ESPN

The rankings crew at ESPNHS released the latest boys' lacrosse FAB 50 poll this morning and here's the skinny.

Massachusetts No. 1 Duxbury shifted up two spots to No. 17, after the Dragons outscored their three opponents from last week by a 42-9 margin. No. 11 Darien (Conn.) sits just outside the top 10 as the only other New England-based team represented.

However, MIAA No. 2 Concord-Carlisle received votes from the national panel as the Patriots ran their record to 15-0.

St. John's Prep junior shortstop and righthanded pitcher Brandon Bingel has committed to Bryant University, he announced tonight on his Twitter account.

"All pressure's off and now I can play for love of the game," he wrote.

Heading into this week, Bingel ranked second in the Catholic Conference in batting (.407, 4 HR, 20 RBI) and pitching (4-1, 32 K, 31.2 IP, 1.12 ERA).

The United States Hockey League held its entry draft tonight and there was plenty of New England flavor to the proceedings.

Here's the rundown of those selected by overall selection:

2. Muskegon - Adam Gilmour, RW, Hanover, Mass., Noble and Greenough.

7. Sioux City - Cam Brown, C, Natick, Mass., New Hampshire Junior Monarchs.

10. Waterloo - Chris Calnan, RW, Norwell, Mass., Noble and Greenough.

29. Indiana - Brian Morgan, C, Windham, N.H., New Hampshire Junior Monarchs.

32. Muskegon - Ben Foster, LW, Darien, Conn., Choate Rosemary Hall.

37. Cedar Rapids - Gavin Bayreuther, D, Canaan, Mass., Holderness.

41. Dubuque - Trevor Fidler, C, Watertown, Mass., Dexter.

73. Lincoln - Ross Olsson, RW, Billerica, Mass., Williston-Northampton.

77. Muskegon - Doyle Somerby, D, Marblehead, Mass., Kimball Union.

89. Indiana - Cam Askew, C, South Boston, Mass., St. Sebastian's.

123. Des Moines - Josh Couturier, D, Newbury, Mass., Boston Junior Bruins.

131. Dubuque - Noah Hanifin, D, Norwood, Mass., St. Sebastian's.

134. Indiana - Sam Kurker, RW, Reading, Mass., St. John's Prep.

222. Cedar Rapids - Jason Kalinowski, RW, Stamford, Conn., Salisbury.

225. Green Bay - Joe Young, G, Hanson, Mass., Boston Advantage Major Midget.

231. Sioux City - Nick Roberto, F, Wakefield, Mass., Kimball Union.

242. Muskegon, Corey Ronan, F, Franklin, Mass., St. Sebastian's.

245. Tri-City - Devin Tringale, LW, Medford, Mass., Lawrence Academy.

250. Waterloo - Ryan Cloonan, LW, East Longmeadow, Mass., Boston Advantage Major Midget.

254. Muskegon - William Messa, C, Lawrence Academy.

314. Indiana - Laythe Jadallah, RW, The Gunnery.

The MIAA released its pairings for the boys' volleyball state tournament this afternoon. Haverhill (18-0) grabbed the top overall seed in the North, while North Quincy (14-0) took the South, Milford (18-0) in Central, and Chicopee Comp (17-1) in West.

To view the complete brackets, CLICK HERE.

Below are the seedings for each district:

NORTH
1. Haverhill (18-0); 2. Lawrence (17-3); 3. St. John's Prep (17-3); 4. Cambridge (16-3); 5. Latin Academy (15-4); 6. Lowell (11-6); 7. Westford (11-7); 8. Chelmsford (12-8); 9. Lexington (9-7); 10. Methuen (11-9); 11. Andover (12-10); 12. Gr. Lowell Tech. (10-10); 13. Lowell Catholic (10-10)

SOUTH
1. North Quincy (14-0); 2. Newton North (16-1); 3. Needham (16-4); 4. Barnstable (13-5); 5. Newton South (14-6); 6. Norwood (12-6); 7. Brockton (13-7); 8. Greater New Bedford (10-6); 9. BC High (10-6)

