It was a light Saturday for high school sports across the Cape and Islands with just five games on the schedule across three sports.

Mashpee (7-12) and Barnstable (4-14) baseball were the lone Cape matchup, which the Falcons won 11-4 to halt a three-game losing streak.

Jake Kross went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run scored, while Matt Gaitane went 1-for-3 with a triple, a RBI, and a run scored for the Red Hawks in the loss.

In other high school sports action:

Baseball 

Nantucket 5, O’Bryant 4; O’Bryant 7, Nantucket 4: The Whalers (7-10) split a pair of games in a double-header against O’Bryant.

Girls Lacrosse 

Old Colony 9, Bourne 8: Janice Bouchard tallied a four goals, but the Canalmen’s (4-10) comeback fell short as they dropped to a second straight defeat. Taylor Simard had two goals, while Ava Tosca Tessa Stone had one goal each. Eliza Denientolis, Mallory Doyle and Lila Moerman played well on defense, and Mia Lowden totaled 12 saves. 

Boys Lacrosse 

Plymouth North 7, Barnstable 5: The Red Hawks (8-9) fell in a non-league matchup, which was their third defeat in the last five games.

Nantucket 16, Whitman-Hanson Reg. 3: The Whalers (9-4) beat Whitman-Hanson Regional for the second time this season.

Allen Gunn covers high school sports for the Cape Cod Times. You can contact him at agunn@gannett.com and follow him on X at @allentgunn.

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MCLA James Birge awaits the graduates’ traditional walk through the college’s gates on the way to commencement. See more photos here. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — MCLA’s Class of 2025 was reminded to move forward with love, kindness, and pursuing what is just.

“I grew up wanting to be like my grandmother. When my grandmother was alive, she always talked about us living in the end times, but somehow her acceptance that we were living in the world’s last movement made her capacity for kindness even higher. It made her want to be better at love,” said keynote speaker Kiese Laymon, an award-winning author and Rice University professor.

“She understood that all great human beings do not get a ceremony, but we must be ceremonious to all human beings in this world.”

Per tradition, graduates marched through the iron gates on Church Street before receiving 187 undergraduate and 38 graduate degrees in the sciences, arts, business, education, and more. This was the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts’ 126th annual commencement.

“MCLA is a small institution, but it delivers big results,” said Paul Paradiso, who earned a master of business administration.

“I’m standing here alone only because I’ve been surrounded by a community of students and faculty. We’re here because of both group effort and individual drive. We work independently on projects, yet none of us got here entirely on our own.”

President James Birge reminded students that this day is a culmination of years of academic work and accomplishment.

“During your time at MCLA, you have compiled a long list of accomplishments and inspired us with your success in the classroom, in the lab, on the stage, in the gallery, on the athletic playing surfaces, and in the community. You’ve studied abroad, conducted research, participated in service trips and internships, and created community service programs to meet the needs you saw in our community,” he said.

“You were inducted into honor societies, held office in the student government, produced works of art, theater, dance, and spoken word, scored goals, runs, and baskets, and crossed finish lines. Some of you returned to school after time off, bringing with you professional and life experiences that enriched class discussions and that underscored the importance of lifelong learning.”

Birge said he and his colleagues are called to their work at MCLA by one common purpose: to contribute to the education of the next generation of leaders.

Brigh Cote, a communications major with a concentration in public relations and corporate communication, explained that she has transferred colleges twice and joined the Army, where she currently serves as a sergeant. Cote’s time at MCLA has “meant the world for me” for a variety of reasons, one being its inclusive nature.

“The very first time I heard about this school, I was sitting in my kitchen after having a meeting with my previous college that informed me that I was being fined $50 for being in a relationship with someone of the same sex. I knew I had to get out of a place like that,” she explained.

“How could I attend a college where being myself cost me money? I immediately began googling hockey teams that needed players, when my sister called me to tell me that a college named Massachusetts, College of Liberal Arts, was looking for players as they were about to start a program. I emailed the coach, and it wasn’t even 20 minutes after I sent the email that we set up a phone call.”

