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North Middlesex

Local roundup: Blue Devils avenge loss to Titans

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The Leominster High baseball team avenged its lone loss this season, topping Algonquin Regional, 10-4, Friday afternoon in Northboro.

Leominster broke open a 1-all game in the second, putting up six runs in the top half of the inning.

With the win, the Blue Devils improve to 15-1 and return to action on Tuesday with a CMADA Class A quarterfinal against Doherty at Doyle Field at 4 p.m.

St. Paul 10, St. Bernard’s 0: The loss drops the Bernardians to 4-12.

Oakmont 3, Foxboro 2: Caleb Allen had a two-run single in the seventh to lift the Spartans (14-2) to a win on the road.

Groton-Dunstable 3, Fitchburg 2: Albert Ascenio and Steven Escano each went 2-for-4 and Nyle Sim drove in a run for the Red Raiders in defeat.

Boys lacrosse

St. Bernard’s 12, Leominster 6: Josh Hoecker had six goals and an assist as the Bernardians (9-7) clinched a postseason berth. Chase Courtemanche added five goals and a helper.

Michael Halstead potted three goals and had an assist for Leominster (5-11), while Dom Carr had two goals and two helpers.

Girls lacrosse

Leominster 11, Shrewsbury 8: The victory at Doyle Field lifts the Blue Devils to 14-3.

Softball

Monty Tech 12, North Middlesex 1: Alyssa Rabb picked up the win, going four innings and giving up one unearned run on three hits, striking out a pair. Elaina Sarsfield pitched the last three innings and gave up one hit, struck out two and walked one for the Bulldogs (15-3).

Danielle Belliveau had three hits, including a double, and drove in three. Jessica Mueller (double) and Jordan Higbee each had two hits and Haley Fleming and Jordin Sawyer each had a home run.

Monty Tech plays Oakmont at home on Monday in the first game of the Central Mass Division B Tournament. Game time is 4:00 pm.

Boys tennis

Algonquin 5, Leominster 0: Sam Ward and Carter Moge battled in second doubles for the Blue Devils, but fell to Susmith Divi and Shivnath Shankar, 3-6, 6-1, 10-2, in a CMADA Class A quarterfinal.

Nashoba 3, Grafton 2: Victor Xu, Jesse Gjeltema and Tyler Brown swept the singles matches as the Wolves (12-4) won a CMADA Class A quarterfinal.

Girls tennis

Algonquin 4, Nashoba 1: JJ Bravo was victorious in third singles action as the Wolves fell in a CMADA Class A quarterfinal.

Volleyball

North Middlesex 3, Algonquin 1: The Patriots advance to the semifinals of the CMADA Class A tournament.

Lacrosse, tennis CMADA pairings announced

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Several local high schools will take part in the upcoming Central Mass. Athletic Directors Association lacrosse and tennis tournaments in the build toward their respective state tourneys.

The boys lacrosse pairings saw Nashoba Regional (10-4)  draw the fourth seed and the Wolves will host a quarterfinal against No. 5 Tantasqua Regional (13-2) Tuesday at 6 p.m. In the same bracket, No. 6 North Middlesex Regional (9-5) will travel to No. 3 Groton-Dunstable (12-2) Tuesday at 4 p.m.

In the boys Class B tournament, No. 6 Lunenburg (8-7) will face third-seeded AMSA (10-4) Monday at 3:30 p.m., while No. 7 Oakmont Regional (1-11) hits the road to square off with second-seeded Littleton (11-3) with a time and date yet to be announced.

In the girls Class A tournament, Leominster (12-2) is the third seed and will host No. 6 Westboro (5-8) with a date and time to be determined. Nashoba (8-7) is seeded seventh and will travel to No. 2 Shrewsbury (13-2) on Wednesday, with a time to be announced.

Lunenburg (10-6) is the Class B fifth seed and will head to No. 4 Notre Dame Academy (12-3) Monday at 3:45 p.m., while Oakmont (6-6) is seeded seventh and will face No. 2 Nipmuc Regional (12-3) Tuesday at 4 p.m.