CENTRAL
1. Milford (18-0); 2. Lincoln-Sudbury (17-1); 3. Wachusett (15-3); 4. Valley Tech (13-3); 5. Xaverian (14-4); 6. Natick (12-4); 7. Worcester Tech (14-5); 8. Algonquin Reg. (14-6); 9. Marlborough (12-6); 10. Worcester North (12-6); 11. Keefe Tech (10-6); 12. Medfield (9-8); 13. Worcester South (9-8); 14. Burncoat (9-9)

WEST
1. Chicopee Comp (17-1); 2. Agawam (18-1); 3. Ludlow (13-5); 4. Westfield (12-6); 5. Putnam (15-4); 6. Athol (14-5); 7. Holyoke (12-5); 8. Sabis (11-6)

With days remaining until the end of the regular season, we've updated the MIAA softball Top 25 poll on last time before seedings are released for the upcoming tournament.

Milford is running strong at No. 1 and looks to finish an undefeated regular season run. Bridgewater-Raynham, Minnechaug and Malden snuck into the top 10 this week.

Things largely remained unchanged, but we did welcome one new team to the poll in Hopkinton. The Hillies moved back into the poll for the first time since our second poll of the season after knocking off Bellingham, ending the Blackhawks' design on a perfect season.

BILLERICA, Mass. -- Brian Vona has been around long enough to know that if his Lincoln-Sudbury lacrosse squad is going to make a deep run in this year's postseason, the Warriors defense is going to come up with big stops in key spots.

Led by sophomore Notre Dame commit John Sexton, the D did just that in the third quarter of last night's nonleague clash with fellow Div. 1 power Billerica. Goals by Peter Walters and Dan Trainor to open the third quarter helped pull the Indians to within two goals of the Warriors at 9-7. With Kevin Farrell dominating the faceoff X, it seemed as though Billerica was in the midst of what could have been a game-changing run.

The Lincoln-Sudbury (13-5) defense dug in its heels, worked hard to get ground balls and excelled in the clearing game after each of Dan Shaughnessy's 16 saves, and returned both momentum and confidence to the Warriors sideline. L-S then proceeded to score seven of the next eight goals and pulled away for a convincing 17-9 triumph.

"It was 9-7 where we were worried," Vona admitted. "They fought back hard and we knew they were going to make a run. They are very well-coached and very skilled. [Cam] Slatton, [Ben Melaugh], [Russ Tedford] and [Walters] - those are there four players who can bring it. We knew they were going to come back and they did. Our defense had to make a couple stops. We've been looking for that for a while from our defense."

He added, "Our defense really played well in the third quarter. That's when I feel like that we set the tone was set for the entire game.

Jordan Dow led the Warriors with five goals, while Colby Hall added three goals and three assists and Henry Guild chipped in with a hat trick. Slatton had three goals and two helpers to lead Billerica, with Walters and Trainor each adding a pair.

Vona also noted that, prior to the game, the Warriors dedicated their performance to program founder and now-retired former coach Andy Oleski.

FILLING IN THE MIDDLE
The wide-open style that Lincoln-Sudbury plays makes them a very fun to watch and has for years. The offensive players, both attack and middies, know how to fill lanes and zip passes back and forth until they find the right shooting opportunity. Such plays led to a 5-2 first quarter and a 6-1 fourth.

The key for the Warriors is maintaining in the middle portions of the game. While L-S outscored the Indians in all four frames, Billerica played its best during the middle quarters. One the defense got going, however, that gave the offense the spark it needed for a definitive closing stretch.

"We just need all the middle too," Vona said with a laugh. "We've been playing well the last few games. We went down to the Connecticut and played a real tough team down there, got off to a fast start and lulled in the middle as well but we came back at the end. I'm proud of the kids."

DIGGING A HOLE TOO DEEP
Although Billerica managed to close to within a pair of goals during that third quarter, having to play from behind all game created problems that, against a team of the caliber of L-S, are just too much to overcome.

The Indians found themselves trailing by as many as four goals at several points, and once the Warriors made a strong push at the end, Billerica simply couldn't hold on any longer. An early harbinger of things to come took place in the opening minutes when a clearing pass was sent back to the Indians cage only to find no goalie waiting to receive it and the ball rolled right in for the first L-S score.

