ESPN

After an extra-innings win over King Philip last week, Coyle-Cassidy climbs to No. 2 in the latest MIAA softball Top 25 poll.

Milford remains at No. 1 for third straight week, but that's about all where the rankings remained the same. Four new teams broke into the top 10, with Holy Name, Acton-Boxborough and Lynn Classical crashing the party along with C-C.

We also welcomed three teams who started the season in the Top 25 back into the poll with St. Mary's of Lynn (No. 22), Abington (24) and Braintree scraping back in after big wins last week.

ESPNHS updated its national "FAB 50" girls lacrosse poll this morning, which you can view by clicking here.

Notre Dame of Hingham took the top spot in ESPN Boston's MIAA Top 25 poll yesterday. And today, they make their debut in the FAB 50 as the highest-ranked team from Massachusetts this week. The Cougars come in at No. 45, while Lincoln-Sudbury -- the team they beat to get here -- dropped 12 spots to No. 37.

Greenwich (Conn.) is the only other New England team represented on the poll, making its debut at No. 38.

Also receiving votes were Needham, New Canaan (Conn.), and Westwood, the latter of whom dropped out of the poll from No. 48.

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Dwayne Follette probably won’t put a victory on the last day of April in the pantheon of achievements that he’s had as head coach of the Plymouth North baseball team.

But that doesn’t mean the Eagles' win over a powerful Atlantic Coast League foe isn’t important.

Plymouth North ended Marshfield’s 10-game winning streak with an opportunistic 3-2 victory on Monday at Siever Field.

The loss hurts the Rams as they were seemingly making their way through the league and the rest of their schedule, but the first league loss to the defending Div. 2 state champions brings a little more parody to one of the strongest leagues on the South Shore.

“We aren’t afraid of situations like this,” said Follette, whose team is now 7-3 on the season and 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast League. “It was a good win for us. We needed it. That keeps the whole league up for grabs. If they beat us now, then they are basically running away with the league title.”

Creativity on the Base Paths: It’s been a slow start to the season with the bats, according to Follette, so the coach has been trying to get some giddy-up when his players get on base.

Some of the ideas work, and some don’t.

In the fourth inning one of Follette’s gambles didn’t work. With two outs in the inning and Cody Holmes on third base, the Eagles head coach gave his leftfielder the green light to try and steal home.

Holmes was easily tagged out at home when Corey Stevens delivered the ball to the plate, but it was outside the box thinking to jumpstart the offense in a tie ballgame.

“It was a straight steal,” Follette said when asked if it was a missed sign. “You try to push the buttons...You try to do the extra things, get a steal or do whatever you can. If we start hitting the ball like we are capable of, and we are capable of hitting, then we are going to be a scary team.”

Ryan Moskos’ efforts in the bottom of the fifth signified the creativity that is needed with the speed all over the Eagles lineup. Moskos hit a slow roller to the right side and he darted down the line to beat out the footrace to the bag.

Corey Stevens picked off Moskos at first, but the speedster put his head down and got his way to second base just before the throw. The centerfielder took third on a fly ball to the outfield and he was able to score the eventual game-winning run on an error — one of four by the Rams on the afternoon — at first base with two outs in the inning.

“Once we get on base we have to get in scoring position right away,” said Moskos. “That’s why we steal so much.”

Kingsbury Clutch With Glove: In the top of the seventh inning with the lead runner on first base, Joe Kingsbury all but sealed the game with his diving catch and heads up play to double up the runner at first.

Kingsbury just got his glove under a line drive to left by Max DiTondo and easily got Joe Cunningham at first base as the Rams’ base runner was unsure if the ball was caught or trapped.

“I thought we got the breaks today,” said Follette. “Now we’ve got to stop winning with breaks and start hitting the ball."

We updated our statewide MIAA Top 25 Girls Lacrosse Poll this afternoon, and by unanimous decision we have a new No. 1.