In boys tennis, Nashoba (11-4) is the Class A third seed and will host South (7-4) Monday at 3:45 p.m. Leominster (1-10) is seeded seventh and faces No. 2 Algonquin Regional (9-7) on Friday at 4 p.m.

Nashoba (9-7) is the fifth seed in the girls tennis Class A pairings, drawing a matchup with No. 4 Algonquin (7-6) Friday at 4 p.m. Leominster (10-6) claims the sixth seed and will face No. 3 Wachusett Regional (10-6) Thursday at 4 p.m.

Local roundup: Blue Devils walk off with win at Doyle

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The Leominster High baseball team stayed unbeaten on Wednesday, topping Westboro, 3-2, in a walk-off win at Doyle Field.

Jake Richard’s sac fly in the seventh scored Jared Viola to lift the Blue Devils to 7-0. Richard drove in two runs on the day.

Ryan Garner picked up the win, throwing a strong inning of relief, not allowing a hit and striking out a pair.

Nick Massa was 1-for-3 with an RBI and Reece Lora went 2-for-2 with a double in the win.

Nashoba 5, Groton-Dunstable 3: Andrew Malkowski and Niklas Pavia each scored twice and Chase Barrett and Jax Christman each drove in a run in the victory.

Marlboro 2, North Middlesex 1: Ashton Donia went 2-for-3 for the Patriots (2-5).

Softball

Monty Tech 9, Oakmont 6: Alyssa Rabb allowed two earned runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking four, while helping her own cause with two hits, including a double, and driving in a pair.

Jessica Mueller and Bridget Divoll each added two hits and scored twice for the Bulldogs (7-1), whileNicole Fluet chipped in with an RBI.

Olivia Souers and Amanda Butzkiwwicz each had two hits and two RBI for the Spartans.

Boys tennis

Nashoba 5, Shepherd Hill 0: Jesse Gjeltema, Victor Xu and Philip Baykov took care of business in the singles matches for Nashoba (6-1), while Leo Lima and Tyler Brown won in first doubles and Eliáŝ Skála-Rosenbaum and Brian Quill-Schuffels were second doubles winners.

Girls tennis

Nashoba 3, Shepherd Hill 2: Davita Honig, Maryam Mulyono and J.J. Bravo swept the singles matches for the Wolves (4-4).

College softball

Fitchburg State split a non-conference twin bill with Rivier University at the Donna Lee Withington Softball Field, dropping the opener 7-1 before registering a 6-4 triumph in the nightcap.

Julia Gauvin and the Fitchburg State softball team split a doubleheader with Rivier on Wednesday. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)
Julia Gauvin and the Fitchburg State softball team split a doubleheader with Rivier on Wednesday. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)

In the opener, Fitchburg State opened the scoring in the bottom of the first as senior Madison Mantegani singled, moved to second and third on a fielder’s choice and flyout before sophomore Julia Gauvin drove in Mantegani with a sacrifice fly to left for the 1-0 edge.

Rivier responded with the next seven runs, including six driven in by Kyleigh Guerette, who notched a grand slam and solo home run, as well as an RBI single. two doubles

Freshman Madison Solt allowed one hit in one inning of relief in a no-decision for Fitchburg State.

Trailing 1-0 in the second game, the Falcons got one the board in the bottom of the first as Dana Cisowski singled and moved to second on a base knock from senior Molly Grass before Gauvin laced an RBI double to left center, while sophomores Isabella Sousa and Kiara Bigeau added RBI hits for a 3-1 margin.

The Falcons upped the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Sydney Gabay walked and pinch runner Lauren Kirkconnell moved to second on single from Mantegani, while Grass followed with a two-run single to right.

The Green and Gold pushed across another run in the following stanza with Bigeau singling to third and crossing the plate on a throwing miscue to make the score 6-1

Grass paced the Falcons (12-21, 4-6 MASCAC) going 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI, while  Bigeau went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Mary Kate Moreau notched the win for Fitchburg State, yielding four runs on 10 hits and one strikeout in the complete-game effort

College baseball

Fitchburg State sophomore pitcher Joseph Hartnett has been selected to the D3 Baseball Team of the Week.

