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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.

PEABODY, Mass. -- With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on second and third, Danvers coach Roger Day made the decision to intentionally walk Peabody’s leadoff hitter Genaro Ciulla.

That brought up Casey Grenier, with the bases loaded, to face Ray Arocho. After quickly getting ahead in the count 0-2, Arocho’s third pitch hit home plate and bounced away from his catcher, Joe Strangie.

The blunder allowed Steven Leavitt to score from third and give No. 13 Peabody the come-from-behind, 3-2 victory.

Over the first five innings, Arocho gave up only one run and three hits. The only blemish on his scorebook over that period came in the first inning, when back-to-back errors by third baseman Nick Valles put runners on first and third.

Arocho, being a left-handed pitcher, makes his most effective pickoff move to first base. In the bottom of the first, he made a series of pickoff attempts to first to try and catch Stephen Girolamo away from the bag.

Eventually, he caught Girolamo in the midst of stealing, which started a rundown between first and second. Seeing this, Bobby Losanno ran home from third base and scored before Girolamo was tagged out.

In the top of the first, Arocho gave himself a cushion when he hit a home run off Peabody (9-3) righthander Patrick Ruotolo. With a 1-0 count and a runner on, Ruotolo threw a belt-high fastball and Arocho put it over the 340 feet sign in right-center field to give Danvers (9-3) the quick 2-0 lead.

“I missed my spot,” said Ruotolo. “It was supposed to be low and away fastball, and I threw it basically right down the middle high. It’s his favorite pitch to hit. The kid is a good hitter. I just made one mistake and didn’t really look back from that.”

Peabody caught a break in the sixth that tied the game. After Arocho walked Losano with two outs, Girolamo ripped a line drive to center field that was falling fast. In a valiant attempt to make a play, Anthony Garron dove at the ball, but it bounced away in front of his glove and continued to roll toward the wall.

Losano scored all the way from first to tie the game. With momentum on its side, Peabody scored in the final frame and won a game it never led until that final moment.

“I couldn’t be happier with my team’s effort,” said Day. “The kids battled hard and to have a chance in the sixth inning up a run with nobody on, I couldn’t ask for anything more. We just didn’t close it out. We’re one pitch away from getting out of that and we’ll see what happens.”

Ruotolo Resonates: While the bigger story from the game may have been Arocho’s control of the Peabody lineup, but Ruotolo should be credited for keeping his team in the game while its bats were silent.

He struck out eight batters and allowed only two hits over six innings after surrendering the home run. He had one-two-three innings in four of the six.

“I just kept thinking, ‘I hope Pat doesn’t get a loss on a first inning mistake,” said Peabody coach Mark Bettencourt. “The whole game I’m thinking, I’m hoping that’s not going to be the reason this game ends with us losing is Pat making one mistake to Arocho in that first inning leaving a fastball up.

“Obviously you saw the way the kid competed on the mound. He’s a phenomenal, phenomenal competitor. You walk away from that game, and I’m saying to myself, ‘I don’t care how we won that game,’ I’m just happy that Pat Ruotolo, who I think threw a gem today, didn’t pick up a loss on one mistake. That would have been criminal if that happened, so I thank the baseball gods for helping us out there at the end.”

Wednesday was not Ruotolo’s first time pitching, so he was well aware that pitchers need to have a short memory after giving up big hits, especially when his team was not helping him much offensively.

“I wanted to work fast and get my pitch count lower because in the first inning my pitch count was pretty high due to the home run,” he said. “I wanted to try and get one or two pitch outs and it worked pretty well. My fielders backed me up pretty well.”

The two pitchers shared a moment of mutual respect towards the end of the game. During a prolonged stoppage in play, Arocho came off the mound and headed towards the Peabody on-deck circle, where Ruotolo was standing talking to a teammate. Arocho extended his arm and the two high-fived, a show of respect between two players who know each other and what they bring to the baseball diamond.

“We’re buddies,” said Ruotolo. “I said to him, ‘Uh, you just had to hit that home run didn’t you?’ The game would have been quicker if he didn’t. I’ve known him for a while though, he’s one of my friends.”

Master Lock: Arocho did something rarely seen in a baseball game at any level: he picked off four runners. Each time, he caught the runner in the process of trying to steal second. Even after throwing over to first multiple times, the runners would still try to steal second. Then Arocho would throw to first, and the first baseman would throw up to second and the shortstop caught the ball and waited patiently for the runner to slide into the bag.

“You have to give credit where credit is due,” said Bettencourt. “Danvers is a very well-coached team. They know we run. How many times did Arocho throw over to first today? He probably threw an entire game to first base today.”

“I’m over here playing a chess match, trying to guess when he’s going to throw over so we can run. He guessed right several times. He’d guess wrong, but he’d guess right and he was picking us off. We’re trying to run on their catcher and we can’t get the ball to the catcher, so we shut it down and basically said let’s wait for our opportunities.”

Tuesday afternoon, Barnstable High senior righthander Willie Nastasi went the distance in a 3-1 win over Taunton, striking out a career-high 16 batters in nine innings while allowing just three hits. But the 6-foot-5 UConn commit also needed 155 pitches to complete the effort, which has since sparked some spirited debate locally about pitch count and what is appropriate. Nastasi has since said it was his own decision to stay in the game. Head coach Joe DeMartino said following the game that Nastasi would not have gone back out if the game went to an extra 10th inning.

Nastasi's performance is one of countless examples of pitchers racking up high pitch counts this season, but one that drew much debate on the Twitter-sphere. Scouts Inc. Baseball Analyst Keith Law went as far as to call it "Absolutely criminal" in a post on Twitter. Still others lauded Nastasi for his performance, which improved the No. 11 Red Raiders to 2-0 in the four-team Old Colony League.

Was it the right call? How much is too much? We asked our regular panel of contributors as well as a few special guests: Eric Cressey, President of Cressey Performance; Dr. Luke Oh of Massachusetts General Hospital, an orthopaedic consultant with the Boston Red Sox; and Kirk Fredericks, head coach of three-time state champion Lincoln-Sudbury High.

Dr. Luke Oh
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital
Orthopaedic Consultant, Boston Red Sox; medical staff member, New England Revolution, New England Patriots, Harvard University Athletics
There has yet to be a high school or college baseball pitcher in his late teens who needed Tommy John surgery that I have seen who demonstrated good rotator cuff strength, periscapular control, and throwing mechanics. If these variables are not optimized, then it becomes difficult for young athletes to negotiate the fatigue and overuse that develops as the baseball season progresses.

At the professional level, there are comprehensive strength and conditioning programs in place that are baseball-specific. This is certainly not the case at the high school level. In fact, you may be surprised by the number of Division I college teams that do not have a baseball-specific program either.

At the high school level, it would be uncommon to find a pitcher who has the required stamina, mechanics, and strength and conditioning to throw 155 pitches per game on a regular basis without having symptoms of overuse. We have to remember that some of these adolescent athletes are still growing, and other may have finished growing with regard to height but have not filled into their frame. Even for those young athletes who appear to be muscular and well-developed, the rotator cuff and other dynamic stabilizers of the shoulder and elbow that are important for throwing tend to lag behind in development. They are attempting to emulate what the professional athletes are doing, but their bodies are not developed to the same degree.

Some people believe that a pitcher needs to throw more, in order to be able to throw more. In my opinion, there has to be a balance between developing endurance and risking injury from overuse. I think like many things in life, after an optimal range, there will be a decrease in the return on investment and an increase in the risk of injury. Well, what is the optimal range? Is there a specific threshold? This depends on each athlete because there is so much variability in physique, skill, technique, conditioning, etc. It may be counterproductive to simply ascribe a set number for the maximum recommended pitch count in high school because it may become misused and not applied appropriately.

