Eight high school tournament takeaways from a Friday full of postseason theatrics
Friday’s action-packed playoff slate featured another record-setting run for Westford senior Abby Hennessy, a 1,000th career assist for an O’Bryant senior, the first top-10 seeded team to drop out of any spring tournament (No. 8 Foxborough girls’ lacrosse), a bevy of minor upsets, and some impressive individual performances.
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Before we break it all down, some housekeeping: Saturday’s Division 3 and 4 outdoor track championships have been moved to Sunday. That means Merrimack will host D3 at 9 a.m. and D2 at 2:30 p.m., and Bridgewater State will do the same with Division 4 (9 a.m.) and 5 (2:30 p.m.). D6 is still scheduled for Saturday at Westfield State (less wind in the forecast). Friday marked the first day of the Division 1, 2, and 5 competitions.
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
Our roundups:
- Friday’s baseball roundup: No. 34 Andover guts out 11-inning win over No. 31 Brookline
- Friday’s lacrosse roundup: Measure of redemption for Dover-Sherborn girls
- Friday’s tournament roundup: Braintree softball continues incredible one-year turnaround
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1. Milestones
▪ O’Bryant boys’ volleyball senior Otavio Perks extended his own school record, becoming the first player in school history to reach 1,000 career kills during a 3-1 Division 2 first-round win over Greater Lawrence.
▪ With a 3-0 sweep of No. 20 Ware, the 13th-seeded Burlington boys’ volleyball team reched the second round of the Division 2 tournament for the first time in program history.
▪ In the Division 3 boys’ lacrosse preliminary round, Tri-County junior Ashton Reich went 13 for 13 at the faceoff-X, topping 275 wins for the season in a 9-5 victory over Bishop Fenwick.
▪ Tri-County senior Dylan Maw reached 200 career strikeouts during a 2-1 Division 3 baseball win over East Longmeadow in the preliminary round.
▪ Duxbury girls’ lacrosse senior captain Addie Slimbaugh reached 100 career points during a 16-4 Division 2 second-round win over King Philip.
Duxbury senior captain Addie Slimbaugh hit 100 career points in Friday’s 16-4 round-of-16 win over King Philip.
“I honestly had no idea, so I was so confused. I owe 100 percent of it to my teammates always setting me up. That was so special for them to do that for me and I love… pic.twitter.com/bYMBvKvLrr
— Trevor Hass (@TrevorHass) May 30, 2026
▪ After learning she had already reached 100 career goals late in the regular season, Hamilton-Wenham celebrated senior captain Grace Glidden’s milestone after a 25-7 Division 4 first-round win over Lunenburg. Glidden scored five times, finishing the game with 115 career goals.
2. The upsets
Baseball’s preliminary round saw at least five upsets, all of them low-scoring, on Friday, highlighted by No. 41 Gardner taking out No. 24 Lunenburg, 1-0, in Division 4. In D1, No. 36 Diman slipped past No. 29 Arlington, 6-5, and No. 34 Andover took care of No. 31 Brookline, 5-3. In Division 3, it was No. 39 Old Rochester taking out No. 26 Pentucketm 2-1, and No. 33 Pembroke was a 1-0 winner over No. 32 Medway.
The highest seed to drop out Friday from any bracket was No. 8 Foxborough girls’ lacrosse, which suffered a 12-6 loss to No. 9 Dover-Sherborn in the second round of the Division 3 tournament, as the Raiders avenged a regular-season overtime loss to the Warriors.
On the boys’ lacrosse side, No. 13 Westborough was stunned by No. 20 Marblehead, which survived a two-plus hour bus ride and got three goals from Tyler Forbes to produce an 8-7 first-round Division 2 upset.
In the softball brackets, No. 37 Wayland took care of No. 28 Ashland, 7-6, in Division 2 preliminary play, punching its first ticket to the first round since 2009. No. 18 Agawam sent No. 15 Marblehead home, 6-1, in Division 2, No. 34 Nauset eliminated No. 31 Hudson in Division 3, and a pair of 33 seeds topped 32 seeds: Newton South over Winchester in D1 and Nashoba over Bay Path in D2.
The Division 2 boys’ volleyball tournament lost No. 12 Springfield Sci-Tech, a victim of No. 21 Norton, 3-1, No. 15 Vertias Prep fell to No. 18 Springfield International, 3-2, and No. 17 Greater Lowell got the best of No. 16 Lynn Classical.
