Only one team got the better of Old Rochester girls’ lacrosse during the regular season, with the Bulldogs heading into postseason play 19-1 as the sixth seed in all of Division 1 South. It was going to take an impressive team to knock the Bulldogs off, and that’s exactly what they ran into in the quarter finals of the MIAA Div. 1 South Sectional tournament, falling 14-3 to No. 2 Wellesley, the eventual South Sectional finals champs, who will also be contending for the state title in the finals matchup on June 23.
This run, where the Bulldogs went 2-1, was also the first time Old Rochester girls’ lacrosse competed at the Div. 1 level for the MIAA State Tournament. Old Rochester was able to knock off No. 11 Milton 15-6 and pull off the upset in a 14-13 nail-biter against No. 3 Duxbury.
“The second game against Duxbury was arguably our most complete game of the year,” Old Rochester coach Scott Tavares said. “Our ability to be ultra-competitive and be in every single draw. [Duxbury] did a nice job, but we were one step quicker, one catch better, and just controlled possession better than Duxbury.”
Hats off to Wellesley, said Tavares. “They were just the better team.”
And if anyone had told the Bulldogs prior to the season they would do this well in the postseason, even with the change in division, most players would not have believed the prediction.
“When I told them at the beginning of the season that we were going to compete at the Division 1 level, they were kind of taken aback a little bit by it,” said Tavares. “We’re playing against some pretty big-time schools in Division 1, numbers-wise and enrollment-wise. If you look at the chart, we’re the lowest enrollment of any Division 1 South school. There are 28 schools and we’re dead last.”
Despite being outgunned, the Bulldogs clearly displayed they will not be overmatched, regardless of what division they compete at.
A large portion of that is thanks to the star-power this team possessed, featuring five South Coast Conference All-Stars, making up over a third of the conference’s all-star roster (14).
The SCC coaches selected Madison Cooneyas the league MVP, while Megan Shay, Caroline Thomas,Mary Butler, and Katherine Tracywere all chosen as conference all-stars.
Old Rochester baseball had two players selected to the SCC all-star roster: pitcher/infielder Mike Kennefickand pitcher/first baseman Adam Breault. Old Rochester shortstop Jake Asiafand center fielder Chris LaBellewere SCC honorable mention.
Old Colony
Old Colony athletics finished off the spring season with 10 conference all-stars — two being league MVPs — across four sports.
Ian Vezinawas the Cougars’ lone representative on the Mayflower Athletics Conference Small Vocational All-Star team.
Elana Sargentwas elected the Mayflower Small girls’ lacrosse MVP. Old Colony also has three league all-stars: Baylee Amaral, Mya Medeiros, and Molly Lankeiwski.
Old Colony had two all-stars in softball: Makayla Murrayand Emily Littles. Murray finished the year with a .368/.543/.456 slash line and had 21 hits, 23 RBI, five doubles, and scored 27 times over 21 games. Littles had a .500/.563/.564 line and had 31 hits, 17 RBI, four doubles, and scored 16 runs in 19 games. She also took on most of the work on the mound for the Cougars, throwing in 110 out of a possible 124 innings this season. Little went 12-7 with a 4.20 ERA, striking out 154 (career high) while walking only 36.
Drew Sullivanwas Old Colony’s other league MVP, winning the honor in baseball. He hit .492 over 18 games and had a 1.237 OPS, both team highs. Sullivan also led the Cougars in hits (30), RBI (24), doubles (10), and was tied for the lead in triples (one). Matt Bumpusand Jacob Wordenwere also named Mayflower Small All-Stars. Bumpus posted a .344 average with a .900 OPS and scored a team high of 23 runs. Bumpus also finished second on the team in RBI (17), third in doubles (five), and tied Sullivan with one triple. Bumpus also had an impressive year on the mound, going 4-1 with a 2.66 ERA. He struck out 35 batters over 26 1/3 innings, logging a team 11.96 strikeouts per nine innings rate.
Worden was the Cougars’ horse on the mound, leading Old Colony in innings pitched (47 2/3), strikeouts (39) and wins (five), while only recording one loss and keeping his walk total in the single digits (nine). Worden hit .333 and had a .441 on-base percentage. He scored 14 times and knocked in 11 runs.
High School Sports Update
By Nick Friar