Nevertheless, some experts believe that younger pitchers at the high school level should limit the pitch count to under 100 in an effort to reduce the risk of overuse injury. In some major league ballclubs, the pitch count may be monitored over a span of a few games such that if a pitcher throws 140 pitches in one game, for example, then he will likely throw fewer pitches during his next outing. If such precautions are taken at the highest level of competition for our professional pitchers, then it would be prudent to take additional precautions for our high school athletes.

The tremendous stress placed on the shoulder and elbow during the baseball pitch can take its toll over time. My mentor, Dr. James Andrews, and I have both seen a steady increase in injuries to the ulnar collateral ligament among young pitchers. In my practice, approximately 20-25 percent of Tommy John surgeries that I perform are on pitchers younger than 20 years old. Dr. Andrews has said that Tommy John surgery for athletes in their late teens decreased for the first time last year; but every year before that, it increased each year. Perhaps the message is getting out, and people are paying more attention to the young athlete's development, baseball-specific strength and conditioning, muscle coordination, proper mechanics and other variables that are important for injury prevention as well as optimizing performance.

Eric Cressey
President and Co-Founder, Cressey Performance
Kids might feel fine in the short-term and think they can gut it out, but the truth is that they don't know what damage is going on inside their elbows and shoulders, especially as fatigue sets in and more stress is shifted to the non-ideal places. As an example, at the elbow, when the flexor carpi ulnaris and pronator teres start to fatigue, the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) takes on more stress. At the shoulder, when the rotator cuff starts to fatigue, the biceps tendon picks up the slack - and the loss of control of the humeral head (ball in socket) causes more and more fraying on the labrum.

Pitching injuries are not rolled ankles; a thrower isn't just fine one day, and then injured the next. Rather, these injuries are the culmination of years and years of microtrauma to the tissues that finally hits threshold. The kids having Tommy John surgeries are the ones that have previous areas of calcification on the UCL from injuries they may have never perceived, or partial UCL tears that will never heal perfectly. Shoulder-wise, almost every thrower you come across will have labral fraying and degenerative changes in the rotator cuff.

Pitch counts are a big can of worms to open because every kid is uniquely (un)prepared. Some work hard to make sure that they have stability and mobility in the right places, warm up correctly prior to outings, and hone their mechanics to make sure that they are eliminating potentially injurious flaws in the delivery. Some choose to throw curveballs over sliders (throwing sliders is associated with an 86% increased risk of elbow injury, according to research) to protect their arms. Some kids simply don't throw hard, so it's harder for them to reach threshold (sprinters don't pull their hamstrings if they don't run fast, do they?).

The take-home point is that pitch counts will always be an inexact science, but a valuable one nonetheless because they help protect the majority -- especially those who are unprepared. Unfortunately, about 95% of pitchers aren't just unprepared; they are WOEFULLY unprepared. Time and time again, the primary factor that predicts injury risk in throwers is overuse - both acute and chronic. And, we have to remember that high school kids are particularly susceptible because they are skeletally immature; otherwise, you'd see growth plate injuries in big leaguers all the tike.

Personally, I think 105 pitches for a high school player is a good cap. Anecdotally, kids seem to struggle when they go back-to-back with 100+ pitch outings, too -- especially when they happen with fewer days between starts. This isn't surprising at all, though, as most of the college pitchers I've seen who go on to pro ball comment on how the hardest adjustment is going from a seven-day to a five-day rotation.

I would like to head off one counterpoint, and it's that many coaches will rebut, "We threw way more pitches than that when I was in school, and we never got hurt!" The response is very simple: we are dealing with a different generation on a number of fronts.

First, kids are more unprepared athletically than ever because of early sports specialization (less variety = less development), and because they sit more than ever before, thanks to the popularity of things like Facebook, Twitter, and video games. After-school "play" is a thing of the past.

Second, kids can throw year-round nowadays, if they want to do so. There can be fall ball, winter lessons/clinics, showcases, and summer ball on top of what someone gets for throwing volume during the high school season. This is likely the biggest change from what players experienced more than a decade ago. Their throwing volumes were dictated by the competitive year.

Third, we are better diagnostically and surgically now. In other words, there likely were more of these injuries in the past, but we weren't as good at evaluating them and treating them, so they weren't as publicized.

Scott Barboza
ESPN Boston High Schools Editor
At the risk of sounding like the old school baseball wonk here, we've so lost sight of the way things used to be. In the 1905 World Series, Christy Mathewson pitched three complete-game shutouts in what is considered to this day as perhaps the finest postseason pitching performances in baseball history. What's makes Mathewson's 27 scoreless innings against Connie Mack's Athletics is the fact that he threw all three games within a span of six days. Yeah, maybe it was the dead ball era, but it still happened. The more fitting example would be Daisuke Matsuzaka's line during Japan's esteemed Summer Koshein series, a spectable of national attention. He threw a 17-inning, 250-pitch quarterfinal game; that is ONE DAY after he threw a 148-pitch complete game shutout. Now, we can argue how Matsuzaka's innings load, pitch count and rigorous warm-up routine might have impacted his time here with the Red Sox, but it's not as though he didn't have nearly a decade of rubber-armed action between then and now.

Look, I'm not saying Willie Nastasi is or will be of the ilk of those aforementioned, although he's certainly a fine player in his own right at the high school level and, likely, in college, but the point remains that this week's performance isn't without peer. Now more than ever, those kinds of lines are becoming fewer and farther between, which makes them all that much more remarkable when they occur. But we might be overlooking the real cause of arm fatigue in Little Leaguers and high schoolers, and that is the use of breaking balls at a young age. If a pitcher has proper mechanics and has trained to carry such a load (particuarly with the development of leg muscles), there's no reason why such a pitch count isn't possible. I think the more pervasive danger to young pitchers is the impetus to throw curve balls and other breaking pitches at a young age, which results in added strain on elbow ligaments. The world of baseball might have the right idea, but the wrong argument. Less isn't more; proper instruction is.

So we should celebrate Nastasi's accomplishment exactly as it is, something few us could ever dream to endeavor. That also doesn't mean it's impossible.

Brendan Hall
ESPN Boston High Schools Editor
For some historical context, I reached out to former Whitinsville Christian pitcher Andrew Green, who grabbed headlines back in 2009 for throwing 225 pitches in 15 innings, in what ultimately was a 1-0 loss to Douglas.

The weight training regimen Green says he was put through as a high schooler involved hardly any upper body work, outside of medicine ball work and pushups. Instead, he went heavy on leg presses and curls, and dynamic squats. The philosophy here was that by generating power from the lower body, head coach Kris Bradley could get more innings out of his thin staff, while minimizing the risk of injury.

Green -- who had earlier in the season threw a handful of 120-pitch, complete game outings -- didn't recall any soreness afterwards.

"It was funny, right after the game, my friend was like 'Come over and sit in my hot tub for as long as you want'," said Green, who is currently an assistant with WC's varsity. "I probably sat in there for two hours. My shoulder was stiff the next day -- not sore, just stiff. My body felt pretty tired. But I never really had any pain, that was the great thing about it.

"I did that on five days rest, and I started my next game five days later. There were a lot of people talking on MassLive [messageboards] about, 'You're going to ruin the kid's arm', but I never had any pain afterwards."

To this day, Bradley said pitch count wasn't as big of a concern with Green.

"I had taught him from his freshman year that his build was perfect for a pitcher, he had a large lower body," said Bradley, who had a short career at the University of Pittsburgh. "We started working with him on his lower body to generate power. A lot of coaches are in love with the tired and true, getting to a balance point [in your delivery]. The real way to pitch is to power yourself with your legs.

