Youth and High School Sports in Walpole, Massachusetts
Archive for June, 2010
Walpole 9s win first Ron Black Tourney
June 25, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
It’s only fitting the very first Ron Black Invitational Tournament, named after the long-time Little League coach who passed away earlier this year, would be won by a Walpole team.
Also fitting was how it was won, as Coach Brandon Lynch’s son, Joe, crossed home plate with the winning run, and then immediately leaped into his dad’s arms, yelling, “Happy Father’s Day, Dad!”
Making it an even better Father’s Day for Walpole Little League was the fact that Black’s son Jim, who played on one of Black’s many championship Oriole teams over the years, was on hand for the inaugural event, which was formerly the annual Walpole Little League Invitational.
“That was certainly a happy father’s day for me,” said Lynch, who actually played against Ron Black and Jim Black, who Lynch grew up with. “We always wanted to beat Ron Black’s team back then, it was always a special thing. But winning the first Ron Black Tournament was also pretty special.”<br …
Walpole softball teams off and running
June 25, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
How popular is Walpole softball these days?
So, popular that parents from towns where there is no program have been calling the organization and pleading with Walpole to let their girls in, which the program has done lately.
Thus far this year the league has been a smashing success once again, as 254 girls from Walpole and a couple of nearby towns had signed up to play spring ball, the second-highest total ever following the 272 that had participated in 2007.
The number is up from last year’s 229, quite impressive considering the continued growth and strength of the local girls’ lacrosse program.
The summer travel program also appears to be on firm footing, especially at the U12 and U14 levels.
The U14s include those remaining members of Cliff Richardson’s group from last year that stormed through tournaments across the state, some of which rose to varsity level in their first year of Coach Jim Duffy’s high school program.
The …
Car wash fundraiser for Farber June 26
June 25, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
For three years now, members of the Walpole High swim team and life guard staff at the town’s pools have been involved in raising money to support the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, one of the world’s leading oncological research as well as treatment centers.
For the last three years members of the varsity swim team have been taking part in the annual Swim Across America program as “Team Sue,” raising funds in the memory of Susan Szum, mother of former Rebels Caroline and Laura Szum, who succumbed to the disease last May.
“Team Sue” will once again be well represented in this year’s Swim Across America, which will take place on Saturday, July 17, at Nantasket Beach.
However, there is another fund raising effort in the more immediate future that bears looking into, as the life guard staff of the town pools will be behind the town hall and next to Blackburn Hall conducting a car wash this Saturday (June 26).
The car wash will begin at 10:00 in the morning and continue until 4:00 in the afternoon, and the …
Post 104 off to flying start
June 25, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
A shirt worn at Eldracher Field said it all.
In the front was emblazoned “American Legion” and on the back was just one word: “Redemption.”
The shirt referred to one of Massachusetts’ top programs missing the zone playoffs for the first time in years in 2009.
If Tuesday’s 8-2 win over Foxboro in the first week of play was any indication, however, then redemption is nigh for the Thomas H. Crowley Post, as it got off to a 4-1 start.
After breaking out with a 6-1 victory in the season opener over Medfield Post 110, the locals added an 8-3 win over Needham and a 13-5 shellacking of Dedham. The only setback was an 8-4 loss to Norfolk.
The nicest thing about the skein, in which the usually topflight Walpole defense and pitching was ever-present, is that there was also plenty of hitting.
More than once, the locals broke a game wide open with a huge one-inning outburst of …
World Cup fever hits Walpole
June 25, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
Though the contest is taking place literally half a world away and Americans have been famously apathetic toward the sport, Walpolians are nonetheless catching World Cup fever and local businesses are benefiting from soccer curiosity.
Raucous USA soccer fans and pockets of England supporters packed the British Beer Company for the anticipated USA vs. England match on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
“Ninety percent of the people here were here for the game,” said BBC bartender Scott Carrara minutes after the game when enough people cleared out to give him time to break for an interview.
People made it to the Rte. 1 pub on Friday for the three opening day soccer games, Carrara said, but bar workers were overwhelmed on Saturday at a time when it would normally be a “ghost town.”
“Today, they didn’t know what to expect,” he said on Saturday.
Like a doctor on call, Carrara wasn’t scheduled to work during the match but was brought in to help with swell of soccer customers.
The games are bringing in business …
Rivalries heat up in Village Fair Road Race
June 17, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
This is how rivalries are born.
Shortly after graduating from Westfield State College as one of their long distance running stars, former Walpole High Rebel Phil Gingras decided to return to the hometown and run in last year’s Village Fair Road Race.
Gingras ran a great race, winning it in fact, returning the Village Fair crown to the hands of the locals in the process.
It was no cakewalk, however, thanks to a 20-year-old from Medfield, the next town over.
While Gingras ran he was plagued all the way to the finish by Dan O’Connell, second overall in his first Village Fair.