Notre Dame of Hingham jumps up to the top spot from No. 5, after beating previous No. 1 Lincoln-Sudbury last week. It's the first time a team unhinged to a conference has taken the top spot in the poll (NDA currently plays an independent schedule).

This also marks a the first time in any poll in the history of ESPN Boston's High Schools section that we've had two teams coached by members of the same family take over the top spot in the same season. Leslie Frank's Westwood squad was the preseason No. 1 on ESPN Boston's poll; the Notre Dame Cougars are coached by Frank's daughter, Meredith.

L-S slides one spot to No. 2 with the loss to NDA. Rounding out the top five are Westwood (3), Needham (4) and Westborough (5). Returning to the poll this week are North Andover (21) and Bishop Fenwick (23).

NOTE: Monday's games were not accounted for in today's poll.

As always, let us know how we're doing in the comments section below, or by emailing Brendan Hall at bhall@espnboston.com.

NEWTON, Mass. -- More than the moonshots from the plate and nasty breaking stuff from the mound, this is what they love about Newton South's John Jennings: with three outs needed to lock up a very nice 4-0 win over Boston Latin, his 3-2 fastball to Michael McKie came screaming back to the mound. Jennings blocked his face with his glove and fell backwards.

He then quickly scrambled to his feet and tossed it to first base the out, drawing pop from the crowd gathered. The next at bat, after giving Kevin Chen a 2-0 count, Lions head coach Ron Jordan came to the mound and asked if he can get these final two outs, but more importantly, "How's your face?" Jennings flashed a grin, and the two exchanged a chuckle.

Jennings then took a deep breath, and worked the final two Latin batters to 6-3 and 4-3 putouts to wrap up an overall solid day for the UMass-bound senior, and keep the Lions at the top of the competitive Dual County League Large race. At the plate, he was 2 for 4 with an RBI single, adding to his explosive start to the season (.727, 22 RBI, 4 HR). On the mound, he went the distance with two strikeouts and a walk, with just one hit allowed, on 93 pitches, to improve to 4-0 on the season for the Lions (9-0, 2-0).

"Like I've said to people before, you look at him and you don't think he's an athlete, but he's a tremendous athlete," Jordan said. "He's made some great plays all year. Today was obviously his best performance of the year. We're slowly taking our time in moving him up with pitch counts, but he just pounds the strike zone. He's having a great year."

Attacking the low part of the plate with basically two pitches, Jennings allowed just two balls from the Wolfpack (5-3, 1-1) to leave the infield, for one hit.

"I mixed my curveball in pretty well, and I had good command of it," Jennings said. "I was keeping my fastball low most of the time."

Jennings brought home the first run in the bottom of the second, first getting on base pulling a frozen rope down the third base line into shallow left. He then came home three at-bats later on a Pat Mildner line drive to left-center.

In the bottom of the third, Jennings made it 2-0 when he blooped one high to right, scoring leadoff hitter Ben Bavly after the outfielder dropped what should have been a routine fly.

The Lions tacked on two more runs in the fourth and sixth innings, on an RBI single from Mike Kinch and RBI triple from Justin Moy, respectively.

For Latin, senior righthander Brad Petitpas went the distance and picked up the loss in spite of a solid effort. He fanned seven batters while walking two, threw 81 strikes on 117 pitches, and allowed two earned runs on nine hits.

On the Down Low: It was an overall efficient day on the mound for Jennings, who stayed ahead in counts early, and threw 61 of his 93 pitches for strikes. Despite ringing up just two K's, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder kept a potent Latin hitting lineup settling for infield grounders most of the day.

Jennings is typically a strikeout pitcher -- coming into today, he had 21 strikeouts in 14.2 innings -- but by keeping his fastball low in the zone, and mixing in a breaking ball equal parts slider and curve, he was an effective groundball pitcher today.

