Westford Academy’s Jack Graffeo, shown cooling down after a cross country race last fall, won the mile at the MSTCA Lou Tozzi Freshman-Sophomore Meet in Middleboro. (Julia Malakie/Lowell Sun)
Jack Graffeo could have run faster.
But the Westford Academy sophomore had to settle for being the first-place boys runner in the mile at the MSTCA Lou Tozzi Freshman-Sophomore Meet in Middleboro on Friday.
Graffeo comfortably won the race in 4:28.95. That’s the ninth-fastest time this spring in Massachusetts. He has run a personal-best 4:19, but he wasn’t pushed Friday.
“It felt really easy,” Graffeo told the Boston Herald. “Mentally it was hard to push myself past how fast I was going. I felt relaxed but a little disappointed at the time. But it is what it is. There’s next time.”
Crusaders split: The Groton-Dunstable girls defeated Quabbin, 77-62, while the boys fell 75-70 to Quabbin during a road meet. Both Crusader teams are now 2-1.
Machado shines: The Lowell girls posted three first-place finishes, while also scoring seven other medalists at the MVC Freshman-Sophomore Invitational in Tewksbury.
Freshman Ella Machado led the charge, winning the mile in a personal-best time of 5:29.4. Sophomore Samantha Bartlett won the triple jump by over two feet with a personal-best jump of 33-4.25. The third event winner was sophomore Hannah Laderoute in the discus by throwing 100-4.
Laderoute was also second in the javelin, throwing 80-7. Sophomore Tutu Johnson placed third in the long jump and classmate Shannon Dunn was third in the discus. The 4×400 team of Machado, Sabrina Cady, Madina Wasaidy and Alex Sotirakos also took third.
Softball
Haverhill 5, Chelmsford 3: The Lions dropped the MVC encounter despite a 2-for-2, walk and run scored performance from right fielder Didi Snider. Jenna Nigro broke up Haverhill’s shutout bid with a solo home run.
North Andover 9, Lowell 0: The Red Raiders allowed two runs in the bottom of the first and then six runs in the third as they dropped the MVC meeting.
Bishop Guertin 17, Trinity West 1: The Cardinals came out swinging, scoring three runs in the first. Sophomore Kennedy FitzSimons smashed a double, while junior Giavanna Bellino ripped a triple in the rally. Senior pitcher Bailey Doyle tossed a complete-game two-hitter, with a walk and 13 strikeouts.
Bow 4, Pelham 0: Shortstop Brooke Slaton singled and played great for Pelham (4-6).
Pythons pitcher Caileigh Aguiar tossed a complete game, yielding two earned runs and fanning five. She was backed by great defensive work from catcher Rylie Beisang and first baseman Shaelyn Hinton. The pair combined for 13 putouts. Third baseman Morgan Berton was also sharp.
Methuen 7, Tewksbury 4: The Redmen fell at home in an MVC thriller which went eight innings. In the pivotal extra inning, Methuen sophomore catcher Ella Hayes launched a two-run homer run.
Baseball
Tyngsboro 5, Lunenburg 1: Adam Dorant and Andrew Duarte combined to scatter eight hits in the Mid-Wach victory.
Center fielder Gavin Hehir went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while first baseman Ryan Wall went 1-for-1 with two RBI for the Tigers. Dorant went 4.2 innings and Duarte pitched the final 2.1 innings.
St John’s Prep 5, Billerica 2: Billerica’s six-game winning streak was snapped following a five-run fifth-inning rally.
The Indians were paced by the big bat of Nolan Dawson (three hits), and a pair of doubles from Gus O’Gara and Austin Brune, giving Billerica the 2-0 lead before St. John’s Prep staged its comeback.
Littleton 3, Quabbin 0: Ryan Graf struck out 11 and allowed just two hits as the Tigers rolled at home.
Offensively, Littleton (4-7) was paced by Andrew Milner and Paul Doyle, who both 2-for-3 with an RBI to keep Quabbin winless.
Bromfield 4, Ayer-Shirley 3: The Panthers allowed four runs over the final three innings, including two in the bottom of the seventh, in taking the loss in Harvard. Ayer-Shirley received a 3-for-3 effort from Cam Marshall, who scored twice.
