Oakmont Regional

Local roundup: North Middlesex cruises to victory

September 28, 2023 by pkzadmin

The North Middlesex Regional boys soccer team stormed to a 6-1 victory over Shepherd Hill Thursday afternoon in Townsend.

Tyler Jastrab had two goals and two assists for the Patriots, while Adeel Khan added a single goal and two helpers in the win. Colten Werlinger and Marlon Artuso also scored for North Middlesex, which took advantage of an own goal for the final tally.

Collin Harrington chipped in with an assist and Adam Ippolito earned the win in net.

Fitchburg 0, Lunenburg 0: Neither the Blue Knights (3-2-2) or the Red Raiders (2-4-2).

Bromfield 3, Oakmont 2: Gael Vera and Nate Hylan scored for Oakmont (7-1).

Leominster 4, Wachusett 0: Ajani Guzman netted a pair of goals for the Blue Devils, while Luis Angeles and Facundo Amaro had single markers.

Golf

North Middlesex 53.5, Fitchburg 0.5: Shawn Amari carded an even par 35 at Northern Spy Golf Club to lead the Patriots (4-3).

Westboro 202, Leominster 203: Luke Grebinar claimed medalist honors for Leominster (3-6, 0-6 Mid-Wach A) with a 1-over-par 36 at Gardner Municipal Golf Course.

Nashoba 201, Shrewsbury 221: The Wolves improve to 8-2 on the season.

Ayer-Shirley 42, Hudson 12: Tyler Crawford notched a hole in one on the seventh hole at Northern Spy Golf Club as the Panthers improved to 8-0. Tommy Bergin led the way with an even-par 35 in the win.

Shepherd Hill 28.5, Oakmont 25.5: The Spartans (3-6) were paced by a 3-over 39 from Max Doane.

Football notebook: Weird Week 1 had plenty to see

September 11, 2023 by pkzadmin

We’re one very unique week into the high school football season and we’ve seen all kinds of things on the gridiron, from highly competitive games to marathon contests delayed by weather and spread across multiple days.

Most area schools started their campaigns under Friday nights and ended their opening contests on another day altogether as thunderstorms rolled through the region. While that in and of itself is a major talking point, here are four other notes from Week 1 of the high school football season.

Beaulac’s big numbers

Fitchburg High got the area slate underway last Thursday and though the Red Raiders fell to North Middlesex Regional 42-7 at Crocker Field, FHS wasn’t completely void of highlights, one of which was the play of senior Lukas Beaulac.

And the season opener was less than a straightforward contest for Beaulac, who showed flashes of absolute brilliance under center late last season for the Red Raiders. Under pressure early and often, head coach Paul DiGeronimo and his staff made the decision to shuffle the backfield, moving Beaulac to a tailback spot and putting freshman Zacchaeus Collins at quarterback.

Already constantly scrambling under pressure from the Patriots, it didn’t seem like an awful idea. At least having the ball handed off to him with the proper run protection would give Beaulac a chance to scan the field in front of him while running. And it seemed to work.

On the night, Beaulac tallied 174 rushing yards on 20 touches and found the end zone for Fitchburg’s lone score. He broke a long run down the left sideline in the fourth quarter, toting the rock 79 yards on Fitchburg’s first play after a North Middlesex punt to break the shutout with nine minutes to go.

New year, same result at St. B’s

The path to an 11th straight winning season at St. Bernard’s got off to a great start Saturday on the road at Grafton High School as the Bernardians picked up a 22-13 win over Blackstone Valley Tech.

The pitch-and-catch duo of quarterback Salvi Bilotta and receiver Quinn Carlson was in the spotlight in the win, with the senior duo combining on a touchdown reception and a two-point conversion in a contest that saw the Bernardians lead 22-7 in the fourth quarter after trailing 7-6 at halftime.

Bilotta finished with 145 yards through the air, including 77 to Carlson. The senior wideout caught three balls, one of which was a 44-yard scoring strike.