"You do that, and as Andrew learned, you can throw from quite a long time. It's not uncommon for guys that pitch for me to throw 80 to 100 pitches in a bullpen session, and that's kind of the way Andrew was as well."

Moreso, since Bradley took over as head coach in 2007, he says none of his pitchers has ever been sidelined with injury for an extended period of time. Defense has actually been the issue with Crusaders squads under Bradley, but that is also a function of lack of facilities -- this is the first year WC has ever had a home field, which in the past meant practicing anywhere from a gymnasium to a parking lot. The Crusaders are off to a 1-5 start, but have already seen pitchers go over the 120 threshold.

"I'm 50 years old, and on a weekly basis I throw anywhere from 500 to 1,000 pitches in a week for batting practice," Bradley said. "And I think the number of times I've had arm soreness in my entire life, I can count on three fingers."

Clearly, there are two distinct schools of thought here. There is the school of thought that errs on the side of caution with pitch count, some stricter than others. Then there's the one shared by the Bobby Cox's and Nolan Ryan's of the world, letting players routinely ring up triple-digits with the mantra of building up arm endurance.

Would Bobby Cox or Nolan Ryan let one of their players ring up 155 pitches in an April game in cold temperatures? Let's face it, probably not.

The first baseball game I covered this season, Pat Ruotolo of Peabody threw 133 pitches in an eventual loss to St. John's Prep. I'm sure there are countless other instances around the state this season where a player exceeded a common threshold this early in the season.

I was also in attendance for the Barnstable game in question here, so let's take into account his mechanics. In Nastasi, I see a little bit of Jordan Cote, the lean 6-foot-5 righty from Winnisquam (N.H.) High who turned down a Coastal Carolina scholarship last summer to sign with the Yankees for $750,000. Like Cote, Nastasi stretches out on the mound, keeps his elbow in, transfers his weight well, and as a result generates high-80's fastball power from his lower body. His mechanics are sharp, but most importantly they are also clean.

And like Green, Nastasi can eat innings on the mound. He didn't show any signs of laboring until the ninth inning, and at that they were minimal.

But let's also consider the human element here. The Old Colony League made the switch this year to nine-inning games and wooden bats only; and with only four teams in the league, every one of these matchups is very important. Nastasi had a good thing going, striking out a career-high 16 batters, and had the winning run at the plate in the top of the ninth. Was Nastasi going to tap himself out? No, and I don't think it mattered whether it was April 24 or June 24. Nastasi earned his scholarship to UConn by being a competitor, not a conservative.

In Green's case, it was one of that last games of the regular season, with the Crusaders still trying to quality for postseason. He was also playing at legendary Soldiers Field in Douglas, where Babe Ruth himself once made an appearance. It was also one of the last starts of his senior season, and he wanted to make it count. Like the majority of high school players, his career didn't continue in college (he briefly tried to walk on at NAIA power Malone University, before returning home and enrolling at Quinsigamond Community College).

I'm sure the high pitch count startled the UConn coaching staff -- or maybe it didn't. Maybe it's the part of his competitive makeup that excites coaches the most.

There are many good reasons Nastasi should have left the game earlier, many of them smartly laid out here, many of them concerning the long-term.

They're probably right.

But in the heat of the moment, you're in the fog of war, and how you'll feel a year from now isn't a priority.

You're trying to win a ball game, and that's all you care about at that moment. And at the end of the day, isn't this what high school sports are all about?

Kirk Fredericks
Head Coach, Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School
Every situation is different as each kid is different. We have a kid that when he throws over 75 pitches, he can't pitch on five days, he has to go to seven days. As a coach, you need to be educated and you have to know your players. When does your kid change his mechanics? When is he tired and going to hurt himself? It isn't like a cut, where you see blood. You don't see the results of the damage until later.

I don't have an answer for what the magic number is. We look at it as what number is he at and where that puts us for the next time out. If we go one more then where does that put us? I guess the general number is 100. Have I gone over that? Yes, because a kid had an easy 100, or we want one more batter, so they get to 110. But a win isn't important enough to be the person responsible for long-term damage. You never know what damage a kid has from previous history that he is coming in with, so it is always good to side with caution.

What is the highest that one of my pitches has gone? 125 in a state championship, and 133 in a state championship. Is that right? I don't know.

John Botelho
Staff Writer, Brockton Enterprise
No pitcher -- not just a high school kid - should be throwing that many pitches. Simply put, that kind of workload on an arm seriously raises chances of an injury.

It is a good thing that Nastasi not only wanted the ball but also was quick to defend the decision that let him throw more pitches than most pitchers do in a game at any level. It means he's a good teammate and truly cares more about his team winning games than he does his own well-being.

We're not discussing what kind of a teammate he is though, and him hinting that it was decision to stay is where my problem with this type of pitch count starts. A decision like that shouldn't be left in the hands of a player. Teams have coaches for that very reason. If we're going to brush off an extreme pitch count because, well a 17-year-old kid trying to win games with his best friends said he was fine, where do we draw the line? If players dictated playing time, wouldn't every kid believe he should be playing all the time, hitting near the top of the order? So how is letting a kid dictate how many pitches is too many okay?

Think about what would happen to a coach if he let a potentially concussed player return to action without ensuring he was 100 percent. It wouldn't take long for people to call for that hypothetical coaches job. I'm not going to pretend that an arm and a head are anywhere near the same thing, but why is a baseball coach allowed to do something that could cause potential to his player? If any professional - a physical therapist, strength coach, orthopedist, etc. -- could prove there was no harm in throwing that many pitches, wouldn't big leaguers throw more than 100 or so a game, especially since teams are shelling out all sorts of money? MLB teams would love to get more bang for their buck, but instead $15 million investments are babied, and protected as much as possible. Why then, are high school kids who are still developing physically thrown to the wolves then?

For those who would argue that, 'Well, of course MLB teams will baby their pitchers. They pay too much money not to,' I contend that those pitchers well-beings should be no more important than a kid pitching for his high school. If that is your argument though, consider that Nastasi is committed to UConn to pitch next season. Last summer, Huskies pitcher Matt Barnes signed for $1.5M as a first round pick -- something that certainly could've been jeopardized if he needed his arm reconstructed. Furthermore, what is the ultimate pay out for adding this type of risk to a high school kids arm? A few extra wins? Is winning games -- even if they result in a league title banner or better record -- more important than a kids health? Even if these were big tournament games, I wouldn't see this as okay, but right now we're talking about games played in cool and pitcher-unfriendly April weather. Knowing how an arm injury can effect a kids future, this juice just doesn't seem worth the squeeze.

I think you'd have an easier time finding a high school kid act like Nastasi did on Tuesday, willing to lay it all on the line to win the game at hand than you would one who would go to his coach and ask out of the game because his pitch count was mounting. High school athletes are stubborn and hard-headed, naive to the world of baseball injuries that is truly out there. And for anyone who thinks no toll is paid for the mileage piled up on high school arms, a quick look at the arms of college pitching staffs tells a much different story. It's easy to spot the tell-tale labrum fixes with the scars around the shoulder. It's even easier to to spot the train tracks running around the inside of an elbow that has had Tommy John surgery. Those injuries are typically hangover from abuse in high school, when kids regularly throw on short rest with little regard for pitch count. That is not the case at the collegiate level, as starters throw once a week, and aren't asked to go complete games every time out because bigger rosters allows for real bullpens. The injuries still pile up though.