Games like this in the final week of the regular serve as strong teaching tools, something Indians coach Craig Flynn undoubtedly will address with his charges before the tournament begins.

"We started off in the hole, gave them a couple of goals early that we shouldn't have, passing back to the goalie when he's not in the net trying to clear the ball," Flynn explained. "We felt like we could keep fighting back but their offense is very good. They have good attackmen and midfielders and our defense was getting lost in there. We had a lot of mental errors. They have a lot of motion in their offense and it looked like our guys were getting lost out there on defense."

"It's all learning experiences for our guys to get ready for the tournament," he continued. "We'll learn a lot from this and I think we can make a solid run at this thing once we get into it."

Joyce Erekson of the Lynn Daily Item is reporting this morning that Lynn English senior basketball standout Keandre Stanton will be heading to Frank Phillips Junior College, in Borger, Texas, starting next fall.

In his junior season of 2010-11, Stanton was named to ESPN Boston's inaugural MIAA All-State Team. It was a monster campaign for the 6-foot-6 slasher, who averaged 19.5 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks, with 10 triple-doubles, as the Bulldogs advanced to the Division 1 North semifinals.

This past season was a disappointment for the Bulldogs, who were bounced in the first round of the Division 1 North tournament by No. 20 seed Waltham, but Stanton still averaged roughly 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocks and took home Co-MVP honors for the Northeastern Conference's Large division.

Stanton has received varied interest from colleges throughout his career at English, ranging from low Division 1 schools down to Division 3.

BB&N football seniors Nick DiChiara and Eric Olson pass along a video compilation of the former pulling off various "trick shots" from the long-snapper position.

Watch as the Colgate-bound senior pulls off several feats, including one from stands at Harvard Stadium, with the help of a few friends -- namely, Olson (who himself is bound for Northwestern as an offensive tackle) and baseball outfielder Rhett Wiseman (a projected top-five round draft pick for next month).

Is this the real thing? Olson claims the video is "100 percent real". Either way, there's some nice camera work involved here.

Here is the video:

It's been a while, but we promise we made up for it with our latest edition of the ESPN Boston High Schools podcast.

Editors Scott Barboza and Brendan Hall caught up on the spring season action in baseball, softball and lacrosse, while taking a look at their "midseason" All-State teams, released last week. They also took a look ahead to the postseason with some predicitions for the upcoming MIAA tournaments.

We updated our statewide MIAA Top 25 Baseball Poll this morning, and while there are no changes to the top five, there are some movers and shakers.

St. John's of Shrewsbury retains the top spot for the second week in a row, while Walpole (2), Springfield Cathedral (3), Franklin (4) and Lincoln-Sudbury (5) remain in their same position from a week ago. But jumping back into the Top 10, at No. 6, is Lowell, following a thrilling 4-2 victory over BC High last Friday under the lights at Alumni Field.

Lowell held the No. 1 spot in ESPN Boston's poll four weeks ago, but dropped all the way to No. 13 following losses to Chelmsford and Andover. Auburn (16, from 23) and Milford (9, from 15) are the other big movers this week.

Elsewhere, Northbridge makes its return to the poll this week at No. 23, while Taunton makes its season debut at No. 24.

To view the complete poll, CLICK HERE.

Here's how the poll breaks down this week by league affiliation:

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

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

SHREWSBURY, Mass. -- Algonquin lead 3-0 after one quarter and never looked back as they defeated St. John’s Shrewsbury (13-4) 13-6 on Saturday in a battle of Central Massachusetts powers.

The win gave the Tomahawks (15-1) their second victory over the Pioneers this season as they defeated their counterparts 12-8 in an early season match-up on April 7.

Ball possession was an important factor on Saturday as Algonquin senior FOGO Carter Guzzi helped the Tomahawks gain opportunities that led to four successful second quarter strikes and a 7-2 halftime lead.

Algonquin was consistent in each facet of the game as they played discipline team defense and took advantage of ample opportunities in their offensive zone.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs,” said Algonquin head coach Rich Luongo. “I just think we played so solid defensively we did not allow them to make any of those runs.”

The Tomahawks used strong rotating defense and patient offensive possessions to extend their lead in the second half and pull away with the 13-6 win.