Not to be outdone, Jarius Williams piled up 146 yards on 10 carries for the Bernardians, including a 74-yard touchdown scamper.

Lunenburg wins, new coach

The Lunenburg High football team took care of business at home in Casey McDonnell’s first game on the sideline for the Blue Knights, rolling to a 32-6 victory over Frontier on Saturday.

Hunter Mason stole the show for the Blue Knights, rushing for over 130 yards in the win while also passing for 115 and three touchdowns. Two of those scoring strikes found the hands of Rory Ferguson.

Lunenburg returns to action Saturday afternoon as the Blue Knights travel to Sutton.

Starts and stops

It’s not something that happens very often: nearly every team that kicked off a game Friday night didn’t complete the contest until some point over the weekend.

And even then, it wasn’t easy.

At Doyle Field, Leominster’s opener against St. John’s of Shrewsbury was delayed by lightning and bumped to Saturday evening with play set to resume late in the first quarter. When the game restarted, there was another brief delay due to possible lightning before things were completed 25 hours after the original kickoff.

Monty Tech had it even worse. It’s season-opening defeat at the hands of Narragansett Regional started Friday evening and ended Sunday afternoon.

Lunenburg, Oakmont Regional and Ayer-Shirley all completed games suspended Friday the following day.

Of the local teams, only Fitchburg, North Middlesex, Nashoba Regional and St. Bernard’s started and finished their contests on their scheduled days. Fitchburg and North Middlesex played Thursday night, while Nashoba snuck its game against Grafton in on Friday.

St. Bernard’s played its opener as scheduled on Saturday without a hitch.

Quarterback talent is deep this fall

September 3, 2023 by pkzadmin

In less than a week, the lights will shine brightly on area football fields and the 2023 season will have kicked off.

Practices have been ongoing for more than two weeks now and the local slate kicks off Thursday night as North Middlesex Regional visits Crocker Field to face host Fitchburg High School. Most other area schools get going the next evening, with St. Bernard’s wrapping up Week 1 with a contest on Saturday afternoon.

Here are four things to look for this high school football season.

New coach, familiar face

Paul DiGeronimo is no stranger to Fitchburg High athletics.

A longtime basketball coach at the school, DiGeronimo has spent a considerable amount of time on the sidelines as an assistant coach on the gridiron.

On Thursday, he’ll be making his debut as head coach of the Red Raiders,.

He inherits a team that went 4-7 under Greg Graham last season, finishing on a fairly strong stretch before dropping the finale on Thanksgiving to archrival Leominster. And it’s not a team that lacks talent; a new direction could likely do some good for a team that has some solid pieces on the roster.

Senior quarterback Lukas Beaulac showed the ability to air things out last fall and with some added experience, he could be dangerous under center for the Red Raiders. Senior backs Devanni Deleon and Elijah Gonzalez should also be able to carry some of the offensive load when the season gets going under the lights of Crocker Field Thursday night.

Season No. 2 for Lopez

Quarterback Osiris Lopez was nothing short of sensational in his freshman season at Leominster High. A smart thrower with a powerful arm and quick feet, Lopez was a revelation for the Blue Devils, who went 8-3 and earned a Division 2 playoff berth.

Of course, Lopez was aided by some serious offensive talent. Classmate Kaiden Drinkwater was a breakout receiving star, senior Bryan Aguilar was a solid target and the exploits of seniors Ricky Encarnacion and Ma’Kai Stinson Newton are well-documented.

Those offensive threats will all be absent this year, courtesy of graduation or transferring. And the offensive line was hit hard by graduation as well.

That’s not to say there won’t be any talent surrounding Lopez this season. Year in and year out, players step up for the Blue Devils. It will just be interesting to see how quickly things come together between a young and gifted quarterback and new targets and blockers around him.

Gunslinger at Oakmont

Oakmont Regional has its own talented returning quarterback in senior Sam Curtis.