3. Best finishes
In what will undoubtedly go down as one of the craziest softball games of the tournament, No. 5 Wachusett and No. 28 Lowell battled for 12 innings before the Mountaineers got an RBI double from Morgan Lucas to go ahead. To put this one in perspective: Mia Porcelli pitched five scoreless innings for Wachusett, and she threw the second-most innings on her team behind Avery Smith’s seven. Lowell’s Maddie Ellsworth stacked up 19 strikeouts.
Junior Andrea Paul played hero for Monument Mountain, delivering a walkoff RBI single in the ninth inning to lift the 31st-seeded Spartans to a 9-8 Division 4 preliminary-round win over No. 34 Gardner.
On the baseball side, Andover and Brookline couldn’t quite match Wachusett and Lowell, lasting only 11 innings before the Golden Warriors’ Luke Solomon ripped an RBI single for the winning run in a 5-3 Division 1 preliminary-round victory for Andover.
Matt Downs gave Dartmouth a 6-5 walkoff win over Norwood with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, sending the No. 32 Indians into the first round. For Danvers, Drew Godfried ended it in the eighth, allowing the 22nd-seeded Falcons to escape an upset bid from No. 43 Holyoke, 4-3, in the Division 3 preliminary round.
4. Going, going, gone
The two-homer games belonged to Oliver Ames junior Katie Berg, Peabody senior Lizzy Bettencourt, and Greater Lowell’s Kim Peterson, while Oliver Ames also enjoyed blasts from freshmen Elliot Moore and Gia Giovanello. Boston International got dingers from Gabriel Pimentel and Soniel Nivar, and Greater Lawrence’s Samantha Nasella and Olivia Erban both left the yeard.
Newton South’s Zoe Spector launched a grand slam, and the rest of the day’s round-trippers belonged to Cardinal Spellman’s Gabby Richardson, Newton North’s Nora Hamel, Winchester’s Katherine Lisy, Plymouth South’s Abby Masterson, Diman’s Karter Pereira, and Carver’s Levon Mulready.
5. 13 stars
Olivia Allen, Newton North — The sophomore pulled off a rare feat, tripling twice in the same inning and finishing with three hits and four RBIs for the Tigers in a 15-1 first-round Division 1 softball win over Wellesley.
Evie Bernard, Hamilton-Wenham — The senior enjoyed a 12-point day in a 25-7 Division 4 second-round win over Lunenburg, scoring eight goals and dishing four assists.
Sal Brogna and Finn Racki, St. Mary’s — The seniors both netted seven goals during a 20-2 Division 3 boys’ lacrosse rout of Saugus in the preliminary round.
Ethan Fennel, Acton-Boxborough — The sophomore was equal parts finisher and provider, scoring five goals and notching five assists in a 17-7 Division 1 first-round boys’ lacrosse win over Beverly.
Abigail Hennessy, Westford — The senior not only broke her own state record in the two-mile race at the Division 2 outdoor track and field championships, but her time of 9 minutes, 50.72 seconds is the second-fastest time in the nation this year.
Brynn Kew, Nauset — The sophomore reached 200 strikeouts for the season with 13 whiffs in a 17-8 Division 3 softball win over Hudson. She added three hits and three RBIs at the plate.
Kenzel Lantano, Lynn Classical — Had to shout out the senior despite falling to Greater Lowell, 3-2, in first-round boys’ volleyball action. Lantano spread out 49 assists, raising his final career total to 1,977. He added 19 digs and four blocks.
Natasha Mikus, Norwell — The senior played distributor, handing out six assists to go with three goals, giving her 9 points in a 17-8 girls’ lacrosse win over Wakefield in the Division 3 second round.
Samantha Nasella, Greater Lawrence — The senior was omnipresent, delivering a go-ahead three-run homer and finishing with three RBIs and four runs scored, which only helped her own cause in the circle, where she scattered four hits and dealt 11 strikeouts.
Sol Ortiz DeRosa, Lexington — The junior did it all, collecting 6 goals, 5 assists, and 12 draw controls in a 17-6 Division 1 girls’ lacrosse second-round victory against Newton North.
Zoe Spector, Newton South — The sophomore had a day at the dish, belting a grand slam and driving in six runs for the Lions in a 19-14 Division 1 preliminary-round softball win over Winchester.