Cote had only one question for MCLA’s hockey coach: Can I be gay on your team?  She reported that the line went silent for a minute before her phone buzzed and a photo of two LGBTQ+ mugs appeared on the screen.

“He returned to the phone and said, ‘I will have to ask my athletic director and her wife to see if that will be a problem,'” Cote reported, followed by laughs and cheers from the crowd.

During her first hockey season, which was also the first time in MCLA history that the women’s team was established to take part in a regular season, little girls from around the city would stand outside the team’s door before they entered the ice and gave out high-fives.

“I learned a lot from them without them even knowing. At the last home game of the season, I’m about to take the ice for the third period when I feel the tap on my shoulder. It was one of the little girl’s moms, and she told me, ‘I just wanted to tell you, you’re my daughter’s favorite player. You’re super feisty, and she enjoys watching you play,’ I said, ‘Thank you,’ and I had to skate onto the ice,” she explained.

“…It hit me at that moment that we had an impact on this town, showing little girls from the Berkshires that they could be just like us.”

A “heartbreaking” injury in 2024 ended Cote’s college athletic career, but she became the official voice of the MCLA women’s hockey league. “This had helped me overcome the intense feelings I had because of not playing, but gave me a sense of purpose,” she explained.

Cote told fellow graduates to be the person they once needed.

“Be the teammate, the friend, the voice, the encouragement, the safe space, because out there, someone is hoping to find the kind of community we have built here at MCLA,” she said.

“Don’t shrink yourself to fit into places that you weren’t built for. Expand them, fill them with your truth.”

During the ceremony, honorary doctorates were conferred to Laymon, NAACP Berkshire County Branch President Dennis L. Powell, North Adams Public Schools Superintendent Barbara Malkas, and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.

Laymon spoke about Sesame Street, grandmothers, and style.

His grandmother did not have a commencement ceremony at home in Mississippi because she could not go to any high school, college, or university, and instead, had to drop out of high school to work.

“My grandmother was the greatest human being in my life, but she could not vote in our state by law until her late 30s. Her third child, my mother, did not go to school with white children until she was a junior in high school in 1969. Sesame Street also debuted in 1969,” he explained.

Six months later, Mississippi voted to remove the children’s show from televisions across the state. The rationale leaked to the New York Times was “Some of the members of the commission were very much opposed to showing the series because it used a highly integrated cast of children,” Laymon reported.

Twenty-two days later, his grandmother joined others in publicly challenging the decision not to air Sesame Street and won. Six years after the show aired, Laymon was born and received the teachings of Sesame Street along with those of a “Palestinian, Jewish character in this big old book called the Bible named Jesus.”

“‘They’re the same teachings,’ she would say,” he reported.

“Treat folks as we want to be treated, share, be honest, be kind, admit mistakes, accept others’ mistakes, and revise, and finally, fight tyranny by all means necessary. I wasn’t a great student, but I was a great student of my grandma.”

He said his grandmother passed away a few months ago at the age of 95, around the time of statewide diversity, equity, and inclusion bans.

“Our desire to organize, our capacity for kindness, and our desire to revise all that we have is the only thing that will save us; it is all that has ever saved us from tyranny,” Laymon said, asking that graduates exhibit love in honor of his grandmother.

Tags: graduation 2025,   MCLA,   

   Leading off today: Catching up on a pile of news while trying to figure out where the week went …

Top Section 5 basketball player leaving state

   Wayne basketball star Cam Blankenberg, a first-team all-state pick this season and strong contender for Class A player of the year next winter, is transferring to a Massachusetts prep school.

   The 6-foot-6 junior confirmed his decision on social media. He will enroll at The Winchendon School, where Blankenberg intends to reclassify to the Class of 2027.

