bad shots, and keep Duxbury's transition opportunities to a minimum for all but that two-minute stretch in the fourth.

"I have so much confidence in those kids," praised Guertin coach Chris Cameron. "They've been with me for four years and I know what they can do. They play against top-notch caliber all summer. We try to get them as many competitive games as possible so I knew that at this level of play they could handle their attack."

HUDSON, Mass. -- As good as the Grafton Indians have excelled on the softball diamond this season, and lets face facts you cannot do much better than going undefeated, they still had a major obstacle to climb to prove they belonged in softball’s upper-echelon class.

Tonight, against highly-formidable Hudson, was the opportunity the Indians had been longing for.

In one of the most highly-anticipated games of the season, Grafton pitcher Kendal Roy was dominant inside the circle as she held the mighty Hawks offense in check throughout and come away with a 1-0 victory.

“I had been waiting for this game for weeks,” said Roy, a sophomore who surrendered five hits and struck out 12, and now has an ERA well under 1.00. “All of us have been mentally preparing for this game for quite some time. We knew right from the very start tonight that we had to come out and play well against a very good Hudson team and I think we definitely proved ourselves.”

With the win, Grafton improves to 18-0 while Hudson saw its 12-game win streak come to an end as they fall to 15-3. It would come as a surprise to no one to see these two bona fide programs lock horns again during next month’s the Division 2 postseason tournament.

“Kendal did a great job," Grafton coach John Gemme said. “I think Hudson made some adjustments late in the game at the plate and were starting to get the bat on the ball a little better. But overall she pitched great. I think we are certainly right in the mix of things now because that was a very tough team we beat."

For her part, Hawks pitcher Jurnee Ware did everything she could do to keep her team in this battle. Ware allowed four hits while striking out 10. Knowing that runs would be at a premium because of the quality of pitching from both sides, the Indians got the only run they would need in the second inning.

Andrea Vulter led things off by laying down a bunt single. The senior then proceeded to steal second and third.

One out later, Kate Cardoza’s bunt attempt was caught by Hudson first baseman Marie Hydro. Once contact with the ball was made, Vulter had made worked her way well down the line from third. Hydro, upon seeing this, had an easy pickoff play in front of her as Vulter retreated and sprinted back toward third. However, Hydro rushed her throw to shortstop Jill Cedrone, covering on the play, and the ball sailed high over Cendrone’s head allowing Vulter to change direction and trot home.

Grafton had a chance to add to its lead in the fourth. Roy and Tara Faford began the frame with back-to-back singles. Ware then bore down getting Vulter to fly out and striking out Michelle Goulet. On the swinging strike, Faford had crept to far from first base. Hawks catcher Chelsey Scovil fired to second baseman Kara Knights, covering on the play, and a rundown ensued. Makayla Ritzie, pinch-running for Roy, took off for third. Knights turned and threw to third nailing Ritzie ending the threat.

With Roy on cruise control, hitting all her spots around the plate, things were beginning to look bleak for Hudson as the frustration level continued to mount into the late innings. A ray of hope finally came the Hawks way in their final at bats. Scovil opened the seventh by ripping a shot over the head of center fielder Nikki Murphy. After reaching second base, Scovil was waved on by Hudson coach Steve Martin to keep running. Murphy retreated the ball and fired a perfect strike to shortstop Marissa Ruggiero, who then relayed a throw to Faford at third who tagged Scovil out.

“I made a mistake and shouldn’t have sent her,” Martin said. “That one is on me. But overall we played great against a fantastic pitcher. We played hard and fought right to the very end. This was such a good game. I hope we see them again.”

PEABODY, Mass. -– Mark Bettencourt can’t offer enough praise about his ace righthander Pat Ruotolo as he watches the kid circle the track at Peabody High, from his mild-mannered demeanor to his clean mechanics and aggressive work ethic.

A half-hour into this evening practice session, the Tanners head coach finally meets a question he can’t retort. The run this kid’s on –- three no-hitters in his last four starts, just six hits allowed in his last five, and four runs allowed all year – what does it compare to over his experiences in baseball?

And for once the eighth-year coach and Peabody alum –- whose path includes a standout career at Boston College, a year in the Cape Cod League, and eight years of coaching in the college ranks -– is stumped. To him, “this is incomprehendible,” he concedes.