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6. Diamond leaderboard
Strikeouts
Maddie Ellsworth, Lowell, 19
Brynn Kew, Nauset, 13
Kyle Olson, Andover, 13
Samantha Nasella, Greater Lawrence, 11
Michael Schein, Billerica, 11
Anthony Foss, Mashpee, 10
Nikolai Rabiner, Brookline, 9
Olivia Bernier, Westford, 8
Reid Ulmschneider, Joseph Case, 8
Morgan Haskell, Greater Lowell, 7
Eli Bryant, Martha’s Vineyard, 6
Donny Dattanasio, Pembroke, 6
Madden Lyons, Marblehead, 6
Avery Smith, Wachusett, 6
RBIs
Zoe Spector, Newton South, 6
Oliiva Allen, Newton North, 4
Bri Arzuaga, Newton North, 4
Molly LaBrie, Bristol Aggie, 4
Abby Lancaster, Dartmouth, 4
Christiana Babineau, Nashoba, 3
Avery Barnes, Cardinal Spellman, 3
Katelyn Cronin, Amesbury, 3
Olivia Erban, Greater Lawrence, 3
Brynn Kew, Nauset, 3
Sam Mathews, Arlington Catholic, 3
Levon Mulready, Carver, 3
Samantha Nasella, Greater Lawrence, 3
Karter Pereira, Diman, 3
Kim Peterson, Greater Lowell, 3
Gabrielle Richardson, Cardinal Spellman, 3
7. Lacrosse leaderboard
Goals
Evie Bernard, Hamilton-Wenham, 8
Sal Brogna, St. Mary’s, 7
Finn Racki, St. Mary’s, 7
Jane Boardman, Hamilton-Wenham, 6
Gabby Fisher, Duxbury, 6
Tyler Moody, Danvers, 6
Sol Ortiz DeRosa, Lexington, 6
Kiley Carmichael, Westford, 5
Ethan Fennel, Acton-Boxborough, 5
Grace Glidden, Hamilton-Wenham, 5
Bobby Hickox, Foxborough, 5
Meri Horlbeck, Norwell, 5
Ally Kelley, Norwell, 5
Charlie Brennan, Xaverian, 4
Ryan Brennan, Tewksbury, 4
Penny Forgery, Lexington, 4
Cam Guendner, Tewksbury, 4
Cam Heald, Duxbury, 4
Lyala Higgins, Lexington, 4
Tom McCarthy, Hingham, 4
Culen O’Brien, Canton, 4
Jack Taft, Foxborough, 4
Elizabeth Williams, Dover-Sherborn, 4
Assists
Natasha Mikus, Norwell, 6
Ethan Fennel, Acton-Boxborough, 5
Cam Guendner, Tewksbury, 5
Sol Ortiz DeRosa, Lexington, 5
Evie Bernard, Hamilton-Wenham, 4
Tyler Borgea, Tewksbury, 4
Caroline Ciriello, Hamilton-Wenham, 4
Mason Gadbois, Danvers, 4
Jake Macrae, Tri-County, 4
Natalie Sanborn, Nashoba, 4
Bailey Shepherd, Hamilton-Wenham, 4
Ryan Brennan, Tewksbury, 3
Ben Campbell, Danvers, 3
Kiley Carmichael, Westford, 3
Cam Conley, Canton, 3
Will Cronin, Acton-Boxborough, 3
Caroline Pinto, Nashoba, 3
Saves
Colin Maniaci, Marblehead, 16
Lilah Caplan, Swampscott, 10
Aaron Ziniti, Tewksbury, 9
Sean Parlon, Tri-County, 8
8. Volleyball leaderboard
Kills
Andrew Strojny, Norton, 25
Jake Moorman, Acton-Boxborough, 23
Brady Kundel, Barnstable, 20
Mark Delaney, Burlington, 11
Brennan Loud, Cambridge, 11
Yonaton Rotem, Newton South, 11
Amir Tomer, Brookline, 11
Kais Al-Fakhuri, Brookline, 10
Assists
Kenzel Lantano, Lynn Classical, 49
Max Dong, O’Bryant, 46
Jordan Moore, Norton, 38
Matheus Alvarenga, Barnstable, 37
Owen Murphy, Cambridge, 29
Alec Smagula, Brookline, 29
Digs
Rafael Ferias, Barnstable, 21
Kenzel Lantano, Lynn Classical, 19
Alex George, Norton, 18
Bruce Toledo, Cambridge, 13
Brady Kundel, Barnstable, 12
Andrew Strojny, Norton, 11
Ethan Malamud, Cambridge, 10
Blocks
Kenzel Lantano, Lynn Classical, 4
Andrew Strojny, Norton, 4
Aces
Yaroslav Ivanchenko, Newton South, 6
Brennan Loud, Cambridge, 5



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