The Spartan QB is coming off a strong junior season that saw his team hover around the .500 mark all season before finishing 5-6. But it’s safe to say Curtis and the Spartans went out on a high note and success has followed the Oakmont standout since the end of the football season.

Quarterback Sam Curtis is primed to have a big senior season at Oakmont Regional. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

Curtis capped his junior season on the gridiron by completing a 40-yard Hail Mary to Isaiah Smith in the end zone as time expired to top Lunenburg, 41-35, on Thanksgiving. The game saw the quarterback throw for 285 yards and four TDs.

His junior year success didn’t end there. Curtis was a key player on the Oakmont baseball team, which claimed the Division 3 crown at Polar Park in June.

Bernardians reload offense

Damien Jones and Antonio Mancini led the way for St. Bernard’s last fall, lifting the Bernardians to a shot at the Division 7 title. And while St. B’s came up short on the turf of Gillette Stadium in the title tilt, there’s no arguing that the duo played a large part in the Bernardians’ recording an 11-2 mark.

But the dynamic duo graduated in the spring and the weight of the St. B’s offense will fall on new shoulders. Luckily for the Bernardians, there are several offensive players returning with varsity experience as the team aims to return to Foxboro.

Quarterback Salvi Bilotta is back for his senior season, showing the ability to direct traffic and air the ball out when called upon in a run-heavy offense. And the Bernardians have a pair of talented runners back in Keegan Rose and Cole Blair.

The cupboard is never bare for St. Bernard’s; it’s simply restocked every fall.

Local notebook: Red Raiders putting in hard work

August 23, 2023 by pkzadmin

Soon, Crocker Field will be alive on Friday nights.

For now, the Fitchburg High football team will settle for being on Amiott Field.

The Red Raiders have been hard at work on Crocker’s satellite practice lot, kicking things off last Friday under new head coach Paul DiGeronimo and getting a handful of sessions under their belts in preparation for the upcoming season.

As coach and players get acclimated with one another, FHS is beginning to ramp things up in workouts.

“So far, so good. Things are going pretty well,” DiGeronimo said Tuesday evening. “We’ve got some pretty decent numbers. It’s been a lot of getting to know our players and know what we’ve got here.”

Fitchburg will soon shift over to the grass of Crocker Field, though the first game of the season at the hallowed venue doesn’t actually fall on a Friday night. The Red Raiders are scheduled to open the season on a Thursday evening, hosting North Middlesex Regional on Sept. 7.

For now, the focus is simply getting better with each session at Amiott.

“We’re capitalizing on the positives and working to correct the negatives,” DiGeronimo said. “The kids are putting in the work.”

The Red Raiders finished last season 4-7 under head coach Greg Graham. Fitchburg closed the season by winning four of its last six games, but fell in the Thanksgiving Day finale to archrival Leominster at Doyle Field.

Kickoff coming soon

While the Red Raiders are the first of the local high schools to get their gridiron season underway, it won’t take long for the other area teams to get a game in.

Within two days of North Middlesex and Fitchburg clashing, every other program in the Sentinel & Enterprise coverage area will have played.

Opening with a bang on Sept. 8 will be Leominster, which hosts St. John’s under the lights at Doyle Field. That same night, Monty Tech welcomes Narragansett to Bulldog Field, Oakmont Regional hosts Tyngsboro, Lunenburg plays host to Frontier and Ayer-Shirley welcomes Littleton. Nashoba Regional is on the road to open the season that night, visiting Grafton.

St. Bernard’s completes the local Week 1 slate on Sept. 9, visiting Blackstone Valley Tech.

Bernardians pick Mason for field hockey job

The St. Bernard’s field hockey program has a new head coach this fall.

Bernardians athletic director Ray Cosenza and the school’s administration took to Facebook recently to announce the hiring of Holly Mason to lead the team into the 2023 fall season.