“We were trying to slow them down in the second half,” Luongo said. “You want to play a paced game every once in a while, especially on defense.”

Algonquin Senior Conor Healey was the difference maker in the second half offensively as the athletic attackman used his speed to beat his defender and set up two of the three third quarter goals.

“We just came out and wanted to make a statement,” Healey said. “We all have trust in each other and that is important.”

Attack Unit: The Algonquin attack unit of Healy, Mike Wood and Keegan Gillis factored in on nine of the 13 Tomahawk goals.

“Our attack is one of the best I have ever coached,” Luongo said. “They will pick a team apart if they stretch out on us and that is what happened.”

Healy scored three goals on the day to go along with two helpers. Wood added four goals and one assist and Gillis also added a hat-trick.

“When you have three attackman that move the ball around like they do, if you want to stretch them, they will pick you apart,” said Luongo.

The Wall in Net: Algonquin goalie Giles Ober continued his strong play in net as the junior made seven of his 11 saves in the second half to preserve the victory.

“He is amazing,” Healey said. “He makes huge saves. The year before those would have been goals. It is good to have him.”

Ober’s solid play in net and quick clearing ability helped Algonquin thrive in transition on the afternoon.

“We rely on Giles to make some big saves for us,” Luongo said. “He made some stupendous ones today.”

The Road Ahead: Algonquin concludes their 2012 regular season campaign next week with games against North Middlesex and Westborough.

“We will not look past the next two game but we will focus on what we need to do in the tournament,” stressed Luongo.

St. John’s concludes their schedule on Monday with a home game against West Springfield.

WARWICK, R.I. -– Whoever said a team can never have enough pitching must have had Catholic Memorial in mind.

Including Saturday’s non-league game at perennial Rhode Island power Hendricken, the Knights are in a stretch where they play five games in eight days.

“We have six guys that have pitched this year,” coach Hal Carey said after the Knights clipped the Hawks, 7-1. “(Pat) Hurley is our clear number one. But after that, everyone can throw well on a given day.

“We’re going to need them all because we have five games in eight days. Two are makeups (including a Sunday game against Malden Catholic).”

Since junior right-hander Sean Heelen went the distance it allowed Carey to avoid using any relief pitchers –- which means the Knights (9-6) could be in good shape as they seek to qualify for the MIAA playoffs.

Heelen allowed four hits and three walks (the run was unearned), and struck out six. Moreover, he threw 59 of 95 pitches for strikes.

“I tried to give it all I had on the mound so we could save our pitchers for next week, especially with some big Catholic Conference games coming up including Xaverian and Malden Catholic,” Heelen said. “And we have a big game against Brockton on Monday. “I tried to give it all I had and coach was happy.”

One reason Heelen was able to muffle the Hawks (16-3) was that he utilized a new pitch.

“I’ve been trying to incorporate a slider and this was the first game I actually threw it,” he said. “So, I tried to come in with a lot of off-speed (pitches), which I usually do. And I try to work as quickly as I can so the batters don’t any time.

“I try to go out there and throw strikes and try to keep my team in it. I had some help from the catcher, Kevin White.”

Arguably nobody appreciates a pitcher’s ability to work fast more than the position players.

In this game, Heelen retired nine Hawks on three pitches or less; the Knights only made one error; and the team turned a double play.

“I try to stay in a rhythm on the mound so the fielders don’t get lethargic, especially in the outfield,” Heelen said. “As long as I throw strikes and they put the ball in play I know my teammates will make plays.”

Perhaps the most notable Hawk Heelen kept in check was senior pitcher/outfielder Tom Pannone, who already has signed a letter of intent to play his college baseball at the University of Miami.

Pannone was robbed of a hit in the first when his blooper to left was snared by Garrett Ewanowski who made a head-first dive.

First baseman Todd MacDonald made a nice pick on a hard grounder in the third.

And Pannone went down swinging in the fifth.

Heelen helped himself by going 2-for-four with an RBI while Brian McCann smacked a pair of doubles plus a single and drove in two runs.

Hendricken’s lone run came in the second when Rich Bacon reached on CM’s lone error and scored on Justin Finan’s double. But when Finan tried to stretch that hit into a triple –- with nobody out -– he was gunned down a perfect relay from Ewanowski to shortstop Joe Presti to Mike Perry.

