Two new football coaches and a game-saving catch among Thursday’s nine high sports takeaways

Thursday marked the first day of the spring in which every sport was playing postseason games on the same day, with some 130-odd playoff games across Massachusetts.

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It also marked the first day of the track state championships, with Divisions 3, 4, and 6 competing in eight events before resuming Saturday, when team champions will be crowned. Globe Schools correspondent Matty Wasserman broke down the individual state titles.

As we enter a two-week mad dash to state championship weekend June 10-13, peruse our full boys’ lacrosse and boys’ volleyball playoff previews.

Find all of Thursday’s playoff scores and recaps on our scoreboard. Looking for a certain game? Try our sport-specific scoreboards: Baseball | Softball | Boys’ lacrosse | Girls’ lacrosse | Boys’ volleyball | Boys’ tennis | Girls’ tennis

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▪ Mike Shanley’s first goal in Pembroke’s 7-2 boys’ lacrosse win over Nashoba gave the senior 100 career points, and he added to that total with two more tallies.

▪ Stoneham junior Theresa Marshall recorded her 100th career goal during a 10-8 girls’ lacrosse win over Pentucket in the Division 4 first round.

The highest seed to falter Thursday was No. 14 Bellingham boys’ volleyball, a 3-1 victim of No. 19 Dracut in the Division 2 bracket. Sean Kabongo (18 kills) and Ryan Kusa (15 kills) powered the Middies’ first-round victory. In Division 1 boys’ volleyball, No. 15 Westford was taken down by No. 18 Arlington, 3-1, in the first round, led by middles Noah Jepson (10 kills, six blocks) and Brady Cheevers (six kills, five blocks).

The biggest gap between seeds belonged to Malden baseball, No. 37 in Division 1, which defeated No. 28 Durfee, 3-2, with a final play you’ll want to check out in the next section. Also in D1, No. 33 Methuen blanked No. 32 Belmont, 4-0.

In the Division 3 softball bracket, No. 30 Oakmont was upset by No. 35 Latin Academy, which rode a five-hit shutout from freshman righthander Camryn Collier into the first round. In Division 5, No. 34 Mahar sent No. 31 Lee packing with a 14-7 preliminary-round win on the back of a 14-strikeout performance from Lexi Ares.

In girls’ tennis, No. 16 Hopkinton was bounced, 3-2, by No. 17 Newton North from the Division 1 bracket, but that barely constitutes an upset.

Durfee was smelling blood. Trailing, 3-2, the Hilltoppers had two runners on with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning of a Division 1 preliminary-round matchup with Malden.

Enter TJ Lynch.

The Golden Tornadoes’ senior right fielder ranged to his right for a remarkable diving catch to keep Malden’s season going.

Senior Alexander Santiago launched a leadoff homer for Methuen baseball in a 4-0 Division 1 preliminary-round win over Belmont, junior Gretel Marshall launched a two-run blast for Rockport in a 16-0 softball drubbing of Neighborhood Charter, junior Molly Rand homered for Millis in its 16-4 softball victory over Southwick, and junior Bella Pires and senior Jill Ondrick both went deep for Weymouth softball in a 14-1 Division 1 preliminary-round win over Algonquin.

Nick Ambroult, North Quincy — Unleashing his signature slider, the junior fired a six-hit shutout, striking out six and walking two in a 3-0 Division 1 first-round baseball win over Bridgewater-Raynham.

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Brody Barrett, Millis — Entering the playoffs with just one win as a team, the junior doubled that total for the Mohawks with his 16-strikeout performance leading to a 3-2 Division 5 preliminary-round win over Gateway.

Camryn Collier, Latin Academy — The freshman tossed a five-hit shutout, striking out 10 while walking three in a 3-0 Division 3 preliminary-round softball win over Oakmont.

Andrew and Jayden Cox, Methuen — The senior duo were both immense in a 3-0 Division 1 boys’ volleyball first-round victory over Nipmuc, with Andrew slamming 23 kills, and Cox dishing 39 assists and adding five kills.

George Foster, Sturgis East/West — The Navigators needed a point from the junior at second singles, and he obliged, rallying from a 5-7 loss in the first set to win 6-4, 6-3 over the next two, helping Sturgis to a 3-2 first-round boys’ tennis win over Frontier.

Molly Rand, Millis — The junior delivered three hits, including a home run, and drove in four runs for the Mohawks in a 16-4 Division 4 softball preliminary-round defeat of Southwick.

Alexander Santiago and Julius Soto, Methuen — Santiago, a junior, set the tone for a 4-0 Division 1 preliminary-round baseball win over Belmont, blasting a leadoff homer and finishing with three hits, and classmate Soto delivered a two-hit shutout, striking out three without issuing a walk.

Calleigh Trickett, Rockport — The junior spun a five-inning no-hitter, fanning five in a 16-0 Division 5 preliminary-round softball win over Neighborhood Charter/Codman.