For the sake of argument, I'm going to call Roy Halladay the most durable pitcher in the MLB. Since 2006, he has been an absolute horse, tossing at least 220 innings in each season and throwing as many as 250.2 in a given year. Consider that in that time, he never got anywhere near 155 pitches. He never even reached 140. In fact, only three times in his entire career has he even reached 130 (and never more than 133). Just 16 times in 356 career starts has Halladay thrown at least 120 pitches in a game. The information gets more interesting if you consider that Halladay was 26 the first time he reached 120 pitches in a game. He didn't toss 130 until he was 33-years-old, long after his growth plates had closed, long after his development and physical maturation had ended.

I've been told Coach DeMartino planned to take Nastasi out at the end of the nine innings if it went to extras, but why there? Was it because the pitch total was already far beyond a reasonable amount? Or was 150 or so the magic number? I have to think he puts less importance on pitch counts than I do -- and some coaches do -- because I watched Barnstable pitcher Keegan Dellacona throw about 140 pitches in over eight innings in a loss to Bridgewater-Raynham Thursday afternoon. DeMartino is hardly alone in this practice, and maybe the MIAA needs to step in and establish clean cut rules in regards to pitch count and rest - just as they did with returning from concussions -- to ensure that athletes' safety is made priority number one.

Perhaps that means knocking the Div. 1 state tourney games from nine innings to seven or having teams carry bigger rosters, but one thing is for sure: No pitcher should be throwing 155 pitches, or even approaching that mark, in a high school baseball game.

Ryan Lanigan
Founder, HockomockSports.com
Willie Nastasi had an incredible performance in the win over Taunton with a complete game and 16 strikeouts, but did he stay in too long? For me, I see nothing wrong with the decision to let him finish the game. Nastasi said it was his own decision to stay in but in the end, the coach has the final say no matter. I believe both made the right decision to let him finish the game. The UConn commit is an experienced pitcher and knows his own limits. Yes, some will say that his youth and getting wrapped up in the moment could influence his decision, but in the end, he knows his body. Someone with a bright future wouldn’t jeopardize it by risking their health and Natasi was confident in his decision to throw the amount of pitches he did.

Ryan Kilian
Founder, New England Prep Stars
It is a tough call because I can see both arguments on the issue but I have to think that with proper training and advanced understanding of the individual pitcher it can be done. I think it really begins and ends with the individual pitcher. I come from the Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddux camp where I believe that pitchers to need to re-trained and not be coddled as much. However, I think mechanics and future in the game are two important factors to look as well. There are definitely some deliveries and styles that are more taxing on the body and arm in particular and without proper diagnosis and training you should lean on the side of caution. I would also look at all the advantages that hitters have, such as aluminum bats and the high strike not being called as much as factors in favor of the hitter and advanced pitch counts.

Some pitchers will never be 130 pitch a game pitchers just like some pitchers will never throw 95 mph or average 1.9 walks per game. It depends on the pitcher.

Ben Larsen
Online Producer, MassLive.com
There are a number of variables at play here. Was he equally effective in the later innings? Was the high pitch count due to strikeouts via deep counts? The question I’m wondering though is why it was his decision to stay in the game? It should be up to the coach. With all that said, I think 155 is too much. You rarely see pitchers at the highest level, with the benefit of a complete spring training regimen, reach that mark. In my opinion, if he needed 155 to get through, he wasn’t efficient enough. That is a lot of pitches and this early in the season, surely, it wasn’t a ‘must-win’. This is a game that could have been left in the hands of the bullpen.

With many games being postponed today, we've updated our statewide MIAA Top 25 baseball poll this afternoon. With BC High's loss to Lincoln-Sudbury last weekend, capped with a thrilling finish, that has cleared the way for Lowell to ascend to the top spot for the first time in poll history. The Raiders' lone blemish on the season is to Chelmsford -- a Top-10 squad in terms of talent, but one which has subsequently fallen out of the poll after a 4-4 start.

St. John's of Shrewsbury has elevated to the No. 2 spot, its highest spot in the poll since reaching No. 1 last May, while BC High falls to No. 4. Walpole (3) and St. John's Prep (5) round out the top five.

Returning to the polls this week are Peabody (18), Westfield (19) and Danvers (23), while Catholic Memorial (15) and Newton South (24) make their season debuts. Chelmsford (previously No. 11), Acton-Boxborough (12), Boston Latin (15), Lexington (19) and Oliver Ames (25) dropped out.

Also of note, a record five teams from the Western Mass. district are represented in the poll this week, with East Longmeadow holding down the No. 8 spot, followed by Minnechaug (10), Springfield Cathedral (12), Amherst (14) and the aforementioned Westfield.

You can view the entire poll by clicking here. Below is how the poll breaks down by league affiliation:

Catholic Conference - 4
Valley League - 3
Atlantic Coast - 2
Dual County - 2
Northeastern - 2
Valley Wheel - 2
Bay State - 1
Cape Ann - 1
Central Mass. Conference - 1
Hockomock - 1
Inter-High - 1
Merrimack Valley - 1
Middlesex - 1
Mid-Wach A - 1
Old Colony - 1
South Coast - 1

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

DANVERS, Mass. -- There have been more interesting ways to open the high school baseball season. But not too many.

This afternoon's contest between host St. John's Prep and rival Peabody started out as a grind-it-out pitcher's duel, but things got untracked in the ninth inning. Peabody went up 4-1 to start then top of the inning, before the Eagles came back in the next stanza to tie it, thanks to several errors in the field, and eventually win in walk-off fashion in the 10th on a walk, taking the contest 5-4 in the season-opener for both squads.

"Yeah, kind of a crazy game," Prep head coach Pat Yanchus said. "I thought the pitching was good for the most part."

Peabody head coach Mark Bettencourt was a little more blunt -- "It was a bizarre game," he said.

"You know what it was?" he continued. "Strange things happen in the first game of the year. We're not going to say we didn't play well, because I thought we did play well. I thought when things got tight, we had a little bit of trouble. But so did they."

The Tanners took a 4-1 lead in the top of ninth, loading the bases up without a hit. Cleanup hitter George Tsnosis worked a walk from righthander Mike Driscoll to make it 2-1, followed by a fielding error and a beaning of Stephen Girolamo to make it a three-run lead.

But the trouble for Peabody started in the bottom half of the inning, with two outs. Prep's Brandon Bingel swung at a low third strike, which was misplayed by the catcher and allowed him to reach first on the passed ball. Next up was pinch-hitter David Bornstein, who reached first base safely thanks to an off-the-mark throw from the shortstop.

A single from freshman Keith Leavitt plated Bingel, and a passed ball in the next at bat allowed Bornstein to come home. Tyler Noe then reached first on another error from the shortstop, plating Leavitt and tying the game at 4.

In the bottom of the 10th, junior Nick Bragole worked to a 3-0 count, then fell back to 3-2, before finally drawing a ball low in the zone to plate Anthony Capuano for the winning run.

Starters go to work: Peabody's workhorse junior righty Pat Ruotolo got the no-decision, after striking out 10 in nine innings on 133 pitches, after some unfortunate errors in his final frame. But for most of the afternoon, he and Prep senior righty Rob DiFranco stole the show, battling

Ruotolo's fastball sat in the 83 to 85 range for most of the afternoon. But as the game went on, his 12-to-6 curve had a more defined drop to it, especially in the latter innings. Six of his 10 strikeouts came after the fifth inning; a big part of that was the curve, as well as the high heat he was able to dabble in there.

"When you're facing Patrick, you're going to show us you can hit his fastball before we start doing anything," Bettencourt said. "So we usually try to hold his breaking ball through the first round of the order if we can. I thought he did very well with that today. He established his fastball early, wasn't getting a ton of punch-outs, but a lot of times they were guessing. You saw a lot of pop-ups, fly-outs, to keep them off-balance.

"That's a good-hitting team. Towards the end, he started getting that adrenaline, and that's when that breaking ball starts coming into play."