Tewksbury 11, No. Andover 5: Junior pitcher Billy Burris tossed an outstanding game and the Redmen romped to the five-inning MVC victory. Burris was backed by terrific defense.
Andover 2, Chelmsford 1: Two days after Chelmsford edged Central Catholic by a run, the Lions were on the other side of a MVC nail-biter as host Andover earned a walkoff victory in the bottom of the eighth.
Andover played the tying run with two outs in the seventh. Matt Stuart pitched excellent (7 innings, 4 K’s, 2 hits, 1 unearned run) for the Lions. Nate Michaud delivered two hits.
Nashoba Tech 15, Parker Charter 2: Shaun Barrett was brilliant through five frames, throwing a no-hitter in a mercy rule victory for the Vikings.
Nashoba Tech plated seven runs in the third, sparked by multi-hit efforts from Andrew Ferriera (3-for-3) and Cole Currier. Meanwhile, Barrett stayed sharp, surrendering two unearned runs, while striking out nine.
Londonderry 3, Bishop Guerin 2: Sam Franco pitched well for the Cardinals, allowing two earned runs off three hits. BG was led offensively by Dominic Monico (2-for-3, double, RBI) and Ryan Haskell (double, run).
Wakefield 8, Wilmington 2: Catcher Mike Monteforte went 1-for-3 with a double, scored a run and drove in a run in the Wildcats’ Middlesex League loss. Left fielder Austin Harper also drove in a run. Aydan Balter took the loss, but struck out nine in six innings.
Bow 4, Pelham 3: Despite several solid hitting performances, the Pythons were edged in NHIAA play. Going 2-for-4 for Pelham were Matt Todino (double, 2 steals), Nick Muise (RBI) and Derek Muise (RBI).
Volleyball
Lowell 3, Central Catholic 0: The Red Raiders (12-0) remained perfect with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-19 win.
Setter Tyrel Lout shined in dishing out 36 assists. Cody Fitzpatrick registered 14 kills and two blocks. Ayden Roum added nine kills. Senior Ed Djatcha delivered seven kills and three blocks. For Central (2-11), Michael Nguyen scored a team-high 12 service points and 18 assists. Connor MacDougall had seven kills.
Girls lacrosse
Notre Dame (H) 16, Central 6: Central Catholic was defeated by one of the state’s top teams. Kerri Finneran led the way with three goals, while Abby Yfantopulos and Nicolette Licare added one each.
Nashoba Tech 6, Mystic Valley 1: Junior Cassidy Bilawchuk netted the hat trick for Nashoba Tech (6-1).
Freshman Paige Dube delivered scoring three goals and added an assist. Fellow freshmen Delaney Auger and Alanna Aiden also produced with each earning a goal and a helper. Sophomore goaltender Amber King made 10 saves in the victory.
Haverhill 17, Tewksbury 5: Despite an outstanding performance from Jamie Constantino, the Redmen fell in MVC play. Constantino netted all five of her teams’ goals.
Hopkinton 21, Pelham 13: Taylor Galgay scored seven goals for Pelham (4-4), which trailed 13-6 at halftime.
The Pythons were bolstered by a two-goal effort from Kate Burke. Hannah Deschene, Sophia Joncas, Katherine Carroll and Ella DeSimone also scored for Pelham. Goalie Addie Breault made 12 saves.
Billerica 17, Lowell 1: Sara MacLeod netted four goals for Billerica (4-4, 5-7 overall). The Indians were paced by two-goal games from Giovanna Gulinello, Audrey Toce and Kendra Marino, building a 10-0 lead at halftime.
Delaney Burns and Cassandra Gallagher each collected a goal and an assist. Kaylie Govoni, Molly Murphy, Grace Leyne, Cora Lankowski, Haleigh Cyrus, Mia Barros, rounded out the scoring, with Sophia Jannoni also picking up a pair of helpers.
Chelmsford 15, Andover 9: The Lions remained perfect in the MVC behind the play of Jill Martin, who had five goals, an assist and six draw controls. Taija Bell was immense with three goals, an assist and eight draw controls.