"This is a heck of a team, and they're not afraid to swing early in the count," Jordan said of the Latin hitters. "If he's pounding the strike zone, they're going to make contact. But you know, he got a ton of ground balls because he keeps the ball down, he really gets his spots.

"We only went with two pitches today, because his fastball was so good and he was spotting it so well, we went with fastball-curve, didn't even bother with the changeup. He kept pounding that outside corner and getting ground balls."

Promising Frosh: Jordan is an East Boston native, and can't help grin when he uses the term "City Guy" to describe his leadoff hitter and second baseman, freshman Ben Bavly. He was 1-for-4 from the plate, with two runs and two stolen bases.

Bavly was "a pleasant surprise" to Jordan in March tryouts, running a 6.9-second 60-yard dash against the wind, prompting him to remark, "Who is this kid?"

"He's very patient at the plate, he's beyond his years," Jordan said. "He definitely does not play like a freshman, he plays more like a junior or a senior. He's a big reason why we're doing so well. I mean, he gets on the base, and even getting that ground ball, he made the second baseman hesitate. You don't pay attention with him, he's going to beat it out.

"He's a little pesky for us. He's a little something different for us here...I like him, he's more of a city style (player), what I'm used to. But he's out here, and he's working hard here every day."

AMHERST, Mass. -- There are certain aspects within the game of baseball that coaches fear and loath. Among them is giving opposing teams extra outs in an inning.

After begrudgingly watching his infield boot and toss the ball all over the place in yesterday’s Valley League contest against Springfield Cathedral, Amherst head coach Greg Vouros can now relate.

The Hurricanes committed seven errors in all, but the four made in the third inning proved to be a backbreaker. The ever-so-gracious Panthers took full advantage of Amherst's defensive issues during the frame by scoring three times en route to a 3-0 victory at Stan P. Ziomek Diamond.

“I think we’re a little rusty and we’re starting to put some pressure on ourselves,” said Vouros, whose club fell to 7-4. “It was a tough day for our defense which has been a strength for us and it kind of fell apart today, particularly in that third inning.”

While the defense will take much of the heat over this defeat, fingers can also be pointed to the Hurricane offense which was non-existent against Cathedral ace Harrison Paige. The senior put up another brilliant complete game performance, allowing just one hit, walking two and striking out eight. The righthander is now 4-0 and has allowed just one run in 28 innings pitched this season.

“It was another ho-hum performance by him,” quipped Panthers coach Pat Moriarty. “He takes the hill and we are very confident when he does. Harrison throws strikes and keeps our defense in the game."

Amherst junior righty Asher Young also put forth a solid outing in spite having little support behind him. Young went the distance, giving up five hits and no earned runs.

“Asher pitched great and mixed it up well,” Vouros said. “He’s a competitor. He battled throughout and gave us a shot to win. He was accurate, threw strikes and got ahead in the count all game.”

Cathedral, now 10-1 and qualified for the MIAA Division 1 Western Mass. tournament, had an opportunity to grab the lead in the second inning but Young was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam unharmed. The next frame, however, was a different story.

After Young retired the first batter he faced, Tim Danehy and Frank Crinella each reached base on back-to-back errors by shortstop Justin Carey. Mike Krupczak followed with another bouncer to Carey but this time the junior fielded the ball, however his throw to force Crinella at second was a tad late.With still time to get Krupczak at first, Hurricane second baseman Jack Berg-Schrader bounced a throw which skipped past first baseman Mike Walkowicz.

Meanwhile, Danehy -- who had never stopped running -- was sprinting toward the plate. Walkowicz recovered the ball quickly, but his throw home sailed past catcher Jose Cabrera giving Cathedral a 1-0 lead.

The inning continued for the Panthers. With runners on second and third and the infield playing in, sophomore Andrew Noonan chopped a single to center field scoring Crinella and Krupczak giving them a three-run cushion.