In the top halves of the innings, DiFranco battled with the Tanner hitters, getting behind in the count but usually not out, striking out six while allowing just three hits and a walk.

"He wasn't getting the first strike over, but he was making them swing and miss," Yanchus said. "When he's down low, his ball sinks a lot, and they were swinging over the ball a lot."

Courtesy of Beverly High Athletic Director James Coffey, here are the Northeastern Conference's boys and girls basketball all-stars for the 2011-12 season.

Any all-star lists can be sent to either Brendan Hall (bhall@espnboston.com) or Scott Barboza (sbarboza@espnboston.com)

BOYS

North (Large) Division
Keandre Stanton, Sr., Lynn English
Fred Hogan, Soph., Lynn English
Chris Keaton, Sr., Beverly
Cam Rogers, Jr., Beverly
Zach Zigelbaum, Sr., Beverly
Moise Builou, Sr., Lynn Classical
Uche Nwokeji, Sr., Lynn Classical
Mike Gould, Sr., Peabody
Steve Girolamo, Sr., Peabody
Chris Palladino, Sr., Revere
Christian Dunston, Jr., Salem
Marvin Baez, Jr., Salem

Most Valuable Players: Keandre Stanton, Lynn English and Christian Dunston, Salem
Coach of the Year: Scott Lewis, Beverly
Sportsmanship Award: Revere

South (Small) Division
George Merry, Sr., Danvers
Nick McKenna, Jr., Danvers
Nick Bates, Jr., Danvers
Eric Martin, Jr., Danvers
Curtis Casella, Sr., Saugus
Selim Omerovic, Sr., Saugus
Mike Walsh, Sr., Swampscott
A.J. Baker, Sr., Swampscott
Quinton Dale, Sr., Winthrop
Joe D’Amore, Sr., Winthrop
Joshawa Babb, Jr., Winthrop
Phil Coughlin, Sr., Marblehead
Jason Vizena, Jr., Gloucester

Most Valuable Player: Quinton Dale, Winthrop
Coach of the Year: Dave Brown, Winthrop
Sportsmanship Award: Saugus

GIRLS

North (Large) Division
Catherine Stinson, Soph., Lynn English
Diondra Woumn, Soph., Lynn English
Deidra Newson, Soph., Lynn English
Taylor Newhall, Sr., Lynn English
Carolyn Scacchi, Soph., Peabody
Olivia Summit, Soph., Peabody
Monta Connolly, Jr., Lynn Classical
Kristin Lauria, Soph., Lynn Classical
Alix Bryant, Soph., Salem
Holbrook Phelan, Sr., Salem
Becca Moriarty, Sr., Beverly
Caitlyn Caramello, Jr., Revere
Gena Restiano, Jr., Revere

Most Valuable Player: Catherine Stinson, Lynn English
Coach of the Year: John Fortunato, Salem
Sportsmanship Award: Peabody

South (Small) Division
Ara Talkov, Jr., Swampscott
Nikki Laskaris, Sr., Swampscott
Caroline Murphy, Sr., Swampscott
Heather Cain, Sr., Gloucester
Audrey Knowlton, Sr., Gloucester
Kasey Sherry, Jr., Danvers
Gabby Cogliano, Sr., Saugus
Allyssa Furtado, Sr., Saugus
Norma Waggett, Soph., Saugus
Ashelyne Babb, Fr., Winthrop
Kathryn DiGiammarino, Sr., Marblehead
Emily Freedland, Soph., Marblehead

Most Valuable Player: Heather Cain, Gloucester
Coach of the Year: Jack Hughes, Swampscott
Sportsmanship Award: Danvers/Saugus

In its 27th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPNHS, today announced Hayley Dowd of Peabody High School as its 2011-12 Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Dowd is the first Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Player of the Year to be chosen from Peabody High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Dowd as Massachusetts’s best high school girls soccer player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award to be announced in May, Dowd joins an elite alumni association of past state award-winners in 12 sports, including Abby Wambach (1997-98, Our Lady of Mercy, N.Y.), Derek Jeter (1991-92, Kalamazoo HS, Mich.), Candace Parker (2001-02, Naperville Central HS, Ill.), Alexi Lalas (1987-88, Cranbrook HS, Mich.), Heather O’Reilly (2001-02, East Brunswick HS, N.J.) and Mark Sanchez (2004-05, Mission Viejo HS, Calif.).

The 5-foot-5 junior forward led the Tanners to a 22-0-2 record and the Division 1 state championship this past season. Dowd scored 41 goals and passed for 19 assists, recording seven goals and three assists in six postseason matches. An All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Dowd is a two-time Northeastern Conference MVP. She has 121 goals and 43 assists through three varsity seasons.

Dowd has maintained an A average in the classroom. A member of the Peabody High Captain’s Council, she has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach.

“Hayley Dowd can score working with her team, she can go 1-on-1 and if she is double-teamed she finds her teammates with passes for easy goals” said Fred Day, Salem High's head coach. “She never stops working off the ball. I would pay to watch her play.”

Dowd has verbally committed to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at Boston College beginning in the fall of 2013.

Dowd joins recent Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Soccer Players of the Year Sam Mewis (2010–11, 2009-10, Whitman-Hanson), Danielle Dakin (2008–09, Minnechaug), Hayley Brock (2007-08, Acton-Boxborough), and Amy Caldwell (2006-07, Braintree) among the state’s list of former award winners.

Here are the winners from the other five New England states:

CONNECTICUT: PAULA HAGOPIAN, KINGSWOOD-OXFORD

The 5-foot-4 senior forward scored 13 goals and passed for 10 assists this past season, leading the Wyverns to a 5-7-2 record. Also the 2011 Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year and a two-time All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Hagopian led Kingswood Oxford to the 2010 New England Prep School Athletic Council Class B championship. She concluded her prep soccer career with 56 goals and 35 assists.

Hagopian has maintained a 3.73 GPA in the classroom. The first chair clarinet player in the Kingswood Oxford school band, she has volunteered locally as a peer tutor and at an area homeless shelter and food bank.

“Paula is so strong that defenders bounce off her,” said Matt Micros, a club coach with Connecticut FC. “She can hold the ball up well and also spin defenders with ease. What she lacks in technique she more than make up for with power and pace.”

Hagopian will attend Yale University where she will play soccer beginning this fall.

Hagopian joins recent Gatorade Connecticut Girls Soccer Players of the Year Riley Houle (2010–11, Windham), Kate McCarthy, (2009-10, Loomis Chaffee), Jessica Schloth (2008–09, St. Joseph), Alex Uscilla (2007-08, St. Joseph), and Bianca D’Agostino (2006-07, Loomis Chaffee) among the state’s list of former award winners.

RHODE ISLAND: McKENZIE MEEHAN, LA SALLE

The 5-foot-5 senior forward led the Rams to a 20-0-2 record and the Division 1 state championship this past season. Meehan scored 80 goals and passed for 14 assists, including two goals and two assists in a 6-2 win over Smithfield High in the state final. The returning Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Meehan is a two-time All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. She recorded 16 hat tricks in 22 games with six four-goal games, four five-goal games and three six-goal games, concluding her prep soccer career with 181 goals and 41 assists.

Meehan has maintained an A average in the classroom. A member of La Salle’s Pegasus Gifted Student Program, she has volunteered locally as a peer Spanish tutor and a youth soccer coach.

“McKenzie Meehan should be on the national team,” said Keith Caldwell, Meehan’s coach with the Scorpions SC club team. “She’s the best goal-scorer I’ve ever seen. She is strong, athletic, tough and she holds the ball well. She’s not flashy. She just scores goals.”