He turns to assistant coach Pete Soteropoulos -– himself a former UConn standout and St. Louis Cardinals draft pick –- who reminds Bettencourt that among all the accolades of Jeff Allison, a first-round draft pick in 2003 and Peabody’s greatest high school export, the former Baseball America Player of the Year only tossed two no-no’s his senior year.

Soteropoulos, too, can think of no precedent. So Bettencourt turns to another assistant –- his father, Manny –- and draws back to another North Shore legend and first-round draft pick.

“Hey, did [Jeff] Juden ever pitch like this?” he shouts, recalling the former Salem High ace and 12th overall pick by the Astros in 1989.

Sudden Fortunes

It all started on April 26, with a trip to Marblehead, when he struck out 13, walked three and allowed no hits in a 3-0 win over the host Magicians, his first no-no of the season. From there, it only steamrolled.

Then on May 7 at Swampscott, a 7-0 decision over the Big Blue, he fanned 11, walked one, and completed his second no-hitter in three starts. Nine days later, at Salem, Ruotolo fanned a season-high 15 batters and walked two while allowing no hits.

Ever since, the camera crews and media requests have been rolling in, from both the local news stations and national outlets. Some of it is unnerving the humbled, reserved star.

“It’s kinda crazy, all the publicity, it’s been kind of overwhelming,” Ruotolo says softly.

As for his own school hallways? “I kinda get dumped on a little for breaking up the no-hit streak”, he laughs, referring to his performance Monday in a 1-0 win over Lynn Classical (Ruotolo surrendered all three of his hits in the first inning, but struck out 14).

And for senior Gennaro Ciulla, Ruotolo’s catcher since little league?

“I love it,” he smiles, cracking, “Pat just knows what he’s doing, doing his thing. And whenever the cameras are around, I’m in the shot. So, you know, keep throwing no-hitters, right?”

Ruotolo will never be confused for a show-boater, and the sudden fortune hasn’t changed him a bit. Still mild-mannered, still speaking at a low volume, he continues to keep to himself.

“Pat respects what he’s doing, he understands it’s pretty rare to do what he’s doing, and he stays humble about it,” Bettencourt said. “A lot of times you worry about a kid’s hat size getting too big if he starts doing well. But I’ve never seen that in Pat, never in conversations with him.”

On the mound, Ruotolo carries a more insular demeanor. That is to say, he’s got a pretty mean poker face when he stares down Ciulla from the plate.

“When he’s on the mound, he’s just focused in, he’s ready to go,” says Ciulla.

‘A prototypical pitcher’s body’

This much is known about Ruotolo’s ridiculous month from the mound. Five major league draft picks came straight out of Peabody High in a nine-year span from 1995 to 2004, one of the most dominant eras in the history of this storied program, and not one of them had three no-no’s in one season -- never mind one month.

And certainly, none of them looked quite like this. That is to say, at 5-foot-10 and a stocky 190 pounds, and armed with a fastball that touches the high-80’s, Ruotolo doesn’t quite fit the mold of today's prototype power pitcher.

Perhaps that’s why, despite the amazing feat, Bettencourt says the phone “hasn’t been ringing as much as you’d think” from the college coaches.

Yes, all the usual local suspects are showing interest -– UConn has inquired, as have UMass, Rhode Island, Boston College and Northeastern. But the truth of the matter is, Ruotolo’s size is going to turn off some coaches.

Even with the clean action in his delivery, even with the durability, and even with the efficiency of it all.

With a compact motion that keeps his elbows locked close to the body, Ruotolo uses superior leg strength -– built from his winter turns as a stay-at-home defenseman for the school’s ice hockey team -– to generate high velocity. Ruotolo couples that with a high arm slot that creates sharp downhill trajectory, which has yielded an improved 12-to-6 drop on his curveball.

Occasionally, he’ll drop to a three-quarters slot if hitters are catching on, to which Bettencourt cautiously concedes, “I’m not the one who taught him that, but whoever did, I understand the reasoning.”

Unafraid to pitch to contact, Ruotolo’s method has led to some pretty economical outings -– a far cry from his days as a freshman, where he might have been prone to racking up 90 pitches by the fourth inning.

In his first outing of the season, a 10-inning loss to St. John’s Prep, Ruotolo threw 133 pitches and rung up 10 strikeouts in a no-decision.