"We know we have to get runners moving and get them into scoring position and find ways to get them in," Moriarty said. "We were fortunate enough today, especially with Andrew's big single with two out to do that by putting guys in motion."

As it turned out, that was all Paige and Co. needed. As tough as Young proved to be on the hill, Paige was tougher. The AIC commit threw 104 pitches, displaying a lot of movement and keeping the Hurricanes off-stride throughout.

“He’s been really hitting his spots and that’s what he and I try to focus on the most,” said Noonan, the Panthers’ catcher. “Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff which I felt was the case today, he still got us the win. His curveball was really on today. He didn’t throw a lot of off-speed today but when he did he executed them well, expecially when the count was 0-2 and 1-2.”

If you told Nick Schwieger four years ago that he’d have a shot at the NFL, he wouldn’t have believed you.

After becoming Dartmouth’s all-time leading rusher, the Bishop Feehan product and Norton native signed an undrafted free agent contract with the St. Louis Rams on Saturday.

“All I wanted to do was establish myself as a player [at Dartmouth],” said Schwieger during in a phone interview Monday after he finished an exam.

Schwieger admits he didn’t take a direct route to pro football, noting the perceived knock on Ivy League football. But after racking up 3,150 career rushing yards with the Big Green, he certainly made a name for himself.

Schwieger said he started to hone in on his NFL dream during junior year, when he was a co-recipient of the Ivy’s Bushnell Cup — its MVP award. Interest continued through his senior year and built in the pre-draft process. Schwieger said he’d been in touch with the Rams, along with the Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers before the draft. When the seventh round came and went, Schwieger became a free agent and immediately fielded calls with offers from the Bengals and Rams.

He settled on St. Louis citing several factors, including the composition of the team’s roster, coaches and the ability to run with one of the league’s preeminent backs.

“Stephen Jackson will be a great guy to learn from,” Schwieger said with a laugh. “I’m really looking forward to that. And Coach [Jeff] Fisher, you know what a great player coach he’s been for such a long time. It’s just a great opportunity.”

As Schwieger is finishing course work at Dartmouth, he will not be able to join the Rams until their June camps, after he’s graduates.

Then, his attention will turn to carving out a roster spot, whether that’s as a running back or a special teamer. For now, the former MIAA Super Bowl champion with the Shamrocks has time to reflect on what go him there.

“I definitely believe that Massachusetts football is on the rise, you see better and better prospects coming out every year and more and more people are making it [to the NFL]. Looking back, I probably took hard way, or the long way there, but that makes it all that much more rewarding.”

New Englanders signing with NFL teams:
Here is a list of the players with New England roots who’ve signed undrafted free agent contracts with NFL teams. It should also be mentioned that former Nashua North (N.H.) standout and UConn product Kendall Reyes was drafted 49th overall (second round) by the San Diego Chargers.

Dartmouth
Nick Schwieger (Norton, Mass.) RB – St. Louis Rams

Endicott
Kevin Eagan (West Hartford, Mass.), DE – Indianapolis Colts
Taylor Allen (Westborough, Mass.), LS – Jaguars

Merrimack
Shawn Loiseau (Shrewsbury, Mass.), LB – Houston Texans

Rhode Island
Jason Foster (East Pittsford, Vt.), OL – Indianapolis Colts

St. Anselm
Marc Wilson (Farmington, Conn.), WR – Arizona Cardinals

UMass
Emil Igwenagu (Shrewsbury, Mass.), FB/TE – Philadelphia Eagles

Tilton (N.H.) junior guard Alex Cohen told ESPN HoopGurlz over the weekend that she has committed to Manhattan College.

A 5-foot-9 combo guard, Cohen finished her junior season last month with the Rams, helping guide them to the NEPSAC Class B prep school championship game. She also plays with the New Hampshire Rivals club during AAU season.