This year the tables were turned, however. The start of the race was faster than usual, partly due to the Walpole police closing West Street down to Norfolk Street to all traffic so the race could get off unhitched, and possibly partly due to all the high school runners who Gingras feels …
Stedman enjoys All-American status
June 17, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
At Amherst College, where she just finished her sophomore year, she’s called Steds, but basketball fans back home in Walpole only know her as Steddy.
The nickname has always been perfect for Caroline Stedman, not just because of her name, but always the way she played her sports: nothing flashy, just always getting the job done.
After a freshman year in which she struggled to score and get playing time, Stedman returned to the courts on fire this past winter, and ended up having one of the best seasons in Amherst College history.
The great season was capped when Stedman was named a Division 3 All-American not only for her steady statistics on a nightly basis, but also for how she helped lead Amherst to the NCAA Final Four.
It’s no coincidence that Steddy’s best year ever was also Amherst’s best year ever, as the squad was unbeaten all season, right up until the season finale.
In the end, Steddy was a dominant player on …
Rebels, Hawley both second at heptathlon competition
June 17, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
The Walpole High girls’ track team had one last chance to flex its muscles in the postseason, and didn’t disappoint.
Gambling that there would be a much bigger payoff in the heptathlon, senior Captain Erica Hawley decided not to compete in the state meet although she qualified by finishing second in the high jump at the Class B meet the week before.
Instead, she wanted to complete her show of support for her other teammates, who wanted to make a statement in the team competition at last weekend’s heptathlon at Notre Dame of Hingham High.
What a statement it was. With University of Vermont-bound Hawley leading the charge, Walpole’s A team of Hawley and freshmen Nicole Brown and Maddy Shea finished ahead of everyone except Bay State Conference rival Weymouth, despite the fact it was a regional meet that included a number of large schools like Weymouth and Marshfield.
Walpole’s B squad of juniors Liz Jelloe and Brigette Lawton, along with sophomore Erin McCarthy, also …
Legion baseball preview: Post 104 prepares for pitched battle
June 17, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
Talk about the rich getting richer.
Already with a deep pitching staff that sparkled last times last summer in a rebuilding year, Post 104 has added two more aces, and is prepared once more to live on pitching and defense.
If Walpole adds any hitting, then it will be just gravy on the main course, and could give the locals a chance to recapture the glory days of a couple of years back when they went to the state championship tourney three out of four years.
While Zone 6 West is again formidable, and maybe even more so with the addition of two more teams, the Thomas H. Crowley Post should not be counted out of the championship race.
The locals got off to a great start last Friday when they polished off a hard-hitting club, 6-1, thanks to the two-hit gem turned in by newcomer Mike Dodakian.
If things fall together, it could be just one in a long lone …
Pitcher Dodakian starts season with two-hitter
June 17, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
The Thomas H. Crowley American Legion Post baseball team got its 2010 season off to a great start Friday, thanks to the play of three newcomers.
Those newcomers – a freshman slugger, sophomore infielder and newly graduated pitcher – accounted for five of he runs and a complete-game two-hitter as Post 104 shut down Post 110 Medfield, 6-1, in the season opener.
As it turned out the win was the only game played during opening week by the locals, since both Franklin and many of Westwood’s Xaverian players were still in the MIAA tourney, postponing two of the games, and Saturday’s game with Canton being rained out.
The Canton contest has been rescheduled to this Sunday (June 20) at 1:00, giving local fans a rare treat: as the 1:00 game will be followed by a 5:00 showdown with archrival Norwood.
If Friday’s game is any indication, however, people won’t be able to wait for the next game, and the next, and the next…
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BAYS Playoffs
From the Walpole Youth Soccer Association website:
BAYS Playoff Results
u12 Girls Walpole Tigers won 3-0 vs Norwood on Monday
next playoff game WED 6/16 6pm at Medfield Wheelock Fields
u14 Girls Walpole Cobras beat Marlboro on Sunday
u14 Girls Walpole Cobras beat Arlington 2-1 on Monday
next playoff game WED 6/16 6pm at Medfield Wheelock Field #5
Lacrosse: WHS repeat hopes dashed by Reading, 9-5
June 15, 2010
Read the entire article on the Wicked Local Walpole website:
The Reading Memorial High School boys’ lacrosse team waited a whole year for Tuesday night’s rematch against Walpole at RMHS, still stinging from an overtime loss last spring in which Rebels middy Leo Ajemian scored the game-winner, capping a comeback from a six-goal deficit.
That had a lot to do with the outcome o this year’s tourney showdown, which the Rockets won, 9-5, ending the Rebels’ dreams of repeating as Div. 2 state champions.
Also having a lot to do with it was the fact that the Rockets could do little wrong, either with their shots, or strategically.
Possibly the most physical game the Rebels experienced all year, came as a result of Reading putting long stick junior Larry Gilligan on Ryan Izzo the whole game, and a rugged, big defense pummeling Walpole’s Kyle Guilbert anytime he got near the ball or the net.
And Gilligan wasn’t an island in the field either, getting crossover help when he needed it and the Rockets playing …