   The two-time All-Greater Rochester Player of the Year led Wayne to back-to-back trips to the NYSPHSAA Class A final four. The Eagles reached the title game in 2024.

   “It was a hard decision leaving Wayne,” Blankenberg said. “What they’ve done for me, it took a lot of time and thought into leaving. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a decision that had to be made in order for me to take that step in growing my basketball game.”

Following up on La Salle’s punishment

   The Times Union did some additional reporting following yesterday’s breaking news that Section 2 has banned La Salle Institute from postseason play for the entire 2025-26 school year.

   Yesterday’s blog referenced La Salle running afoul of Section 2 with eligibility problems in girls soccer in 2022 and 2023 as well as in football in 2023, but the schools history of recent run-ins with the section is more extensive than that.

   “This marks La Salle Institute’s seventh documented violation since 2014 and its fifth since Fall 2022,” Section 2 Executive Director Doug Gejay wrote in an email to the paper. “The school remains on probation with Section 2 through October 20, 2027.”

Milestones

   Anthony Raio of Half Hollow Hills scored four goals in a 22-8 lacrosse win over Commack last weekend to become Section 11’s all-time leader in goals.

   Raio’s 255th goal eclipsed the mark set by West Islip’s Nicky Galasso and moved him within striking distance of all-time Long Island leader Jeff Cohen (260).

    • Two Long Island goalies have blown past the presumed NYSPHSAA record for career saves in girls lacrosse, according to Newsday.

   Port Jefferson’s Emma Batter had 706 saves and Cold Spring Harbor’s Maya Soskin had 687 through Monday, bettering the mark of 665 compiled by former West Genesee star Allie Hanlon, who now plays for Syracuse University.

    • North Salem boys lacrosse coach Vin Savastano booked his 400th career win with a 16-4 victory last weekend over Albertus Magnus. In an interesting twist, longtime assistant coach Scott Berniker was also at his side for win No. 1 for Savastano at Hendrick Hudson.

NYSPHSAA announces its 2025 Hall of Fame class

   The New York State Public High School Athletic Association will induct six new members into its Hall of Fame during a ceremony on July 30 in Schenectady:

    • Bill Bryant, currently the executive director for Section 4 after previously coaching at Binghamton and serving as the AD at Spencer-Van Etten, Ithaca, Brockport, and Marcellus. The Owego graduate also served as NYSAAA president in 2007.

    • Don Cupertino, still active as the girls soccer coach at Bronxville with a 544-135-37 record placing him in the top five in state history for wins. The Washingtonville graduate’s teams have earned 22 Section 1 championships in a 35-year career.

    • Larry Gaultieri, who has officiated the sports of soccer, basketball, and baseball in Suffolk County since 1974, frequently representing Section 11 as an official at the NYSPHSAA boys basketball and soccer championships.

    • Terence “T” McMahon, the all-time winningest boys varsity tennis coach in New York State and No. 3 in girls tennis, all while coaching at Orchard Park. Since 1975, he’s accumulated a 661-92 record with 41 sectional championships on the boys side and 400-28 from 1975-2000 on the girls side. He has been the Section 6 boys tennis coordinator since 1982.

    • Marty Sherman, who coached multiple sports, making his mark with 304 wrestling wins at Corinth, where he was also the athletic director. Sherman has been the NYSPHSAA wrestling coordinator since 2008, helping make the dual-meet championship a reality in 2019 and leading improvements in the weight certification process.

    • Carl “Rollie” Stichweh, who was a four-sport star for Mineola High from 1957-61 and then a four-year starter at quarterback for the U.S. Military Academy.

Texas goes high-tech in football

    The governing body for Texas high school sports has approved expanded use of technology for football teams. Beginning next season, the University Interscholastic League will allow teams to use “wearable technology” to communicate with players for play-calling.

    The communication will be in the form of texts from a coach in the coaching booth to players wearing a receiving device on his wrist.

    The decision is in response to increasingly frequent complaints about sign-stealing.