The second-year Falcon collected his second honor of the week after posting an ERA of zero with 16 strikeouts, while allowing just two hits over 8.1 innings of work in a pair of appearances for Fitchburg State.

Hartnett gave up no hits and notched six strikeouts in three innings of work in a no-decision in an 11-9 triumph over Worcester State last Tuesday, while yielding just two hits with 10 Ks in five innings pitched as the Falcons notched a 2-0 victory over Bridgewater State on Saturday.

Local roundup: Belliveau, Bulldogs cruise to win

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The Monty Tech softball team cruised to a 20-5 victory over Worcester Tech Monday to remain unbeaten on the young season.

Danielle Belliveau, pitching her first varsity game, picked up the win. She went five innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on six hits, striking out 10 and walking two.

Offensively, Jessica Mueller was 3-for-3 with three RBI and scored two runs, while Belliveau was 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Jordin Higbee was 3-for-4 with a pair driven in and scored twice and Blood was 1-for-2 with three RBI and two runs.

Halie Fleming and Nicole Fluet each crossed the plate three times in the victory.

Fitchburg 12, Murdock 0: Anna Soini was brilliant in the circle, tossing a no-hitter while the Red Raiders racked up 14 hits of their own.

Anna Soini, Ina Soini, MacKenzie Roy, Olivia Wentworth, and Maggie Bourgeois each collected multiple hits for Fitchburg.

Doherty 2, Leominster 1: Abby Barnaby had a pair of hits for Leominster (1-1).

Baseball

Tyngsboro 3, North Middlesex 2: Mason Livezey drove in a run for the Patriots, while Colin Lake went 2-for-4 and scored a run in defeat.

Boys volleyball

Leominster 3, Fitchburg 1: The Blue Devils (4-0) won by scores of 21-25, 25-19, 25-15 and 25-16.

Andy Troung had 31 assists and 10 service points in the win, while Daniel Caetano had 21 kills, 12 service points and eight digs. Quinn Maher-Killelea played well off the bench with three key blocks for the Blue Devils.

South Lancaster 3, Ayer-Shirley 0: Set scores were 25-14, 26-24 and 25-21.:

Junior outside hitter Miles Pyatt had eight kills, a block and an ace for the Panthers (0-3), while junior right side and setter David Batchelor had seven assists, five kills and two blocks.

Boys tennis

Nashoba 4, Groton-Dunstable 1: Jesse Gjeltema, Victor Xu and Philip Baykov swept the singles matches for the Wolves (2-1). Leo Lima and Elias Skala-Rosenbaum added a win in second doubles.

Girls tennis

Leominster 3, Quabbin 2: Arielle Kouadio and Kaitlyn Perrault picked up singles wins and the first doubles tandem of Gina Iacoboni and Victoria Miele was also victorious as the Blue Devils improved to 3-1.

Groton-Dunstable 3, Nashoba 2: The Wolves (2-2) swept the doubles matches with Bella Cosentino and Grace Hanley winning in first doubles and Allie Lynch and Audrey Russell taking the second match.

Local notebook: Blue Knight girls repeat as champs

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The Lunenburg High School girls cross country ran it back Sunday at the Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

For the second straight year, the Blue Knights sprinted to a Division 3B title, qualifying for the Meet of Champions on Saturday in Devens in the process. Lunenburg closed the day with 80 points, finishing ahead of Hampshire (91), Frontier (92) and Littleton 93 to take the title.

Abby Rodriquenz led the way for the Blue Knights, finishing seventh in 21:39.43. Lunenburg placed two other runners in the top 11, with Lauren Long (21:53.61) taking ninth and Iliana Thomas (22:08.37) claiming 11th.

The Blue Knight boys also had a solid day, qualifying for the Meet of Champions by finishing sixth as a team with 180 points. Uxbridge took the boys 3B title with 67 points.

Connor Martin (18:32.05) paced Lunenburg, finishing 13th, while Tyler Fortier (18:36.31) was 14th and Vince Dellasanta (18:42.93) was 16th.