Also starring for CHS (8-3, 8-0 MVC) were Juliana Lanzillo (3 goals) and Ameila Kelley (2 goals).
Boys lacrosse
Haverhill 18, Tewksbury 6: Despite two-goal performances from Mikey Connors and Lincoln Crane, the Redmen were bested in MVC action. Adding a goal each for Tewksbury were Sean Callahan and Mario Simione.
Tyngsboro 8, Lunenburg 5: Freshman goalie Nicholas Palumbo was outstanding in making 17 saves for the winning Tigers. Junior Jack Michaud netted two goals and two assists, while senior Luke McHugh had two goals and one assist.
North Andover 15, Central 6: Sean Gray tallied two goals and an assist, but the Raiders fell to their MVC rival.
Boys tennis
Tyngsboro 3, Lowell Catholic 2: The Tigers won all three singles matches to edge the Crusaders. At singles, Trey Hartigan topped Jacob Thellen, 6-1, 6-2, Arjun Jatain topped Adam DiCioccio, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, and Sudar Meyyappan bested Andrew Van Opstal, 6-3, 6-0.
In doubles, Lowell Catholic’s teams of Carter Vercauteren/Zach Baron (2-6, 6-4, 6-1 over Jamie Porter/Bari Atiq) and Ben Porier/Connor Rielly (7-5, 6-4 over Gabe Pinto/Ryan Kamanski were winners.
Chelmsford 5, Tewksbury 0: The Lions, winners of six straight, continued their MVC dominance by blanking Tewksbury.
Central 5, Methuen 0: Central Catholic rolled to the MVC win behind singles wins from Arnav Lele (6-0, 6-0), Jack Makiej (6-2, 7-5) and Anthony Kim (5-7, 6-2, 10-8). Doubles winners for Central (6-4) were Michael Hamlin/Luca Beltrandi (6-0, 6-1) and Jack Pelletier/Riley Raynor (6-1, 6-1).
Bishop Guertin 9, Alvirne 0: Nick Xie led a BG sweep at first singles, defeating Sam Hergenhan 8-2.
Will Moynihan topped Aiden Hughes 8-2. Sean Cairns contained Calem Lambert 8-4. Aditya Prasad prevailed over Zach Proulx8-4. Sean Finnegan fought off Joey Allison 8-3. Vince Lazzari completed the singles sweep, dropping Dylan Burke 8-6.
In doubles, Moynihan/Cairns knocked off Hergenhan/Suprenant 8-5. Xie/Lazzari beat Lambert/Proulx 8-2, while Prasad/Finnegan sealed the sweep, defeating Wood/Figuerdo 8-2.
Girls tennis
Central Catholic 5, Lowell 0: Central ran the table against Lowell (2-8, 1-8 MVC).
Lowell singles players Pasunny Loeum, Siya Patel and Bella Meas were all stopped 6-0, 6-0. First doubles team Audrey Djatcha and Erin Nji fell 6-1, 6-2, while second doubles unit Natalie Sandler and Sophia Gikas were stymied 6-1, 6-0.
Alvirne 6, Bishop Guertin 3: The Broncos (6-3) won its fourth straight match in topping Bishop Guertin.
Alvirne’s Natalie McSweeney (8-0), Avery Baker (8-4), Emma Cappi (8-4) and Marissa Murphy (8-6) all earned singles decisions. BG counted with Jasmine Shattuck (8-5) and Lydia Miller (8-5). Alvirne’s first doubles of McSweeney/Baker bumped off Shattuck/Gabby Olssah (8-6), while Legg/Coppi stopped Sophia Sears/Jill Scanlon (8-5). BG’s Jaclyn Kriscivnas/Lydia Miller bested Murphy/Liz Rugg 8-5.
Pelham 5, Conant 4: Singles wins from Corrine Kelly (8-4), Rosie Day (8-2) and Olivia Squillante (8-6) lift the Pythons (6-4) to a tough win. Doubles wins came from Kathryn Haley/Day (8-1) and Sarah Bellahrossi/Squillante (8-3).
