Littleton native Kasey Richard played a major role in Boston University’s historic softball season.
The Terriers recently finished a 53-6-1 campaign to tie the 2002 UMass team which went 53-12 for most wins by a Division 1 program from the Northeast. BU fell 8-2 in the NCAA Tournament to Oklahoma in Norman, Okla.
Richard, a sophomore pitcher, earned CSEvalSoftball All-America First Team honors after a sensational season. She posted an NCAA-leading 16 shutouts, a 28-4 record, and struck out 265 batters in 211 innings. Richard’s earned run average was a miniscule 1.23.
College baseball
Morash on fire: Westford native Matt Morash is making an impact on the Penn State program as a freshman.
The 6-foot, 200-pound left-handed pitcher was on the mound on Thursday when Penn State defeated Michigan, 9-5, in the Big Ten Tournament. Morash pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, striking out three and fanning a batter to end the game.
It was the first time since 2007 that Penn State has won two games in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State was coming off an 8-4 win over top-seeded Illinois. On Saturday, the Nittany Lions were scheduled to play a semifinal round game in Omaha, Neb.
In his previous outing, Morash threw 1.1 scoreless innings against Maryland.
Morash, who guided Westford Academy to a sparkling 20-1 season last spring as a senior, is 2-0 at Penn State with a 7.39 earned run average. He’s made 17 appearances, striking out 23 in 28 innings.
College hockey
Parks a champion: UMass Lowell incoming freshman Lee Parks helped guide Fargo to the United States Hockey League playoff championship.
Fargo also won the regular-season title and was a dominant team all season. In fact, Fargo, which went 50-10-2 during the regular season, set a USHL record for most wins in a season.
A 6-2, 219-pound native of Stittsville, Ont., Parks had two goals and two assists in 12 playoff games. In the regular season, he was a force in his first year in the USHL, netting 30 goals and 28 assists while playing in all 62 games.
Another UML commit, Nick Romeo, was a member of the Dubuque team which made the finals. Like Parks, Romeo is a forward.
College track
Young 38th: Senior Joe Young (Dorchester) of the UMass Lowell men’s track and field team was the final River Hawk to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary on Friday evening, hosted by the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Ky.
Young took part in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after qualifying at the Bryan Clay Invitational in early April. He ran hard against some of the best runners in the nation, taking 38th place with a time of 9:13.87.
Baseball
Alvirne 5, Merrimack 4: The Broncos impressively ended their season with another NHIAA Div. 1 victory.
After a 1-10 start to the spring, Alvirne went 6-2, including three walk-off wins and victories against strong teams Dover, Keene, Londonderry and Merrimack. Dylan Page pitched the game of his career. His first start as a pitcher came on Senior Night. He only allowed three hits through four innings.
Senior Jayden Alvarez drilled a two-run single. Max Francisco scored on a wild pitch for the winning run.
Littleton 9, Ayer Shirley 5: Littleton secured a home game for the Round of 32 in the MIAA Tournament for the first time since 2018 with the Mid-Wach win.
Mikey Shufrin struck out 10 in five innings he also delivered a bases-clearing double in the third inning. Andrew Milner was 1-for with a triple and scored two runs. Jack Redmond laced a two-run single in the third.
For Ayer Shirley, Tyler Crawford went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Noah Hunt drove in a pair of runs.
Wilmington 3, Blue Hills 2: In the first game of the Dick Scanlon Memorial Day weekend tournament, the Wildcats scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to defeat Blue Hills.
Wilmington will host the Gloucester-Bedford winner in the championship game Sunday at 10 a.m.
Austin Harper tossed two scoreless/hitless innings of relief, striking out four, after a solid start by Noah Spencer. Shortstop Eric Spinney went 2-for-4 and scored a run to pace the offense. First baseman Ayden Balter went 1-for-3 with an RBI, as did second baseman Michael Dynan. Brian Banks ripped a double.
Westford 4, AW 2: Prior to the non-league game against Archbishop Williams, Westford Academy on Senior Day paid tribute to Charlie Bonenfant, Nic Bonica, Shane Clark, Jake Cullen, Justin Davighi, Tyler Frazee, James McDermott, Donny Metznik and Ryan Swinamer.
The Ghosts then went out and captured another win to improve to 38-3 over the last two seasons. Their 17-game win streak was snapped Friday in an 8-3 loss to Chelmsford. Westford will enter the state tournament at 18-2.
Tewksbury 6, Methuen 0: The Redmen clinched a winning record behind the terrific pitching of Billy Burris, who tossed a complete-game shutout.
Burris allowed four hits and one walk while striking out seven. Kyle Cummings paced the offense by going 2-for-4 and scoring a pair of runs for Tewksbury (11-9), which will learn its state tournament draw Wednesday.
Softball
Triton 14, Wilmington 9: The Wildcats scored plenty of runs, but couldn’t slow down a strong Triton Regional (15-4) team, especially Kyla Story, who launched two home runs.
Central 6, Peabody 5: Ava Perrotta had the game-winning hit and drove in three runs to fuel the Raiders to the non-league win.
Caitlin Milner and Katie Fox hammered home runs in the fifth inning. Earning the pitching win was Julia Malowitz for Central (15-2).
Youth sports
The Mill City Eagles and Massachusetts Pirates are teaming up for the inaugural City of Lowell Free Youth Football Camp, Sunday, June 9 at Cawley Stadium, from noon to 4 p.m.
Sponsored by the Mill City Eagles in partnership with the Massachusetts Pirates, the camp is designed for players in grades 5-8. Both team’s players will be on hand to offer instruction, along with football coaches from Lowell High Greater Lowell and Lowell Catholic. Campers will get a free T-shirt and a BBQ following the camp.
For more information, contact [email protected] and [email protected].
Staff Report
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