When she joins the Jaspers in the fall of 2013, she'll be playing with two Massachusetts natives from the Class of 2012 -- Ashland's Blake Underhill, and Wachusett's Bri Schnare, both of whom were named to ESPNBoston's MIAA All-State Team last month.

Brewster Academy post-graduate guard Joe Bramanti put an end to his recruitment on Friday with a pledge to Wright State, according to the Dayton Daily News.

The 6-foot-2 Bramanti chose the Raiders over The Citadel, Jacksonville, Wofford and Rider.

"I pretty much liked everything about Wright State," he told the paper. "The situation was perfect for me. It being far away from home was the only drawback I saw. Athletically, it's a great spot. The facilities are amazing. All the coaches I love, and all the players I love, so it was a perfect spot for me."

Playing along side six future Division I players, Bramanti helped Brewster to a 33-1 record and a National Prep Championship this past season. Following his senior season at Andover High in 2010-11, he was named to ESPN Boston's inaugural MIAA All-State Team.

We updated our statewide MIAA Top 25 Baseball Poll this morning, which you can view here.

Lowell remains the top spot for the second week in a row, but BC High (2) and St. John's Prep (3) have both climbed back after successful weeks. Rounding out the top five -- and moving into the top five for the first time since last May -- are East Longmeadow (4) and Lincoln-Sudbury (5). East Longmeadow was ranked No. 5 in the state last season, before falling in the Western Mass. Final; L-S finished 2011 as the No. 1 team in the land after winning the Div. 1 state championship over Minnechuag.

Elsewhere, Auburn (21) and Boston Latin (23) make returns to the poll, while New Bedford debuts at No. 20 after knocking off St. John's of Shrewsbury last week. East Bridgewater also makes its season debut at No. 24.

The most interesting debut on the poll, however, might be little-known Monument Mountain, out of Great Barrington. The Spartans are 9-0 despite losing their best player, Columbia commit John Kinne, to Tommy John surgery.

It's an especially diverse poll this week. Here is how it breaks down by conference affiliation.

Catholic Conference - 4
Dual County - 3
Valley League - 2
Valley Wheel - 2
Atlantic Coast - 1
Bay State - 1
Berkshire County - 1
Big Three - 1
Central Mass. Conference - 1
Hockomock - 1
Inter-High - 1
Merrimack Valley - 1
Mid-Wach A - 1
Northeastern - 1
Old Colony - 1
South Coast - 1
South Shore - 1
Southern Worcester County - 1

As always, let us know how we're doing in the comments section, or by emailing Brendan Hall at bhall@espnboston.com

There are perfect games, and then there are games like the one Stonington's Andrea Chiaradio pitched against Norwich Free Academy on April 21.

Chiaradio faced 21 batters in Stonington's 3-0 triumph, and struck out all 21.

"We threw a lot of drop curves and rise balls," Chiaradio told TheDay.com. "I was trying not to think about [a perfect game]. I was just focused on getting the outs."

Chiaradio, a junior, is pitching at the varsity level for the first time this season. She was the starting center fielder for the Bears last season.

The victory improved Chiaradio's record to 3-1 this season. Julie Royer caught the perfect game.

“She seemed like she just had confidence,” Stonington coach Ann-Marie Houle told TheDay.com. “I don't know what the heck was going on in her mind. I'm superstitious, so people were sitting on the same buckets for seven innings.

“She played center field all last year and she never complained. When the coach gives you that moment and you take it … good for her.”

Former Masuk standout Rachele Fico also struck out 21 batters in a game. Fico, a junior on the LSU softball team, set the national record for perfect games during her high school career with 26.

ESPNHS HONORS MONTELLI
ESPNHS selected St. Joseph's Vito Montelli as its National Coach of the Year for the 2011-12 season.

Montelli, 79, has been St. Joseph's head coach for 50 seasons, and is the only coach in the program's history. He led the Cadets to a 25-1 record and the Class LL state championship last season.