Meehan has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at Boston College beginning this fall.

Meehan joins recent Gatorade Rhode Island Girls Soccer Players of the Year Allison Kelley, (2009-10, 2008-09, La Salle), Katie Reilly (2007-08, St. Mary Academy-Bay View), and Erica Florenz (2006-2007, Scituate) among the state’s list of former award winners.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: MORGAN ANDREWS, MILFORD

The 5-foot-9 junior forward scored 31 goals and passed for six assists this past season, leading the Spartans (11-6-1) to the Division II state quarterfinals. The returning Gatorade New Hampshire Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Andrews is captain of the U.S. Soccer Under-17 Women’s National Team and is a member of the Under-23 National Team. The 2011 National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Girls Youth Player of the Year for club play and a two-time NSCAA All-American selection, she has 83 goals and 35 assists in three varsity campaigns.

Andrews has maintained a 3.03 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally as a youth soccer coach and mentor, and she founded a local “Kicks for Cans” charity program that involves coaches and players donating their time in exchange for canned goods that are brought to area food banks.

“Morgan Andrews, the kid’s a phenom,” said Jason Dewhurst, the director of coaching for the Stars of Massachusetts club team. “She plays way above her years. She always shows up to play, whether it’s training or games, it doesn’t matter. She’s a fierce competitor and wants to win. She deserves all the accolades she gets.”

Andrews has verbally committed to play soccer on an athletic scholarship at Boston College beginning in the fall of 2013.

Andrews joins recent Gatorade New Hampshire Girls Soccer Players of the Year Kailey Blain (2009-10, 2008-09, Merrimack), Kristy Zurmuhlen (2007-08, Fall Mountain Regional, and Lindsey Miller (2006-07, Bishop Guertin) among the state’s list of former award winners.

MAINE: CAITLIN BUCKSBAUM, FALMOUTH

The 5-foot-5 junior midfielder led the Yachtsmen to a 13-4-1 record and the Class B state championship this past season. Bucksbaum scored 10 goals and passed for 11 assists. In her first year at Falmouth High, Bucksbaum was a Maine Sunday Telegram First Team All-State selection and earned First Team All-Western Maine Conference recognition. As a sophomore in 2010, she started for Ardrey Kell High in Charlotte, N.C., which reached the Class 4A state final.

Bucksbaum has maintained an A average in the classroom. A member of Falmouth High’s Environmental Action Committee, she has volunteered locally as a peer math tutor, a youth soccer coach and with the Ronald McDonald House.

“Caitlin Bucksbaum is a good player. Her appetite to get better is amazing,” said Jason Dewhurst, the director of coaching for the Stars of Massachusetts club team. “She’s quick, athletic, has good feet and can strike a ball from distance.”

Bucksbaum joins recent Gatorade Maine Girls Soccer Players of the Year Allison Walton (2010–11, 2009-10, Brunswick, Elise Amioka (2008–09, Marshwood), Rachele Burns (2007-08, Gorham), and Kelsey Wilson (2006-07, Gorham) among the state’s list of former award winners.

VERMONT: LAUREN BERNARD, COLCHESTER

The 5-foot-3 senior forward/midfielder scored 24 goals and passed for five assists this past season, leading the Lakers (7-6-2) to the Div. I state quarterfinals. The state’s returning Gatorade Girls Soccer Player of the Year, Bernard is a two-time All-American selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and was chosen as Burlington Free Press Player of the Year. She is a former member of the U.S. Soccer Federation Under-15 Women’s National Team, and a current member of the Under-18 National Team player pool.

Bernard has maintained a 3.93 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally with youth soccer programs and camps.

“She’s very strong technically and her left foot is deadly,” said Dwight Irish, head coach of rival Vergennes High. “If she has a little bit of room and she’s anywhere near the goal, she’s going to change the game.”

Bernard has signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer on scholarship at Boston College this fall.

Bernard joins recent Gatorade Vermont Girls Soccer Players of the Year Brittany Pfaff, (2009-10, Rice Memorial), Natalie LeClair (2008–09, 2007-08, Essex), and Emily Milbank (2006-07, Champlain Valley Union) among the state’s list of former award winners.

In its 27th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, in collaboration with ESPN HS, today announced Catarina Rocha of Peabody High School as its 2011-12 Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. Rocha is the first Gatorade Massachusetts Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year to be chosen from Peabody High School.

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the racecourse, distinguishes Rocha as Massachusetts’s best high school girls cross country runner. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year award to be announced in January.

The 5-foot-4 junior captured third place at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships this past season with a time of 18:19.9. Rocha also qualified for the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships where she finished in seventh place, crossing the line in 17:38. The 2011-12 Boston Globe All-Scholastic co-Runner of the Year, she won the Division I individual state championship with a time of 18:12.

Rocha has maintained an A average in the classroom. An officer in her school’s student council, she has volunteered locally as a peer tutor on behalf of Challenger Sports, an area physical activity program for children with special needs.

“Catarina Rocha is a leader on her team and in the classroom,” said Peabody athletic director Phil Sheridan. “I have had the opportunity to watch her in all facets of life and she is very serious about her training, her studies and her commitment to helping others.”

Other New England recipients:
CONNECTICUT - REID WATSON, GLASTONBURY
The 5-foot-4 senior raced to the State Open individual championship this past season with a time of 18:35. Watson also won the Class LL state title, breaking the tape in 19:03, and took first at the Hartford Riverfront Invitational, the Stratton Brook Invitational and the Central Connecticut Conference Championships. Watson finished 15th at the New England Cross Country Championships and earned 25th at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional championships.

Watson has maintained a 3.64 GPA in the classroom. A peer tutor in her school, she has volunteered locally on behalf of youth sports programs and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in addition to fundraising to benefit the American Cancer Society.

“Having Reid on the team is like having another coach,” said Glastonbury head coach Brian Collins. “She’s been a great inspiration to all levels of runners. She took over a young and inexperienced team and helped guide them to a very successful season.”

Watson remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

MAINE - ABBEY LEONARDI, KENNEBUNK
The 5-foot-1 senior raced to a fourth consecutive Class A individual state championship this past season with a time of 18:27.19. The state’s three-time returning Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Leonardi placed second at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships in 18:05.7 in addition to finishing fourth at the national Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 17:35.3. Also the four-time Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year as named by the Maine Sunday Telegram, she captured first place at the Maine Cross Country Festival of Champions and Western Maine Class A Regional Cross Country Championship Meet this past fall. With her three Gatorade State Track & Field Athlete of the Year trophies, Leonardi becomes the first athlete from any state to win Gatorade honors seven times in the award program’s 27-year history.

Leonardi has maintained an A average in the classroom. In addition to donating her time as a member of her school’s Captain’s Club to promote healthy lifestyle choices among her peers and area youth student-athletes, she has volunteered as part of fundraising efforts on behalf of displaced civilians in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.

“Abbey is the most focused athlete I have seen through my many years in this profession,” said Kennebunk High head coach Mike Dinehart. “Her practice regimen is a model for any athlete who wants to succeed. Not only does she challenge herself to garner the requisite hours to perform at such a high level, she is also able to apply that same work ethic to academics.”

Leonardi has verbally committed to an athletic scholarship at the University of Oregon beginning this fall.

NEW HAMPSHIRE - COURTNEY HAWKINS, MILFORD
The 5-foot-1 junior raced to the Meet of Champions individual state championship this past season with a time of 18:34.1. The Runner of the Year as named by the Nashua Telegraph, Hawkins placed 13th at the New England Cross Country Championships in 18:52 in addition to finishing 30th at the Foot Locker Northeast Regional championships in 19:35.8. Hawkins captured first place at the Manchester Invitational large school race. She finished 21st at the 2010 Meet of Champions as a sophomore.

