The diamonds finally dried out across Eastern Mass. on Wednesday, resulting in more than 130 baseball and softball games, which featured several milestones, especially from some of the state’s best strikeout artists.
We’ll get into it all, but first the recaps: Scoreboard | Baseball | Softball | Boys’ lacrosse | Girls’ lacrosse | Boys’ volleyball | Girls’ tennis | Boys’ tennis
1. Milestones and moments
On a night of big strikeout totals, nobody could compete with Westwood’s Bridget Mulkeen, a Holy Cross-bound senior who not only fired a no-hitter to beat Medfield, 6-0, but surpassed 700 career strikeouts.
A pair of juniors have a shot of crossing 700 next spring, but had to make do with reaching 500 career strikeouts Wednesday. Tyngsborough junior Kiley Hogan picked up her 500th career whiff while striking out 10 in a 7-0 blanking of Oakmont, and King Philip junior McCoy Walsh also joined the 500K club in a 16-0 win over Canton.
Not far behind is Abington junior Elsie Testa, who notched her 400th career strikeout while striking out 11 in both ends of a doubleheader, finishing the day with a total of 22 punch outs despite getting swept by Middleborough.
Chelmsford senior Jillian Martin won her 300th career draw control in an 18-4 win over Groton-Dunstable, among Haverhill senior Jack Staples’s seven goals was the 100th of his career, Stoughton freshman goalie Joe Toupin passed the 200-save mark on the season with 10 in a 17-4 loss to King Philip, Arlington Catholic junior Stephen Constantine netted his 200th career point in a 16-8 win over St. Mary’s, Taunton sophomore Bella Bourque recorded her 100th career hit in a 12-0 win over Oliver Ames, and Winthrop senior Timmy Vargus spun an 11-strikeout no-hitter to beat Swampscott, 2-0.
Congratulations Jill Martin on this great milestone! #300club @_LionsAthletics pic.twitter.com/jAQdD2GLFX
— CHS Girls Lacrosse (@Girls_CHS_Lax) May 7, 2025
2. Walk-off wins
We usually focus on walk-off hits or goals in this space, but Needham senior Maricel Pucillo provided another type of walk-off win when she made a game-saving catch in the bottom of the seventh with two outs and runners on second and third, preserving a 5-4 win over Milton.
Watertown’s first Middlesex League win in four years came via a double-overtime winner from senior Caleb Mayhew, who also netted the tying goal in the final two minutes of regulation, lifting the Raiders to a 9-8 victory vs. Stoneham.
Triton freshman Ginger Thompson’s bases-loaded walk-off single provided a 7-5 win over Hamilton-Wenham, Liam Connelly’s RBI single in the bottom of the seventh pushed Canton past King Philip, 2-1, and Austin Prep’s Luciana Igoe lofted a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 win over BB&N.
3. Three stars
Jackie Giordano, Brooks — The senior from Andover fired a one-hitter with 11 strikeouts while also stepping up to the plate and delivering three hits, two runs, and an RBI in a 12-0 drubbing of Milton Academy.
Mylee Ramer, Bishop Feehan — The senior did it all for the Shamrocks in a 9-0 win over Arlington Catholic, striking out 18 in a two-hitter, while collecting three hits and three RBIs, including a two-run homer to set the tone in the first inning.
Andrew Cox and Shawn Laduke, Methuen — Cox, a junior, smashed 21 kills, and Laduke, a senior, doled out 47 assists in a 3-1 win over North Andover.
4. Going, going, gone
Hogan left the yard twice with solo shots for Tyngsborough, joining Brooks’ Sophia Florencio with two longballs. King Philip got homers from Ali Gill, Liv Petrillo, and Cheyenne Murray in a 16-0 win over Canton and Marblehead’s Lyla McGovern launched a grand slam in the seventh inning to beat Peabody, 10-7.
The rest of the day’s round-trippers belonged to Dighton-Rehoboth’s Haleigh Kelley, Taunton’s Cate Larson, Bishop Feehan’s Caitlyn Deveney, Newton North’s Ellie Fahey, Tyngsborough’s Katie O’Keefe, Bedford’s Alyx Rossi, and Conor Secrist of St. John’s (Shrewsbury).