Montelli has guided St. Joseph's to 11 state titles and six runner-up finishes. He has an 878-328 career record. No New England high school basketball coach has won more games.

“It's really a humbling honor and I'm thrilled to be selected because [there are] so many deserving coaches out there,” Montelli said. “This is special for our school, our players and our coaching staff.”

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NEEDHAM, Mass. -- Two days after one of Duxbury lacrosse’s wildest contests of the season, the No. 1 Dragons once again found themselves behind the 8-ball.

But Duxbury constructed a three-goal rally early in the first half, which helped them go on to defeat Needham, 11-7, at Memorial Field Saturday night.

“We want to get back to playing Duxbury lacrosse, and we’ve had a tough schedule [because] we’ve had a game every other day for about three weeks," Duxbury head coach Chris Sweet said. "But I thought we played a great second half, we got off to a slow start in the first half, and sometimes that just happens."

The Rockets, who jumped out to a stunning 3-1 lead in the first quarter, struggled to maintain their two-goal advantage, as missed shots, passes and ground balls opened the door for the Dragons attack and midfield to tally four unanswered goals before intermission.

Senior Sam Sweet (2 G) tied the game at 7:10 of the second quarter after collecting a pass from senior Paul Hellar (2A). Senior Adam Fitzgerald and junior Henry Narlee (2G) then upped the Dragons' lead to 5-3.

“Coach Sweet, one thing he stresses is always get ahead of the ball, and never give up on the play, so once I won the face-off, I saw Reilly [Naton] had the ball, and I just tried to get in front of everybody and beat my defender," Narlee said of his second quarter strike. "I beat him, [my defender] and luckily got the shot off, so I thought it was nothing special, but I just had to get in front and do the fundamentals."

Duxbury, which managed to tally two strikes in the third, ramped up its intensity during the final quarter, as the Dragons' defense initiated four transition goals to secure their 10th victory.

Senior Will Siefert (4 G, 2A), who was responsible for three of his team’s final strikes, set up shop to the left side of senior Lucas Davis’ cage during the fourth quarter and was able to finish Duxbury's transitions with three consecutive tallies.

“In the fourth quarter we stuck together, and we just started to pick it up, started winning ground balls, and got us the possessions that we needed, so it helped us get the goals,” Siefert said. “My buddy, Sam [Sweet], we’ve played together for a while, and he always finds me there [on] the backside, so I just camp out there and wait for the ball, and try to finish it.”

“I think it starts at the defensive end. We get the ball off the ground, then we get a couple of quick passes, and get into transition, and then once we get a little bit of space, our attack man are pretty good at moving the ball and finding the open guy,” Chris Sweet added.

Senior Jamie McGill and junior Nico Panepinto registered Needham’s final goals with two minutes remaining, but their rally was cut short after Duxbury secured the ball on the ensuing possession, and drained the clock with various passes.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game,” Needham head coach Dave Wainwright said. “We put this on our schedule because we wanted to see where we were at the midpoint of the season, and this is exactly the midpoint. This is game nine for us out of 18, and the fact that we’re at this point right here, we feel as though we’ve got room to grow, but we’ve done a lot of good things along the way.”

“This was a game that we look at the outcome of the score, we’re not happy with it, but we feel as though we can answer some of those problems,” added Wainwright. “We definitely have some talented young men that work real hard and I think they’re going to be ready once it becomes tournament time because we have another half of the season to grow.”

WESTON, Mass. -- Henry Bumpus was doing what he’d been taught.

How it ended, that’s not exactly how Concord-Carlisle head coach Tom Dalicandro would’ve drawn it up.

Bumpus, the hulking 6-foot-6 senior defender, also a defensive end on the Patriots’ Super Bowl champion football team, became an unlikely hero in No. 2 C-C’s 7-6 win over Dual County League rival No. 13 Weston.

With a tie game and less than three minutes to play, Bumpus gathered a ground ball in his own end, streaked upfield and … well, he didn’t stop.