Recent WPI grad Holly Mason has been named head coach of the St. Bernard's field hockey team. (Courtesy WPI Athletics) — Recent WPI grad Holly Mason has been named head coach of the St. Bernard’s field hockey team. (Courtesy WPI Athletics)

Mason, a native Plymouth, New Hampshire, is a recent graduate of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) where she was a member of the school’s field hockey program. While at WPI, Mason played under WPI head coach Kim Cosenza.

Mason is a 2019 graduate of Plymouth Regional High School in New Hampshire and replaces Olivia Arciprete who held the position for four years, taking the reins prior to the 2018 season.

St. Bernard’s first game of the season is scheduled for Sept. 6 on the road against Maynard High School.

Homecoming at SNHU for Shank

August 12, 2023 by pkzadmin

Chris Shank is returning home, in a sense.

If nothing else, the former Oakmont Regional baseball great is having another go of things in a very familiar place.

Southern New Hampshire University announced Friday that Shank will return to lead the baseball program next season. The Westminster native has extensive experience with the Penmen, having spent several seasons as an assistant and interim co-head coach in 2015, a season that saw the team go 31-14 and earn an NCAA Regional spot.

During Shanks time in Manchester, the Penmen put together a record of 257-142-2, reached the NCAA Regionals five times, captured NE10 Championships in 2014 and 2016, and earned a spot in the 2012 NCAA Division II College World Series.

The 1999 Oakmont grad step to the helm of a program that reigns as a three-time defending NCAA East Region champion.

“It is hard to articulate just how excited and happy my family and I are that I have been blessed with the opportunity to come home to SNHU as the head baseball coach,” Shank said in a release from the school. “My staff and I will work tirelessly to provide our student-athletes with the best wholistic experience possible. This is an opportunity that comes with great responsibility and one that I do not take lightly. We will strive and continue to pursue the level of excellence that has become a standard of SNHU baseball. I would like to thank (director of athletics) Anthony Fallacaro and the entire search committee for entrusting me to lead SNHU baseball into the future.”

After graduating from Oakmont, Shank was a standout at Franklin Pierce from 2000-02, setting or equaling career program records for wins (20), strikeouts (235), complete games (17) and innings pitched (243.2).

Shank was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland A’s and spent three years with the organization. Shank was a non-roster invite for Spring Training in both 2003 and 2004, and wrapped up his Minor League career with a 12-12 mark and a 3.81 ERA.

He followed that up by pitching three seasons for the the Worcester Tornadoes, going 9-6 with a 3.75 ERA, while also serving as pitching coach at WPI.

Shank began his coaching career at his alma mater, spending 2003-05 as an assistant with the Ravens.

He returns to SNHU after working as head coach for a pair of Division III schools, most recently at Eastern Nazarene College. In Shank’s four seasons at ENC, the Lions went 62-45-1, including pandemic shortened seasons in 2020 and 2021.

Prior to his time at ENC, Shank spent two seasons as the head coach at New England College, where he guided the Pilgrims to a record of 50-35 (.588).Jumping onto a seven-win team, Shank led the program to 24 wins in 2017 and 26 the following year.

Shank owns a record of 143-94-1 (.603) over his seven seasons as a head coach.

Oakmont’s title the highlight of the season

June 26, 2023 by pkzadmin

Summer is upon us, even if the heat and humidity of the dog days of the season have been delayed by rain and cooler temperatures.

As we wait for the long, hot days to get up to speed, it’s a great opportunity to look back at what was a fantastic spring season for several local high schools with multiple programs achieving the remarkable. Here are four things that stood out from the final season of the 2022-23 school year.

Oakmont reigns in Division 3

When talking about outstanding performances of the spring, it’s hard to top what the Oakmont Regional baseball team accomplished. The Spartans put together an amazing run through the Division 3 tournament, reaching the state final at Polar Park in Worcester on June 17.