▪ It’s no easy job filling Brian Lee’s shoes as head football coach at King Philip, but no one knows that better than the man attempting the feat.

The Warriors have promoted offensive coordinator Anthony Vizakis to head coach. Vizakis has spent the past three seasons as OC, arriving from Milford where he served as head coach. Previously experience includes offensive coordinator at Franklin and assistant at Holliston.

Vizakis won three Super Bowls with Bishop Feehan as a player, then went on to star at Bridgewater State, where he was named captain.

He’ll be taking over for Lee, who led KP to eight Super Bowls and four state titles in the past decade, going 176-62 over 21 seasons. KP also lost its defensive coordinator, Matt Wassel, who left for Walpole to coach his son, Chase. KP went 13-0 last year and won the Division 2 Super Bowl.

▪ Meanwhile in Salem, Malden Catholic offensive coordinator Brett Segala has been hired as the Witches’ head football coach. Segala played at SUNY-Cortland, then served as Cortland High’s head coach for two years before moving to Massachusetts and taking over the Lancers’ offense for the 2025 season.

“Brett is incredibly excited and honored to lead the Witches football program,” the athletic department posted on social media. “He is passionate about building a culture built on accountability, toughness, discipline, and pride, and helping student-athletes grow, not only as football players, but as leaders in the classroom, school, and community.”

Salem went 3-8 last year under Matt Bouchard, who stepped down after 12 seasons, which included a trip to the Division 6 Super Bowl in 2023.

Brody Barrett, Millis, 16

Lexi Ares, Mahar, 14

Maddie Smith, Weymouth, 11

Camryn Collier, Latin Academy, 10

Khloe Gravina, Hull, 10

Sarah Zahornasky, Triton, 8

Jack Devonshire, Oliver Ames, 7

Trey Martin, North Andover, 7

Molly Rand, Millis, 4

Keira Davis, Millis, 3

Seth Heacock, North Andover, 3

Jayden Levine, Oliver Ames, 3

Kenzie Neil, Hull, 3

Jenna Nolette, Mahar, 3

Rachel Timmins, Hull, 3

John Von Barta, Swampscott, 6

Catherine Craig, Chelmsford, 5

Molly Henshon, Longmeadow, 5

Emma Whoriskey, Notre Dame (Hingham), 5

Gianna Cedrone, Billerica, 4

Will Conneely, Arlington, 4

Alex Fivek, Concord-Carlisle, 4

Cole Hogencamp, Mansfield, 4

Will Hughes, Sandwich, 4

Elizabeth Maye, Milton, 4

Nick Pearce, Sandwich, 4

Annie Woodard, Notre Dame (Hingham), 4

Thomas Donovan, Mansfield, 4

Andrew DeGirolamo, Mansfield, 3

Chris DiPlacido, Arlington, 3

Wyatt Goyette, Middleborough, 3

Max Silvestri, Middleborough, 3

Ben Midura, Milton, 15

Ava Bamburg, Billerica, 12

Alice Resnick, Milton, 7

Victor Torres, Lawrence, 24

Andrew Cox, Methuen, 23

Daniel Shandrin, West Springfield, 20

Eli Tourlentes, Somerville, 19

Sean Kabongo, Dracut, 18

August McGonagle, St. John’s (S), 18

Ryan Kusa, Dracut, 15

Trey Skumin, Woburn, 15

Cole Tourkantonis, Methuen, 13

Isaac Da Luz, Wakefield, 12

Nathan Galeas, West Springfield, 12

Noah Jepson, Arlington, 10

Luciano Rossetti, Wakefield, 10

Cam Terilli, Woburn, 10

Janiel Vizcaino, Greater Lawrence, 10

Sancho Wu, North Quincy, 9

Jayden Cox, Methuen, 39

Christian Gomez, Lawrence, 39

Prasanta Bhandari, West Springfield, 37

Ozzy Marks, Somerville, 36

Alex Sophuok, Dracut, 36

Aden Stevenson, Wakefield, 34

Anthony Rubim, Greater Lawrence, 30

Lucas Foster, St. John’s (S), 29

Julius Melendez, Greater Lawrence, 27

Jose Mejia, Lawrence, 23

Jacob Louk, Dracut, 19

Daniel Shandrin, West Springfield, 19

Nathan Galeas, West Springfield, 13

Aden Stevenson, Wakefield, 13

Daniel Bui, Methuen, 10

Prasanta Bhandari, West Springfield, 10

Isaac Da Luz, Wakefield, 10

Ryan Kusa, Dracut, 9

Luciano Rossetti, Wakefield, 9

Julien Chetty, Somerville, 8

Noah Jepson, Arlington, 6

Brady Breda, Wakefield, 5

Brady Cheevers, Arlington, 5

Kian Connors, Wakefield, 5

Charlie Sloss, Wakefield, 5

Nathan Galeas, West Springfield, 4.5

Janiel Vizcaino, Greater Lawrence, 3