“We’re 9-6 playing a tough schedule,” Carey said. “Our defense has been good all year. And Sean throwing great today was a huge boost for us.

“We want to try and get it done in these next few days (i.e. qualify for the playoffs). We’re good enough to beat anybody in (Massachusetts) and Rhode Island. But anyone on our schedule can beat us, too.”

MEDFIELD, Mass. –- Medfield lacrosse’s attacking mentality boils down to two letters: I and O. That’s short for what the Warriors like to call “Instant Offense.”

But in Medfield’s first performance this season against Tri-Valley League rival Dover-Sherborn, the Warriors’ offense was anything but, sputtering in a 7-5 loss.

With their second crack at the No. 5 Raiders on Friday, with the league title up for grabs, the Warriors lived up to their creed. Medfield translated a nearly instant 6-2 first-quarter lead into a 14-7 romp.

“We pick it up and we try to run to the sideline and get it out of the sticks as quickly as possible,” senior attack Calvin Given said, “and [we] try to make the extra pass to find that man on the weak side where he can just get that layup.”

Medfield (13-3) amassed their early lead thanks in no small part to their ability to win ground balls in the first quarter. The Warriors hustled and scooped their way to a 9-3 ground ball advantage in the period.

“That’s something we focused on in practice all week,” senior attack Chris Diana said. “It showed in the first quarter. We got off to a good start and we just kept the momentum from there.”

Twice in the first quarter, Diana was a beneficiary to the Warriors hustle play, turning ground balls into transition and two of his team-high four goals on the evening. Given also celebrated Senior Night with a hat trick of his own.

The Raiders (15-3) didn’t go quietly, however.

D-S whittled down Medfield’s lead to two goals late in the third quarter, after a three-goal run to open the second half. Raiders senior attack Jared Spence led the comeback charge with two of his four goals.

Yet, Medfield was able to close the deal, scoring the final five goals on the night.

“This game, we valued the ball a lot more,” Given said. “When we’d dodge, we didn’t force anything. We pulled it out if nothing was open. We were just always working it around, looking for that extra pass. “

Perhaps a little restraint can result in something instant.

X MARKS THE SPOT
Aside from the Warriors’ crisper offensive showing, Medfield also prospered with the recent return of one of its most skilled players to the lineup.

Although he was held without a goal on Friday, senior attack Connor Roddy’s presence was felt, particularly with his three assists. But even without the ball, the ESPN Boston Preseason All-Stater demands the defense’s attention.

After missing several weeks due to injury, it should come as no surprise that the Warriors’ offensive resurgence has coincided with Roddy’s return.

“He sees the field very well and he makes the right passes,” Diana said of Roddy.

A BETTER SITUATION
The Warriors backed into the postseason last year, after seeing their record TVL winning streak go up in smoke with back-to-back losses to both D-S and Hopkinton.

Maybe this year Medfield will enter with momentum.

In any event, as seemingly is the case every year in the lacrosse hotbed, the second season remains the most important season for the Warriors, who look for a third straight Division 2 state title.

“I think we’re in a good spot, as compared to last year,” Given said. “Last year, we lost this game and the previous game against Hopkinton, which are two TVL games and a huge deal to us."

LOWELL, Mass. -– The fire remained within.

Matt Tulley leaned against the fence at the top of Lowell High’s dugout, arms outstretched, and gazed out at the BC High players warming up in the outfield at Alumni Field. He was his usual self -– that is, quiet, calm, relaxed, but locked in.

“Do you have the time, sir?” he politely called out to a nearby reporter in the dugout.

“Quarter past,” the reporter responded, and the senior righthander flashed a small grin. Forty-five minutes before first pitch meant time to warm up, time to go to work, time to buckle down and brace himself for one of the state’s best hitting lineups.

Tulley earned a scholarship to Virginia Tech this past offseason in part for the low-90’s velocity and late life on his fastball, but also for his competitive streak. In the big games, Tulley always wants the ball, and he never gives off signs of panic.