WOMEN WITH TOM TURKEY PHOTO PROVIDED/AERIAL IMAGE OF MORMON RIDGE BY GARRY BRANDENBURG
Spring wild turkey hunting ends Sunday, May 18 after a long run that began on April 7. Hunters in stealthy camouflage clothing, or inside pop-up blinds, waited patiently and called seductively to see if a tom turkey would come close. It worked over 14,000 times as the statewide count as of mid week was 14,123 registrations made into the Iowa DNR reporting system. Today’s featured turkey huntress is Melissa Ream, who shot her big tom on May 8. It hit the scale at 23 pounds, had one inch long spurs and a 10-inch long beard. The aerial image shows a portion of Ream’s hunting vicinity, Mormon Ridge, and the adjacent Arney Bend Wildlife Area across the Iowa River. Forest habitats are key components for turkeys to roost, nest and search for insects and other foods.

WILD TURKEYS are a huge game bird, one of the largest. Mature tom turkeys can weigh from 20 to 24 pounds, have a wingspan of 4.5 feet and stand just under 4 feet tall.

Flight speeds once up at full speed can be 55 miles per hour. They can run on the ground at 25 mph. Their eyesight is phenomenally acute to see things and pick up potential dangers from ground or avian predators. They are a native bird of North America.

They have been successfully brought back from very low numbers to a level now sufficient to allow a regulated harvest across the State of Iowa. Hunters in the year 2023 took 11,366.

In 2024 with more favorable weather, hunters registered 14,585. Now with 2025 almost at its end point this coming Sunday, the tally is currently at 14,123 (midweek). Final numbers will be forthcoming and will be very similar to 2024.

For Native Americans, wild turkeys were just one food source. Settlers new to the east coast soon learned the same thing — this big bird had a lot of meat on its frame.

What settlers did not know then was how easily it was going to be to over hunt this species. Of course at that time, the priority of survival was more important than what seemed to be inexhaustible wildlife.

Now with modern and scientifically based wildlife management well established, the species has been brought back from very low numbers to well over seven million now. Wildlife managers in cooperation with the National Wild Turkey Federation have helped trap and reintroduce turkeys to many former habitats.

There are six subspecies of wild turkey, all native to North America. Those names are Eastern, Rio Grande, Ocellated, Merriam’s, Osceola, and Gould’s. Iowa has the Eastern.

For Iowa hunters, counties with extensive forested habitats always produce the most. Top counties in 2025 are Clayton (560), Allamakee (555), and Jackson at 413. Warren County just south of Des Moines has recorded 342 toms so far.

Every Iowa county has wild turkeys, all depending upon habitat. Low-take counties include Osceola with 8, Pocahontas at 15 and Sac with 18.

Calhoun has just 4. Marshall County is in the mid pack range with 93. Our surrounding counties are Tama (180), Poweshiek (100), Jasper (151), Story (47), Hardin (104) and Grundy (14).

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An interesting series of wildlife stories can be found on the website titled The Venatic, a well read Outdoor Newsletter for all things North America. Following are just a few samples to absorb.

The first concerns Polar Bears, a big white bear that specializes in hunting seals and walrus in arctic environments of Norway to Siberia to Alaska to northern Canada to Greenland. Every circumpolar setting is where bear populations exist. Overall the populations are doing very well, contrary to activist propaganda.

Many countries allow subsistence hunting by arctic living native peoples. Such is the case for the Inuit community of Nunavut, the northernmost lands of northern Canada.

A subsistence hunt was underway and in full accord with regulations that allow a certain number of the big white bear to be killed. The Inuit conduct the bear hunt as one part of their cornerstone culture.

The bears provide food, clothing and income from the sale of hides and also for guided hunts. An annual quota has to be adhered to.

Just in northern Canada, this polar bear population is estimated at 16,000. A small quota of off-takes will not negatively impact that population.