“I tried to call timeout, but I couldn’t speak,” Dalicandro said of the scene, watching his long pole in the offensive zone.

It must have been an imposing sight for Weston’s ESPN Boston All-State goaltender Jared Fong to gaze out and see Bumpus on the charge. But he continued on his beeline to the cage. Once Bumpus closed to 12 yards out, he fired. His initial shot clanged off the post, but, like a true power forward, he followed his shot and potted the game-winner.

“They were walking off on everyone else because I’m a long pole,” said Bumpus, who will continue his football career at Brown next year, “so I made a couple moves and took it to the net.”

THE COMEBACK
Weston (8-2, 3-2 DCL) controlled more than three quarters of the action and took a 6-4 lead into the fourth.

That’s when C-C (8-0, 6-0) went on the offensive.

“When we got to 4-4, I felt pretty good,” Dalicandro said. “But when they went up 6-4, I didn’t think we were going to have the gas to get to seven.”

Kevin Delehey got the Patriots within a goal early in the fourth before junior middie Charlie Painter tied it with a shade under eight minutes to play.

“They made plays,” Weston head coach Jim Wilcon said. “There were a couple mistakes we could look at, there were maybe a couple of turnovers that gave them possessions. But I think a team like that, they cause the turnovers, they cause the mistakes.”

THE MISSING
While the Wildcats fell short, they were a man-down per se without top scorer Joey Pasquale. The senior attack suffered a thigh contusion during Weston’s loss to Westford Academy.

Even without their leader, attacks Jordan Fong and Geoffrey Ziobro stepped up to fill the scoring duties admirably. And, in turn, the Wildcats nearly came away with an upset over their rival.

“I thought as a team we played pretty well today,” Wilcon said.

In a six-day span, the three teams perched atop the statewide rankings for NHIAA boys' lacrosse – all of them perennial powers in the Granite State – suffered setbacks.

No. 1 Bishop Guertin High of Nashua, No. 2 Pinkerton Academy of Derry, and No. 3 Exeter High actually combined to lose five contests between April 16 and 22.

Bishop Guertin lost just once. But it was the biggest stunner. BG wasn't expected to lose an in-state matchup this spring. The two-time defending Division I champion is extremely talented and very, very deep.

But BG isn't invincible. Hanover High – No. 1 as a result of its 14-9 upset win April 20 – proved it.

“They beat us in two state finals (2007, 2009). Other than Hanover, nobody has beaten us, in New Hampshire, in the playoffs since 2007,” BG coach Chris Cameron said. “There was no reason for us to take them lightly because they're a quality program.”

Cameron's club was without UMass recruit Bob Fahey. BG's shut-down close defender sat out the second half of Guertin's previous game, a 14-8 win at highly ranked Needham (Mass.) High, with an ankle injury.

Guertin's coach, however, didn't use Fahey's absence as an excuse. BG still boasted four other close defenders recruited to play college lacrosse.

The Marauders led at the end of every period. Attackman Alex Krass (two goals, three assists) and midfielder Christian Wolter (four goals, assist) played with purpose. Christian Johansen and Ryan Brigham (11 of 25 faceoff wins) added three goals apiece.

Goaltender James Washington settled down nicely after BG scored the game's first goal in the opening 30 seconds. The senior made 15 saves.

“They were pretty happy. But (their post-game reaction) wasn't like they won the state championship,” said Hanover coach Jeff Reed, whose club from the state's Upper Valley was blasted by BG, 15-3, in the April 10 season-opener at Nashua's Stellos Stadium. “They reacted like it was a big win, but not 'the win.' They know there's a bigger goal at the end.”

No. 2 Pinkerton twice lost to teams known as the Lancers.

The Astros started their three-game week with an 11-9 league loss April 16 at arch-rival Londonderry High. The tough stretch closed with a 14-9 home loss April 21 versus Longmeadow (Mass.) High.