Hawkins has maintained a 3.71 GPA in the classroom. A member of the National Honor Society and National Art Honor Society, she has volunteered locally at a summer day camp, as part of a holiday gift-giving campaign and on behalf of the St. Joseph Hospital Breast Care Center. Hawkins has also donated her time in association with conservation land cleanup efforts, with Project Linus to benefit needy children and as a youth athletic instructor. She has served as a fundraiser for the Gate City Striders track program, New England Pediatric Care and the American Cancer Society.

“Courtney is a true gem,” said Milford High head coach Mike Wright. “Not only is she a great athlete, but she is extremely coachable, dedicated, and loved by her opponents.”

RHODE ISLAND - MOLLY KEATING, LA SALLE ACADEMY
The 5-foot-4 senior raced to a third consecutive All-State Meet individual championship this past season with a time of 18:25, leading the Rams to second place as a team. A three-time First Team All-State selection as named by the Providence Journal, Keating placed second at the New England Cross Country Championships in 18:11 in addition to finishing 10th at the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional in 19:09.9. She also captured first place at the 2009 and 2010 Class A meet as a sophomore and junior.

Keating has maintained an A average in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of her church, her school’s peer-mentoring program and multiple charity-fundraiser road races.

“One of the things I can easily say about her is that throughout her entire career, she’s had a tremendous, tremendous work ethic,” said Jim Doyle, head boys cross country coach at Bishop Hendricken High. “At one point, she had a terrible setback when she suffered a stress fracture, but she overcame that, rebounded again this year and was outstanding all year long. That’s the way she’s been for four years. I’ve always been impressed with her.”

Keating remains undecided upon a collegiate destination.

VERMONT- ELLE PURRIER, RICHFORD
The 5-foot-3 junior raced to her second straight Division 3 individual state championship this past season, breaking the tape in 19:11.9. The state’s returning Gatorade Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Purrier won the New England Cross Country Championships with a time of 18:01 and the Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional championship in 18:30.6. She also earned titles at the Essex Invitational, the Harwood Invitational, the Burlington Invitational and the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference Championships.

Purrier has maintained a 3.93 GPA in the classroom. She has volunteered locally on behalf of youth track programs and has delivered care baskets to elderly residents of the community.

“Elle is able to push herself unlike any student-athlete I’ve ever met,” said Richford head coach Andrew Hathaway. “The push comes from within, whether or not there’s a watch on her.”

Today on ESPNHS' "Player of the Year" blog, Joel Beck take a look at the contenders for the Massachusetts Girls' Cross-Country Gatorade Player of the Year award, which will be announced later this month.

Among the clubhouse leaders are Peabody's Catarina Rocha, Dennis-Yarmouth's Jordan O'Dea, Andover's Maggie Mullins and Longmeadow's Camille Blackman.

Beck writes:

Catarina Rocha
Junior, Peabody Veterans Memorial (Peabody, MA)

2011 Team postseason standing: Ninth (Division 1)
2011 State meet finish (Place—time): First—18:12

2011 Foot Locker regional (Place—time): Third—18:19.95
2011 Foot Locker nationals (Place—time): Seventh—17:37.3

Jordan O'Dea
Junior, Dennis-Yarmouth Regional (South Yarmouth, MA)

2011 Team postseason standing: Sixth (Division 2)
2011 State meet finish (Place—time): First—18:35

2011 Nike Cross Nationals regional (Place—time): 19th—19:25.8

Maggie Mullins
Senior, Andover (MA)

2011 Team postseason standing: Did Not Qualify (Division 1)
2011 State meet finish (Place—time): Third—18:45

2011 Nike Cross Nationals regional (Place—time): Sixth—18:58.3

Camille Blackman
Senior, Longmeadow (MA)

2011 Team postseason standing: Eighth (Division 1)
2011 State meet finish (Place—time): Second—18:41

2011 Foot Locker regional (Place—time): 18th—19:13.46

Winning the state meet isn't a prerequisite for Gatorade State Cross Country Runner of the Year, so here are some more of many other harriers whose performances this past season vaulted them into the conversation during this 2011 campaign.

Katie Powell: Senior, Bishop Feehan (Attleboro, MA)
Abbey McNulty: Sophomore, Bishop Feehan (Attleboro, MA)
Kerry Phelan: Senior, Hamilton-Wenham (Hamilton, MA)
Madison Granger: Senior, Belchertown (MA)

WORCESTER, Mass. -- After losing in the sectional quarterfinals in 2010 the Peabody Tanners used that loss as motivation for the 2011 season, which they finished as division one state champions.

“We had that early exit last year,” said Tanners head coach Dennis Desroches. “I know that was a driving force for us coming into this year.”

Peabody (22-0-2) was a 1-0 victor over the East Longmeadow Spartans (18-3-1), thanks to Katie Brunelle’s first half strike. But the Tanners had plenty of chances to put the game away in the first half.

Peabody striker Haley Dowd forced a save from East Longmeadow’s goal keeper Anne Stack just over two minutes into the match, from a free kick on the edge of the box.

In the fourth minute, Dowd sent her strike partner Victoria DiGiacomo clean through on goal with a perfectly-weighted through ball. Stack read the play well, and came sprinting off her line to make a tackle, not a save, at the top of her box and stop the danger.

With just 13 minutes to go in the first half, Dowd made a sensational run, going thirty yards past the Spartans defense only to be denied by Stack again.

It was starting to look like in wasn’t going to be the Tanners night.

“East Longmeadow is an excellent defensive team, so when have all those opportunities you have to take advantage of those,” Deroches said of his team’s first half frustration.

But Peabody finally got its deserved breakthrough in the 37th minute, from Brunelle.

Stack hurried a clearance off of the East Longmeadow goal line after a wayward back pass almost snuck through for an own goal. But her clearance only went as far as Brunelle, who took full advantage of the opportunity and scored the game's only goal just before the half.

“With a team like ours, who scores a lot of goals, we always have a lot of opportunities,” Brunelle said of Peabody’s first-half scoring chances. “I knew eventually someone was going to score, I didn’t know it was going to be me, but as long as we score that’s all that matters.”

The Tanners' defense and midfield limited East Longmeadow’s scoring chances in the second half, and held on for the 1-0 victory.

“Fortunately for us, that one goal held up,” Desroches said of Brunelle's strike. “Hats off to East Longmeadow, they really played us to the final whistle.”

WEYMOUTH, Mass. — It was apparent how much attention Peabody’s Hayley Dowd was going to get from the Oliver Ames' defense once the clock started to tick in the Div. 1 state semi-finals last night at Weymouth High.

For the majority of the game, the Tigers battered, bruised and smothered Dowd with a number of defense players and defensive looks to keep her off the scoreboard.

Sometimes great players just find ways to make their presence felt.

Dowd notched the game-tying goal and played a big part in Victoria Digiacomo’s game-winning goal in the first overtime as Peabody (21-0-2) advanced to the state finals with a 2-1 victory over Oliver Ames (17-3-3).

“When I have my chances I try to take it, and I think that’s what we did tonight,” said Dowd. “They are a good, tough team and it was one of the better teams we played this year. They were very physical.”

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on the foot of Kristina Simonson in the 28th minute off a feed from Emily Grotz.

Dowd got her opportunity to finally break free of coverage early in the second half when she potted the game-tying goal in the 44 th minute for the Tanners.

Digiacomo and Dowd worked well up front against the Tigers back line with several scoring opportunities, but a little bit of over anxiousness saw those plays whistled for offside infractions.

In the opening minutes of the first extra session, the combo connected when Dowd sent a shot on goal and somehow it got through the Tigers defense to the waiting foot of Digiacomo to end the game 2:33 into the period.