Ruotolo hasn’t touched 133 pitches again this season. In fact, his pitch counts have been pretty impressive during this scoreless streak. In his last start, he needed just 77 pitches for the 14-K, complete game effort. In the third no-hitter against Salem, he threw 88; the first, against Marblehead, needed just 91.

His two-hitter against Danvers on May 2 required just 87 pitches. Only once in the last month has he gone over the century mark – May 7’s no-no over Swampscott, which needed 103 pitches. He’ll have one more start this weekend, and will have at least one start to work with when the MIAA Division 1 North tournament commences next week.

Bettencourt knocks on wood as he explains how Ruotolo’s frame is built for the long haul. But once again, you can thank the overlap of leg workouts between hockey and baseball for his reliable lower body strength. Ruotolo boasts some big quadriceps and hamstrings to push off the mound with –- he says he has leg-pressed as much as 800 pounds –- and the amount of torso movement on slap shots has given him exceptional core strength.

“And that’s what they call a prototypical pitcher’s body,” Bettencourt said. “If you’re not talking about the tall, skinny, lanky guy, you’re talking about the heavy lower-body strength guy. And that’s where Pat fits in. He’s not 6-4, 6-5. His knuckles don’t drag on the ground. He’s more of a...I call him a ‘Clemens type’. You know, wide hips, big legs, and I think a lot of his velocity is generated through his lower-body torque.

“Obviously, he has a live arm –- you don’t throw as hard as he does if you don’t. And the fact that he works so hard on his mechanics, keeps things fluid, obviously is a major factor. And the way he’s able to create the arm speed necessary to throw as hard as he throws, but also to have the looseness to throw that nasty curveball that he throws and not hurt his arm, because his mechanics are very precise.”

With his sharp downhill action, Ruotolo is able to get some late life out of his 12-to-6 curve. And with clean mechanics that utilize the leg, the pain ends up in places other than the arms and shoulders.

“Generally, if he gets soreness, it’s in his back,” Bettencourt said. “And that’s usually a good indication that he’s using the bigger muscles to help decelerate his arm, and not using his elbow and his shoulder.

“When you’re talking about a pitcher, at the point of release, his hand speed’s gotta be…You know, if he’s throwing 87-88, his arm speed’s 88 when he’s releasing the ball, and he’s only got three or four feet before his arm’s got to come to a stop on his follow through, so he’s got to use more muscles than just his elbow and shoulder, or he’s going to hurt himself. When he says his back is tight, for me that’s a good indication.”

Don’t Even Go There

Someone was bound to try and make the comparison. Because what Patrick Ewing is the Cambridge basketball, and what the Fluties are to Natick football, you can never talk Peabody baseball without recalling Jeff Allison, the superstar with 98 mile per hour heat, seemingly destined for a big league career before off-field issues, including substance abuse, derailed the path.

So let’s get it out of the way before this builds steam. Allison’s school single-season record of 142 strikeouts is within reach for Ruotolo if the Tanners make a run in the MIAA playoffs. So, too, is the school’s career strikeouts record (Ruotolo now has 208 strikeouts since the start of his sophomore season alone, and is close to 280 for his career).

But there’s a slim chance Ruotolo will go 16th overall to the Florida Marlins, and even slimmer that he’ll ever be named Baseball America’s National High School Player of the Year.

Allison’s demeanor on the mound was the stuff of legend. Before Lowell’s prized ace Matt Tulley took the field last Friday night against BC High, his coach Danny Graham encouraged him to exert some of the same grittiness he saw when watching Allison a decade ago.

Bettencourt puts it more bluntly than we can -– “Jeff, you came away from him saying to yourself, ‘Boy, he could probably handle himself in a fight’,” he chuckled. That’s not the style of the mild-mannered Ruotolo.

But as far as pitching goes...

“Pat doesn’t throw as hard as Jeff did,” Bettencourt continued. “Jeff was throwing 95, 96, and that was a gift. But the fact that Pat throws 87-88 as a junior, I don’t know what Jeff was throwing his junior year...The jury’s still out on what the future holds for him, but with the work ethic he has and the time that he’s put in, the door is open as far as what he could do over the next year.”

Is This It?

Where does it go from here? Or maybe the better question is, when will it end?

In Monday’s win over Classical, Ruotolo gave up a leadoff base hit to start the evening, only to allow two hits the rest of the way and shut out the Rams. Bettencourt called it “a huge step for Pat”, compared to where he’s been in the past.