Then this happened. “A pair of Turkish wildlife photographers found themselves with their feet firmly planted in their mouths”, said Ryan Wilby, editor of The Venatic newsletter. “The pair posted a boisterous and uniformed video criticizing the subsistence hunters. The pair became agitated that the legal hunt had messed with their so-called righteous plans, when they were told to vacate the area for safety reasons and to respect the ongoing subsistence hunt. The photographers were barred by local outfitters from approaching the ice floe where the hunt was taking place.”

The Turkish photographers were frustrated, so they posted a video condemning the hunt as unacceptable. The local Inuit community saw the action as a misguided action like many who ignorantly oppose something they know nothing about.

It outraged the Inuit, who called the stunt an attack on their way of life. Reluctantly, the Turkish pair took down their video post, but it was ultimately judged to be a failed attempt to say we are sorry.

According to Wilby, “the incident underscores a recurring challenge: the clash between external perceptions and legally-sanctioned hunting seasons, whether for Indigenous communities or the general public. Tourists often arrive with preconceived notions about wildlife and hunting, and thus misunderstandings happen. For the Inuit people, they have to live in a tough environment, they live a life that respects nature in all of its raw reality, and then to be told by outsiders, who do not live in the Arctic, that what the Inuit are doing is wrong, does not sit well. The Inuit will decide what works for them, not outsiders.”

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Lastly, this fish and game law enforcement story is also thanks to permission granted from The Venatic web site. The case comes from Ohio and is a great credit to two Wildlife Officers, Isaiah Gifford and Matt Roberts of the Ohio DNR.

These men were awarded the prestigious Pope and Young Club’s Wildlife Law Enforcement Officer Award at the recently completed convention held in Phoenix, Ariz. Here is a rundown of the case about a large antlered buck which was illegally taken, how the investigation unfolded, and the court findings for the guilty men.

The ordeal began when a poacher named C. J. Alexander, age 28, let greed conduct his actions. The deer was illegally taken in Clinton County, Ohio.

When online postings about the deer came to the attention of other hunters and ultimately conservation officers, a search for the truth began to unravel the story line. The investigation was complex.

In the end, Alexander was charged with 23 felony charges, including illegal hunting without permission, theft by deception, hunting without a license, and tampering with evidence. Additional misdemeanor charges included falsification and illegal sale of wildlife parts. An accomplice had several misdemeanor charges filed against him for his accompanying actions in this wildlife crime.

At the Pope and Young Club convention, a video was presented by the officers to summarize the lengthy investigation, crime scene documentation, and a host of online posting and cell phone conversations and texts that implicated criminal intent. Alexander pleaded guilty to 14 counts. His penalties included a 10 year hunting license suspension, five years of community control, and a restitution payment of $35,071.73 — the highest ever for a single deer in Ohio history.

According to The Venatic newsletter web site, Officers Gifford and Roberts’ meticulous investigative work was instrumental in bringing C.J. Alexander to justice. Their efforts were supported by public tips received through Ohio’s Turn in Poacher Hotline.

Officer Gifford is a 2023 graduate of the Wildlife Officer Training Academy after graduating from Pensacola Christian College in 2019 with a degree in criminal justice. Officer Roberts is a 2005 graduate of the Wildlife Officer Training Academy.

He graduated from Hooking College in 2001 with a degree in wildlife management, and then went on to obtain another degree in 2002 in forest management. He has worked for the Ohio DNR since 2003. The work these officers accomplished helps to emphasize the importance of ethical hunting and the respect for private property rights.

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A reminder to those youth age 12 or older who want to attend a Hunter Safety Class, the date is fast approaching. May 22 (6-9 p.m.) and May 24 (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are the times for the Marshall County classroom course. The sign up is online by going to GoOutdoorsIowa.com

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Garry Brandenburg is the retired director of the Marshall County Conservation Board. He is a graduate of Iowa State University with a BS degree in Fish & Wildlife Biology. Contact him at: P.O. Box 96 Albion, IA 50005