Unlike his earlier starts this season, there weren't scouts visibly out front, radar gun in tow, clocking his every pitch warming up in the bullpen. Tonight was a change of pace –- a capacity crowd for “Senior Night”, charting each of his strikeouts with “K” signs posted just below the press box windows –- and as usual, he rose to the occasion.

To end the first inning he delivered the looping 12-to-6 curveball that has become his vicious outpitch, and punched the air as he stormed back to the dugout. The next time up, Tulley ran into some trouble when an Eagles baserunner took two bases off a throwing error by Tulley on the pickoff to first. Head coach Danny Graham walked out to the mound to calm him down; Tulley exhaled, and retired the next batter to end the inning.

More trouble came in the fifth, when Rich Roach raced home on a wild pitch and easily beat Tulley’s would-be tag at home plate, tying it up at 1. Roach appeared to mutter something as he got up, and Tulley jawed right back. Tulley then got No. 2 hitter Ryan Tufts looking on another breaking ball to end the inning.

“Kid slides into home, beats the throw, Matt tags him, no big deal,” Graham said. “Kid says something to him, Matt says something right back. It probably lit a little fire under his a--. He is kind of mellow, a little bit laid-back sometimes, but the fire is within.”

More trouble in the sixth. UConn-bound cleanup hitter Bobby Melley crushed one off the wall in left-center, for a stand-up triple, then came home on another passed ball.

You get the idea by now -– Tulley grabbed the ball, and finished what he started. That was the final hit Tulley allowed, as he struck out 11 batters with just four hits scattered to pick up his fourth win of the season. That accompanies a pretty decent job at the plate, which included a sacrifice bunt and an RBI double.

“I knew I had to not just be on my A-game, but my A-plus game,” Tulley said. “They were coming for me, and everyone else.”

“His pitch count’s getting up there, I don’t know whether I’m going to have to make a move or not, how tired he’s getting,” Graham said. “When he came in in the sixth, he grabbed the pitching chart, and he’s studying it. And I know he’s not studying it for our relief pitchers that are coming in.

“So maybe that did ring true in the back of his head. This is a meaningful spot for him, with a two-run lead, and if there’s anybody out there finishing this game out, I want it to be me.”

Tulley went into the last offseason with some kinks to be worked out with his curve. And so he went to a local legend, Mark Deschenes, a Lowell native and UMass-Lowell star who at one point was one of the Cleveland Indians’ top pitching prospects. Among other things, Deschenes stressed the importance of not tipping his pitches, and keeping a consistent release point.

To say it’s worked would be fair. Whereas a year ago at this time, Tulley went mostly fastball-cutter, he was now pounding four pitches for strikes. Half of his strikeouts tonight came by way of the backwards-K.

“Coming into this season, I didn’t think my curveball was going to be my plus pitch,” Tulley said. “But it has been all year. I could always throw it for a strike.”

Noted BC High head coach Norm Walsh, “It’s not so much the fastball, it’s the ability to change speeds on the breaking balls. He goes from the hard slider to the softer curve with a bigger break to it. And he competes – that’s the biggest thing.”

And to that last point, Tulley recalled a recent conversation with Graham, where the coach reminisced about legendary former Peabody hurler Jeff Allison, a former first-round draft pick seemingly destined for a promising big league career before highly-publicized off-field issues derailed the path.

In Allison, Graham always appreciated the gritty side. Asked about recalling the conversation with Tulley, Graham lit up.

“Grittiness, that’s it,” he said. “I think people want to see grittiness. They want to see you be the guy that wants the ball in the most meaningful spots in the game. That’s it. If you’ve got something in the tank to give, they want to see it.

“He doesn’t necessarily have to show emotion out there, it’s just the grittiness. It’s in your body language, it’s your presence out there on the mound. Just showing it.”

Across the basepath, Tulley’s toughness drew praise from Walsh as well.

“He gets right back up on the mound, and he wants to go right after you,” Walsh said. “That’s exactly what you want to see in a pitcher. Be aggressive, go after hitters. Melley took him deep and he’s right back up there, and that’s exactly what you want from a pitcher.

“Nothing phases him. The passed ball, wild pitch, whatever you want to call it, he didn’t care. He went right back out and threw it again.”

SUDBURY, Mass. -- Occasionally, the literal and figurative lines separating sports from real life disappear, as they did Friday night at Feeley Field.