5. Daily lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Jake Staples, Haverhill, 7
Caleb Mayhew, Watertown, 6
Colin Fuller, Newburyport, 5
Maddy Lubov, Ursuline, 5
Caroline Nozzolillo, Westwood, 5
Neil Sullivan, Archbishop Williams, 5
Allie Wile, Ipswich, 5
Abby Bradley, Apponequet, 4
Thomas Donovan, Mansfield, 4
Gunner Hanna, Abington, 4
Corey Herbert, Bridgewater-Raynham, 4
Kendall Herrick, Medfield, 4
Cole Hogencamp, Mansfield, 4
Jayleigh Howart, Apponequet, 4
Patrick McGowan, Haverhill, 4
Kenny Wisniewski, Apponequet, 4
Points
Staples, Haverhill, 10
Meera Raskin, Ursuline, 8
Lubov, Ursuline, 7
Meghan Daley, North Andover, 6
Donovan, Mansfield, 6
Trevor Lindmark, Haverhill, 6
Mayhew, Watertown, 6
McGowan, Haverhill, 6
Fuller, Newburyport, 5
Matt Grafton, Abington, 5
Hogencamp, Mansfield, 5
Julianna Lanzillo, Chelmsford, 5
Nozzolillo, Westwood, 5
Isa Robinson, North Andover, 5
Eli Sirota, Newburyport, 5
Sullivan, Archbishop Williams, 5
Wisniewski, Apponequet, 5
6. Daily strikeout leaderboard
Mylee Ramer, Bishop Feehan, 18
Alyx Rossi, Bedford, 16
Sharlotte Stazinski, Walpole, 16
Akiira’Ley Vazquez, Greater New Bedford, 14
Kayla Shaw, Wakefield, 13
Devon Blair, East Bridgewater, 12
Taryn Clancy, Middleborough, 12
Nora Hamel, Newton North, 12
Zahgros Tanner, Newton North, 12
Connor Gavin, Waltham, 11
Jackie Giordano, Brooks, 11
Cate Larson, Taunton, 11
Elsie Testa, Abington, 11 (twice)
Timmy Vargus, Winthrop, 11
7. MIAA lacrosse committees
The boys’ and girls’ lacrosse committees met virtually and confirmed the timeline for the upcoming state tournament. Brackets should be released on May 28, tournament games can begin May 29 and will run until the state finals on June 13-14.
Tournament director Dan Brothers said the goal is to finish the finals before Father’s Day, June 15, but weather could cause postponements that would push some games back to that date.
Brothers said the search is ongoing for different neutral sites for the boys’ lacrosse championships, but top options such as Bentley, Boston University, Harvard Stadium, and Quincy’s Veterans Stadium have been ruled out. It is likely that a high school will once again play host to the boys’ lacrosse finals, as Burlington has hosted the past two years. The girls’ lacrosse finals will once again be held at Babson.
Longtime committee members attended their final meeting. Darrell Benson, the president of the World Series of Lacrosse and a longtime MIAA official, was on his final call with the boys’ lacrosse committee. Officials representative Teri Riggs attended her final meeting with the girls’ lacrosse committee, and advocated for splitting all JV and varsity games into quarters for injury purposes.
Both committees discussed the implementation of a shot clock in upcoming seasons, citing reasons it improves the game. Since the MIAA plays under National Federation of High School rules, the committee will hold off on further discussion until the NFHS addresses shot clock rules this summer.
— Nate Weitzer
8. MIAA soccer committee
No votes were held at the MIAA soccer meeting, but the committee made it clear they are not interested in a Super 8/Division 1A tournament.
Canton athletic director and committee chair Danny Erickson, Nipmuc AD Chris Schmidt, Monomoy AD Karen Guillemette, Agawam coach Laura Ramos, and Wayland coach Dave Gavron all expressed a lack of appetite for an additional tournament.
“I think our tournament runs great the way it is,” Erickson said.
St. Mary’s athletic director Jeff Newhall, the MIAA soccer tournament director, noted that 419 teams participated in the 2024 postseason, with 8,400 players taking the field, 4,600-plus tickets sold, and revenue of about $380,000, leading to a net profit of around $131,000, which was down slightly from the previous year due to the extra expense of holding finals at Worcester State and Curry College instead of Doyle and Manning fields.
“To have 8,400 kids participate in a tournament that makes money, I think is pretty good,” Newhall said.
There was lengthy discussion on the lack of officials for sub-varsity games, with new officials liaison Matt DeNapoli stating that almost half the sub-varsity games he schedules have just one official. Several members expressed interest in expanding the Taunton pilot program that trains high school students to be officials.
“The older generation of referees would certainly appreciate some help from young legs,” DeNapoli said.
The biggest hurdle is liability insurance, as well as some additional costs for Arbiter, the referee assigning portal.
9. Odds and ends
Junior Maggie Berleth of St. Paul’s (N.H.) was the winner of the 2025 A Shot For Life Boston Bruins Foundation award after raising more than $7,000 for cancer research.
Congratulations to Maggie Berleth of St. Paul’s on being the winner of the 2025 ASFL – Boston Bruins Foundation Award! The award is given each year to the top fundraiser in the MA ASFL Classic. Maggie raised well over $7,000 for cancer research!
We can’t say thank you enough to… pic.twitter.com/XLGjekgJYl
— A Shot For Life™ (@ASFL_Shoot4Cure) May 7, 2025
Braintree senior Francesca Spadorcia committed to Salve Regina, where she plans to play both basketball and volleyball.
We are going to miss our captain. So proud of all her accomplishments. Excited to see her play at the next level! pic.twitter.com/3uu8wOesmi
— Braintree GBBall (@BraintreeGBBall) May 7, 2025
Pembroke senior Sadie Nugent will play women’s soccer at Arcadia.
— Pembroke Athletics (@PHS_Titans) May 7, 2025
Brendan Kurie can be reached at brendan.kurie@globe.com. Follow him on X @BrendanKurie. Nate Weitzer can be reached at nweitzer7@gmail.com. Follow him on X @nweitzer7.