Oakmont Regional's Ben Forbes gets a base hit during the Division 3 state title game against Medfield on June 16. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo) — Oakmont Regional’s Ben Forbes gets a base hit during the Division 3 state title game against Medfield on June 16. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

And when a flyball off the bat of Medfield’s Sebastian Lacruz Valiente made its way into the glove of Oakmont’s Isaiah Smith in left field to close the 12th inning, the fourth-seeded Spartans had capped a comeback victory over Division 3’s second seed to claim a 5-3 win and a state championship.

The Spartans finished the season raising the MIAA’s trophy at the home of the Worcester Red Sox, closing with a 23-3 record and myriad standout showings. Oakmont’s victory was truly a team effort, with every hitter in the lineup contributing during the postseason and the pitching trio of Caleb Allen, Jayden Downing and Ben Forbes allowing a combined five runs in five playoff games.

The championship victory was about as epic as they come. Down 3-1 after five innings, the Spartans plated single runs in each of the last two innings to force extras. Johnny Losordo and Forbes each plated runs to tie the game and the latter took over on the mound for six innings of shutout relief to keep the contest going.

The marathon came to its finish in the 12th as Forbes plated Allen with a sac fly and Downing brought in Smith on a squeeze to give Oakmont a two-run lead. And in the bottom of the inning, Forbes took care of business on the hill, working around a two-out single to nail down the win.

A fun group to be around all season, the Spartans had their moment in the spotlight on a huge stage, celebrating a victory for the ages.

What’s scary for anyone facing the Spartans next year is that the team could be just as good as it was this spring, with the potential to be even better now that it has some championship polish on it. In terms of frequent contributors, the team loses Downing, Smith and catcher Colby Gouldrup to graduation, but returns Allen — one of the most efficient pitchers in the state — to anchor the rotation, as well as Forbes, Sam Curtis, Ty Curtis and Levi Hessel — a sophomore DH this spring who rarely looked overwhelmed at the dish.

Leominster programs impress

Though no Blue Devils were able to bring home a title this spring, a trio of teams had excellent seasons and made postseason runs.

Leominster High’s baseball team earned the second seed in the Division 2 tournament after going 18-1 and claiming the CMADA Class A title. The Blue Devils’ run came to a close in the round of 16, however, as No. 15 Mansfield upset Leominster, 6-2.

The Blue Devils also excelled in girls lacrosse this spring, earning the fifth seed in the Division 2 tournament. Leominster finished 19-4 and falling in the quarterfinals to No. 4 East Longmeadow, 12-7.

Leominster's Kiley Cuddahy, left, and Gabriella Santucci celebrate a goal during Monday's win over Oliver Ames. (Sentinel & Enterprise / Gary Fournier) — Leominster’s Kiley Cuddahy, left, and Gabriella Santucci celebrate a goal during a playoff win over Oliver Ames. (Sentinel & Enterprise File Photo)

On the softball diamond, the Blue Devils took advantage of a tough regular season schedule to earn the 10th seed in the Division 2 tourney. Though Leominster had just an 8-10 record entering the postseason, the Blue Devils reached the round of 16 before falling to No. 7 Somerset-Berkley, 6-5.

Volleyball resurgence

Boys volleyball had a moment in the sun this spring, with a trio of local teams posting outstanding records and sharing the Mid-Wach crown.

Leominster (18-4) earned the 10th seed in the Division 2 tournament, while Fitchburg (18-3) was No. 16 in tournament, with each team winning a contest before bowing out. Those programs tied with North Middlesex Regional (14-4) for the Mid-Wach title.

The Patriots went into the Division 1 tournament as the 20th seed, falling in the round of 32.

Huge milestone for Reid

Monty Tech softball coach David Reid has showcased two things in his time at the helm of the Bulldogs: longevity and consistency.

The team’s coach for the last 50 years, Reid notched win No. 700 on May 19 when his Bulldogs bested North Middlesex Regional, 12-1. The Bulldogs wrapped up the season with a loss in the Division 3 tournament first round, falling to Apponequet Regional, 6-1, on June 5.

For his career, Reid now has a 701-346-1 record.