While No. 5 Lincoln-Sudbury was scratching and clawing its way to a 2-1, eight-inning victory over Westford, there were symbols all around reminding everyone that what happened on the baseball diamond was not the life or death situation some make it out to be.

The Westford players sported pink undershirts they made for the "Coaches vs. Cancer" fundraiser they had weeks before. Most of the L-S players sported pink wristbands during the game. About 100 feet away from the concession stand, a woman stood at a Coaches vs. Cancer table, collecting donations and selling raffle tickets for a cause she believes in.

Before the game, L-S coach Kirk Fredericks presented Coaches vs. Cancer with a check for a $4,000, on behalf of the school.

These were all done to generate support and raise money for the American Cancer Society. It’s in times like these when one can see that games, at any level, are just that: games.

“Every year I watch the Jimmy Valvano speech (from the 1993 ESPYs) and that really touches me,” said Fredericks, one of the main organizers of the baseball team’s fundraising efforts. “As a matter of fact, I have it on tape because it kind of brings you back down to reality. When you’re going through every day life and you get up and you complain about your boss, or you complain about some kid you have in class.

"My daughter has had a rough two years in life. She doesn’t have cancer, but you go in the hospital and there are kids there that are living in the hospital. It makes you realize how lucky you are. We lost a kid from L-S a couple years ago to leukemia, who was in the baseball program. We have a kid now who is hopefully at the tail end of his battles, so things just make it mean a little more to you.

"Our seniors wanted to raise some money to put towards that cause and if we can have a part in that, then great.”

The team raised money by selling discount cards to various restaurants around the Sudbury area. During the game, raffle tickets were sold for the opportunity to win a signed photograph of Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis.

The total amount raised by the sales at the game and by the players in school will be added to the donation total, once it is tallied.

L-S works extra innings: On the field, it was the grind one would come to expect by two Dual County League teams.

Westford (9-9) scored its only run of the game off L-S (14-3) pitcher Sid Warrenbrand in the top of the first inning.

John Troy singled to right with one out, then stole second two batters later. He scored from second on a Riley Cox single to make it 1-0.

Troy also did well for himself on the mound also, not allowing a L-S hit until the fourth inning. He walked Matt Cahill to open the inning, then faced Michael Walsh.

Walsh hit a grounder to short, which slowed down considerably in the infield grass. By the time the shortstop could make a play on the ball, Cahill was mere feet away from second base.

Cahill slid head-first into the bag, beating the throw, making everybody safe, and giving L-S its first hit of the game.

He then moved to third, but a 6-4-3 double play gave his team two outs. He scored two pitches later on a Troy wild pitch.

L-S plated the final run of the game after Troy fell apart in the eighth inning. Michael Biggins singled to right to open the inning, then Cahill reached base safely after Troy’s throw to second pulled the shortstop off the bag, making both runners safe.

He then hit Walsh with a 3-1 pitch, which loaded the bases. Warrenbrand’s hit dropped in the outfield to send the fans home happy, and allowed him to finish the game he started.

Warrenbrand shining: Warrenbrand is only a sophomore, but did not pitch like one Friday. After he gave up the run in the first, he left 10 Westford runners on base, three of which reached third base.

His biggest scare came in the sixth inning, when he walked Riley Cox to start the inning. A William Alden single put runners on first and second with nobody out.

He came back and struck out Thomas O’Brien looking, then got Luke Morse to ground out to him, which advanced the runners, but made two outs in the inning.

Connor Murphy came up to hit, but Warrenbrand struck him out swinging, ending any hopes Westford had of scoring in the inning.

He gave up a single to start the seventh inning, but came back and forced a fly ball out and a double play to end the inning.

“He’s been struggling a little bit lately, and struggled in the early part of the game, threw a lot of pitches,” said Fredericks. “He’s been getting better as the game goes on. I think what you saw was that he’s a competitor and he’d come off the mound in each of those last three innings he pitched, and he came off like he just won the state championship. Then he goes and gets the game-winning hit. Sometimes you’re the hero, and sometime’s you’re the goat, but today he was the hero.”

Warrenbrand was relieved in the eighth by David McCullough.