Hot off the heels of the regular season, Old Rochester Regional’s spring sports teams are diving head first into their MIAA state tournaments. While the lacrosse teams were both afforded Preliminary Round byes that delayed the start of their postseason campaigns, the baseball team as well as the boys’ and girls’ tennis teams kicked off their playoff runs with a bang.
Baseball was the first team to compete in the playoffs, as the 29th-seeded Bulldogs faced off against the 36th-ranked East Boston in the Preliminary Round on June 3. In the end, ORR pulled off the 3-2 win to advance to the Round of 32.
Lucas Mello pitched a complete-game, four-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Zach Matson went 2-for-3 at the plate, with the tying RBI in the fourth inning, followed by a big triple in the sixth after singles from Mello and Lucas McElroy.
The boys’ tennis team kicked off their tournament on June 5 against Grafton. The No. 16 ranked Bulldogs defeated Grafton 3-2 at home in their Round of 32 matchup, setting them up for a much tougher test in the sweet 16.
The girls, seeded 11th, followed up the next day, defeating the 22nd-ranked Hanover, 5-0, on Monday. Like the boys, they also face a big jump in competition as they head into the next round.
Unfortunately, Old Rochester’s perfect postseason run came to an end on Monday, as the baseball team fell 4-0 against the fourth-seeded Bishop Stang. With their season coming to an end, only four Old Rochester teams’ seasons are ongoing.
The boys’ tennis team went head-to-head at top-seeded Wayland on Wednesday. The girls traveled to Martha’s Vineyard on the same day to face the fourth seed.
The ninth-seeded girls’ lacrosse team, led by 200-goal-club member Maddie Wright, kicked off their tournament campaign on Tuesday when they hosted Dennis-Yarmouth in a Round of 32 matchup. The 16th-ranked boys, riding the momentum of an undefeated regular season, will host Pope Francis Prep of Springfield on Thursday, June 9.
Sports Roundup
By Matthew Curry