Nashoba Regional's Adam Balewicz won this weekend's Division 2A cross country race. (Courtesy Nashoba Regional Athletics)
Nashoba Regional’s Adam Balewicz won this weekend’s Division 2A cross country race. (Courtesy Nashoba Regional Athletics)

Nashoba Regional’s runners had strong showings at the 2A meet, with the Wolves’ winning the boys race in 15:25.98 to lead Nashoba to an 11th-place showing with 264 points. The 2A crown was taken by Burlingtom (71).

Nashoba’s girls finished third with 91 points, behind Amherst-Pelham (79) and Northampton (86).

Caroline Collins took second for the Wolves in 18:56.11, while Ella Rogers was sixth in 19:26.47. Jillian Valentino (20:23.63) was 18th.

Also in the 2A race, Leominster sophomore Anna Serafini finished 19th with a time of 20:27.47.

At the Division 2B meet, North Middlesex Regional’s boys finished 23rd with 543 points, while Groton-Dunstable (94) claimed the title. Alexander Murray (17:49.99) led the Patriots with a 39th-place showing..

North Middlesex’s Caitlin Kimball (21:05.31) was 33rd in the girls race.

In the Division 3A girls race, Oakmont Regional took sixth with 202 points, while Weston took the title with 38. The Spartans were led by Katherine Horgan (22:35.08), who finished 20th, while McKinley Chabot (23:38.94) was 36th and Hannah Groncki (23:43.47) was 37th.

Oakmont’s boys took 11th with 271 points, far behind first-place Weston (74).

Jayden Brostrom was 18th for the Spartans in 18:26.65 and Kamden Law (18:57.25) took 35th.

In Division 3C, Ayer Shirley’s girls took sixth (184) in a meet won by Lenox Memorial (74). Carolyn Mason claimed 10th overall for the Panthers, finishing in 21:53.70.

Ayer Shirley’s boys were eighth with 258 as Lenox Memorial completed the 3C sweep with 46 points. Jake Leone (18:38.26) paced the Panthers with a 23rd-place showing.

Macchioni shines again

Fitchburg State freshman goaltender Max Macchioni was named both Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Ice Hockey Rookie of the Week and Goaltender of the Week on Monday.

Fitchburg State's Max Macchioni was named both MASCAC Rookie and Goalie of the Week on Monday. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)
Fitchburg State’s Max Macchioni was named both MASCAC Rookie and Goalie of the Week on Monday. (Courtesy Fitchburg State Athletics)

The first-year goaltender earns his second and third weekly accolades on the year after posting 59 saves with a 2.40 goals against average and a .922 save percentage in a 1-0-1 week for the Green and Gold.

Macchioni made 31 saves in a 7-2 triumph over Salem State on Thursday before adding 28 stops in a 3-3, overtime draw with Framingham State on Saturday.

Fitchburg State (2-1-1, 1-1-1 MASCAC) returns to action on Thursday as it travels to UMass Dartmouth for a MASCAC tilt at 7:30 p.m.

Spent shell casings found at North Middlesex

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TOWNSEND — Spent shell casings were found in a bathroom at North Middlesex Regional High School on Tuesday, prompting a sweep of the school.

A staff member found two casings from a small caliber handgun while cleaning the boys locker room adjacent to the gymnasium at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to a press release from North Middlesex Regional School District Superintendent Brad Morgan and Townsend Police Chief James Sartell.

The release states the staff member immediately informed Principal Tim McMahon. He called the police, who took custody of the shell casings and contacted the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council School Threat Assessment and Response System team.

Students were not in school Tuesday due to Election Day. Only staff were in the building for professional development, and scheduled sports practices were canceled.

Police and school administration continue to investigate how the casings got into the school .

“Students were not in the building on Tuesday, and I want to assure parents and community members that the school will be thoroughly searched before students return on Wednesday,” Morgan said. “The safety of our students and staff is our top priority, and we are taking all precautions to ensure there is no threat at the school.”

That search will involve school administration, Townsend Police and representatives of the NEMLEC STARS team, according to the release. As a precautionary measure, Townsend Police will also have an additional presence at the school on Wednesday, to help keep students and staff at ease.