Maintaining focus was an uncharacteristic problem for Pinkerton in both losses.

Furthermore, offensive production almost exclusively came from the attack. Josh Gallant tallied three goals and three assists at Londonderry; Dom Corsetto went for three goals and an assist against Longmeadow.

“Maybe a little of it is conditioning. We could not get our faceoffs in the second half and we could not pick up ground balls,” Pinkerton coach Brian O'Reilly said after the Astros lost to Longmeadow, which erased a 4-1 first-period deficit. “It's the same thing as the Londonderry game.”

Exeter's defeats, in a sense, were understandable. The Blue Hawks, in a four-day span, lost competitive contests to the teams ranked ahead of them: BG (9-6 on April 16) and Pinkerton (8-6 on April 19).

Goaltender Jake Pleadwell (18 saves) stood tall against an early Pinkerton onslaught. Close defenders Jamie Vogt, Joe Moser and Zach Adler also enabled the Seacoast squad to pull within striking distance.

“The fact that we went down to BG, 3-0, and they never quit, and then we were down, 5-1, against Pinkerton and made it a game, it shows their resilience,” Holly said. “That's the one thing you can take out of it.”

Here's one lesson, stressed by BG's coach, that is applicable to every power program:

“There are too many good teams out there,” Cameron said. “We can't just show up and expect to win.”

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BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Interesting things have happened when Bridgewater-Raynham and New Bedford square up on the softball diamond this season.

The last time out, the Whalers crawled out of a 12-0 hole with two at-bats left to grab a quirky 13-12 victory over the Trojans.

This matchup didn’t have the extreme one-sided swing that the previous heavyweight nonleague match had, but nonetheless it had its fair share of up-and-down drama with the Trojans coming out on top 9-8 on a blustery Friday afternoon.

The two teams combined for 16 runs in the games first three innings only to see the pitching from Audrey Dolloff and Brittany Carvahlo calm things down to surrender three total hits – two for the Trojans and one for the Whalers – in the final four innings of play.

Madi Shaw delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth and her relay throw from shortstop nabbed the tying run at the plate in the Whalers’ last at-bat.

“Both of us know that our teams can hit the ball,” Whalers head coach Harry Lowe said. “You’ve got two good pitchers on the mound, it’s not like they are bad pitchers, but you’ve got two teams that have girls that swing from the heels. … Whoever is going to make the last play is going to win the game. They got the double in the last inning just like we had the double the first time.”

Trojans head coach Mike Carrozza rememberd being on the losing end of the last meeting between the two teams, and he most recalled the feeling not being a very good one.

“It wasn’t (a fun game) to be a part of after being up 12 runs and losing going into the fifth inning,” he said. “New Bedford just kept battling. Today we weren’t going to be denied and the kids kept fighting back inning after inning. We did what we had to do and we got the win.”

SHAW GETS THE WINNER IN BOTH PHASES
Shaw has started to come into her own for the Trojans in her sophomore season and this game may have highlighted that more than others.

The only time she didn’t impact the game at the plate was when she was walked in the fourth inning. When she swung the bat, she was 3-for-3 with three extra-base hits for six RBI. She connected on a game-tying 3-run homer in the bottom of the first, a game-tying 2-run shot in the second and the go-ahead RBI double in the sixth.

Shaw also saved a run for the Trojans in the field in the Whalers’ half of the seventh, when she erased Hannah Greany at the plate with a relay throw from short to help B-R cling to the 9-8 lead.

“Today was a real big game for her as far as the defensive end and the offensive end of it,” Corrozza said.

Before she gets into the on-deck circle Shaw can be found warming up off the tee to try and keep her swing nice and level, but she believes she is also starting to pick up some of the leadership qualities in only her second year with the team.

“I’m always talking all the time, even last year when I was still a little awkward freshman,” she said. “As it’s building, I do feel that I may have to (the leadership) over my senior year.”