“I’ve had a copule of those this year where I just see the net and I’m like ‘you aren’t going to score if you don’t get it on net,’” said Dowd. “I figured I’d get the ball on net and see what happens. Victoria made a great run into the net to get there right before the goalie.”

Added Digiacomo: “It squirted through and then it was me and the goalie. I got one step ahead of her and I poked it in. I didn’t even see it go in until she was on the ground.”

There was a game within the game on the pitch last night with Dowd and Tigers’ defender Clarissa Romero. The Tigers’ coaches had Romero stay with Dowd every step of the way, and in some instances bodies were flying all over the field in an intense, physical one-on-one matchup.

“She was outsanding,” Tigers coach Britt Sellmayer said of Romero’s effort. “She’ playing with a fractured nose and to go toe-to-toe with the premier player in Massachusetts, she did a great job.”

Dowd, who was taken to the turf on several occasions on rushes towards the net, said she was happy to play physical and she welcomed the challenge from a tough-minded Tigers’ back line.

“We played physical and we were going back-and-forth,” said Dowd. “I’m not mad at her and she’s not mad at me. That’s the way it is.”

As teams wrap up their regular season slates this week, we provide to you one last regular season look at the MIAA girls' soccer Top 20 poll, along with a few observations from resident soccer guru James Walsh:

Medfield stays atop our poll, but there was lots of movement in the Top 10. Lincoln-Sudbury and Dartmouth each lost for the first time this season and the Franklin Panthers jumped into the top 10.

Acton-Boxborough climbs back into the poll after an impressive 3-0 win over Lincoln-Sudbury with Kaylee Sye and Maya Jarostchuk leading the Colonials' offense. The win avenged a 2-0 loss to L-S back on Sept. 22; A-B hasn’t lost since.

Falling out of this week's poll were Dedham and Algonquin. The Mauraders and the Tomahawks are still right on the bubble, but strong play of Brockton and A-B moved them up and into the Top 20.

ON THE BUBBLE
Danvers (10-3-0) - Back to back losses to tough opponents, No. 3 Peabody and No. 1 Andover.

Concord-Carlisle (12-4-0) LW NR - Took the DCL Small title with a 3-2 win over Wayland with Andrea O’Brien scoring all three goals.

Shrewsbury (10-2-2) LW 9 - The Colonials defeated Leominster, 8-0, the second time in a week they’d defeated the Blue Devils.

Whitman-Hanson (11-3-1) - Devin Morse scored twice in a win over Duxbury to win the Panthers' fourth Patriot League title.

Duxbury (11-2-3) - See above.

It didn’t take all that long for Peabody girls’ soccer forward Hayley Dowd to capture the Tanners’ record as all-time leading goal scorer. The junior notched her 92nd career goal earlier this month in a 6-0 win over Salem, breaking Justine Hartigan’s career record in a little more than two seasons’ time.

The BC commit still has plenty of games ahead of her and the dynamic striker doesn’t plan on slowing down as the No. 6 Tanners look ahead to a deep postseason run.

We caught up with Dowd after a recent match in Swampscott to talk about her record, a recent trip to England and what the deal with this “Biddy” pride is all about.

Q: Did you know that you were closing on the school record?

A: “I knew I was close, but a couple people called from the local newspapers and they told me when it happened. They called me before I got to record asking about it. It’s great. It’s a great record to have.”

Q: Was it a goal to set the record this year?

A: “It’s a different year. We lost two of our best midfielders from last year and we have a couple of forwards who have taken on a different role. As long as the win the game, I don’t really think about scoring. I’m just happy that we’re coming out on top in a lot of these games.”

Q: How have your teammates helped you along in setting that record?

A: “They’ve been great. Especially in the last couple of years, I haven’t had to run after the ball, they’re able to win the ball and get it to me, which is great. I credit a lot of it to them because I wouldn’t have those goals without them. I think it starts with the defense. A person that’s stuck out in my mind has been Bianca Muscato. She stops everything that comes to her. One girl who used to play on the outside, Katie Brunelle, has stepped in great in the middle. She wins everything that comes her way and she works hard. Also, my other forward, Victoria Digiacomo, working with her has been great this year. We set up each other a lot, it’s been fun.”

Q: With those changes to the lineup, how do you feel the team is coming along?

A: “We had a little bit of rough start earlier in the season and we weren’t playing that well. But we’ve come together as a team more. We’re playing great as a team defensively and then the transition game to the forwards has been really good.”

Q: You played in England with your club team against some of the UK’s best club teams. What was that experience like?

A: “I play for Stars Mass and the league that I play in invited me and [Corey Persson] from Danvers to go and play. I’ve always wanted to go to a foreign country and England was a place that I really wanted to visit, so I really wanted to go there. We got to see a game over there, so that was cool. It’s just great that they’re men’s teams have women’s teams now. We went to Chelsea and they have like 30-plus fields at their facility, it was wicked nice -- unbelievable.”

Q: You made your commitment to BC last year. What went into making that decision?

A: “I thought at first that I wanted to go far away, California or someplace like that, but I started thinking about it and realized I wanted to be closer to home. My family comes to a lot of my games, my mom, my dad, my grandparents, so I thought it would be nice so that they can come and watch me. That made it pretty easy. It’s a half hour away from our house, so it’s far enough to stay away, but it’s close enough to come home. The success they’ve had definitely helps, too. There are three girls now from Massachusetts who play for Stars that are older than me that are there and two girls on my club team who are also going there, so it’s great.”

Q: What are the team goals for the rest of the season?

A: “Well, we wanted to make the tournament and we already qualified, so that’s good. We want to win the league and do well in the tournament. We had a bit of rough tournament last year, so hopefully we’ll get past the second round this year.”

Q: What’s the story behind these “Biddy” t-shirts everybody’s wearing? (Dowd was wearing a “Biddy Soccer” t-shirt at the time)

A: “We’re kind of crazy. That’s what we call ourselves. I don’t know when it started, but a couple years ago, it just kind of stuck. It comes from when people say Peabody, it’s the ‘Biddy’ at the end. So we just kind of cut it down and it becomes ‘Biddy.’ I know it’s crazy.”

Q: That makes sense.

A: “Yeah, kinda.”

DyeStat's Marc Bloom previews the nation's top cross-country squads and runners, state by state, today on ESPN High Schools, and tabs defending Division 2 state champion Bishop Feehan and Division 1 runner-up Weymouth as teams to watch.

Bloom writes:

MASSACHUSETTS: Feehan Front Four Fabulous Females

Bishop Feehan, Div II defender, looks like it might have a shot at returning to NXN with 4 scorers back, with a 58-second spread, to more than make up for the loss of state champ Viviana Hanley. Senior Katie Powell leads the squad. Similarly, in Div I, defender Weymouth loses its top girl but has its next 4 back with a 36-second spread.

Traditional state powers Lincoln-Sudbury and Newton South have some big gaps to fill. The top individual looks like Div I runner-up Catarina Rocha (Peabody), state 2-mile champion (10:54.47) and New England 3200 bronze medalist (10:41.27).

You can view Bloom's entire rundown here.

ESPN RISE's Chris Ackels checks in today with three New England soccer players about to make their mark overseas.

Peabody's Hayley Dowd, Danvers' Corey Persson and Milford (N.H.) High's Morgan Andrews are part of a ECNL All-Star team representing the United States in a series of matches this week against club teams from Aston Villa, Bristol and Chelsea.

The 17-player roster is comprised of players from Elite Clubs National League organizations from across the country. Andrews, Dowd and Persson all represent the FC Stars of Massachusetts.

Check out Ackels' take here.