“You want to see what happens now, if he does start to get hit around a little bit, when they square the ball up consistently,” Bettencourt said. “I know in the past that’s happened, and I won’t say he’s crumbled, but there has been a significant difference in the way he pitches. And that’s the biggest thing I think college coaches want to see. It’s great to see him when he’s doing well, what about when he’s not doing so well?”

Bettencourt is naturally concerned about his reaction when this all stops. But it’s testament to his work ethic, too, that the kid doesn’t appear rattled much when opposing bats get hot early. When given an off-day, Ruotolo isn’t resting on his laurels.

Perhaps his best quality of all, then, is his short memory.

“For Pat, I remember after Salem game walking over shaking his hand, walking off Salem State’s field, and he goes ‘I can’t wait for Classical’,” Bettencourt said. “He’s already turned the page, he’s already looking for that next start, next challenge. And I think that work ethic that he puts in, goes hand in hand with that type of an attitude.”

So maybe this run comes to an end this weekend. Or maybe it continues into next week and beyond.

Either way, he’s locked in, with nowhere to go but forward.

LYNNFIELD, Mass. — Chris Dehuelle knew it would take a solid effort from his right-arm to help Lynnfield earn a share of the Cape Ann League title for the first time in six years.

The senior produced, and then some, for the Pioneers.

Dehuelle struck out seven and only scattered five hits in a complete-game shutout as Lynnfield (15-3) defeated perennial power North Reading, 4-0, this afternoon at home.

“It means a lot,” Dehuelle said of getting the clinching victory for the Pioneers. “It’s what we work for. It was our first goal and next we are on to the state tournament. They are a great team and I knew I was going to have to pitch great to beat them.”

The Hornets (14-4) are a team that likes to consistently get the bat on the ball and be annoying outs for opposing pitchers. According to head coach Frank Carey, the Hornets haven’t been whiffed four or more times in a game at any point during the season.

Dehuelle wracked up three in the first inning.

He needed 22 pitches to strike out the side in the first, but he showed off his true strength by keeping his strong defense sharp and in the game as he needed 12 or fewer pitches in four of his final six innings.

“Once he’s going he gets a lot of ground ball outs and that’s what we are looking for because we have a nice littler infield,” said Pioneers head coach John O’Brien.

Quick with the glove, too: When runners did manage to get on, Dehuelle was able to erase them quickly.

In the third inning he displayed a bit of self defense to start an inning-ending double play. Tom Day lined a 1-0 pitch right back up the middle in the direction of Dehuelle’s head, but he has able to move to his left and stick out his glove to record the out.

He then fired over to first to double off Jon Gravalese to end the inning.

“It wasn’t going to hit me,” he said. “But I just kind of got out of the way and stuck my glove out.”

Dehuelle started another double play in the fifth inning with runners on first and second in a 2-0 game. Dennis Rollfs rolled one back to Dehuelle and the righty spun to start a 1-6-3 twin killing to escape the only time that the Hornets were able to put on two runners in an inning.

Fundamental Baseball: Craig Anderson delivered a solo home run for the Pioneers, but O’Brien’s club has made a living with some small ball this season.

The Pioneers put down three successful sacrifice bunts and two of the sacrifices led to runs.

“We bunt everyday,” said O’Brien. “I don’t know if a lot of other teams do, but we bunt everyday at practice. With the new bats it’s really come full-circle into our favor. We are a more old school team. … Our kids do they do the job, whatever it is. One through nine if it’s your turn to bunt then you get the bunt down and we move on.”

Algonquin Regional senior attack Carly O'Connell netted her 500th career point this afternoon, in the Tomahawks' thrilling 12-11 double-overtime win over archrival Westborough.

O'Connell, a University of Oregon signee, sat at 499 points headed into today, and joins an exclusive club of 500-point scorers in Massachusetts that includes Westwood's Kelly Rich and Wellesley's Blake Dietrick. Current Notre Dame of Hingham head coach Meredith Frank is the state's all-time leader in points with 552 (306 goals, 242 assists) doing so over four seasons at Westwood High (2002-05).

Coming into the season, the Tomahawks had not beaten their archrivals since May of 2008, going 0-9 against the Rangers since that moment. With today's win, they sweep the season series, move to 17-1 on the season, and will likely grab the No. 1 overall seed in Division 1 Central when brackets are unveiled for the MIAA tournament.