Saturday’s seven HS tournament takeaways as chaos hit the MIAA brackets in the quarterfinals

The bedlam has begun.

Until Friday, every single No. 1 seed had advanced, across every sport. Then St. John’s Prep fell in the Division 1 boys’ tennis bracket. Still, 30 of the 31 top seeds were standing.

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On Saturday, they started dropping.

In softball, Division 5’s Hoosac Valley was bounced by ninth-seeded Lenox. In boys’ lacrosse, Division 2’s Billerica, the defending state champion, was sent packing by No. 9 Walpole. And in baseball, Division 1’s BC High and Division 3’s Pittsfield were eliminated.

The semifinals are solidified for boys’ and girls’ tennis, girls’ lacrosse, and boys’ volleyball, and, for the most part, they’ll be locked in after Sunday’s slate for boys’ lacrosse, baseball, and softball.

So who are most surprising semifinalists?

Thus far, Division 3’s No. 15 Weston baseball is the lowest seed to qualify for a state semifinal, followed by No. 12 Seekonk softball (D4), No. 12 Weston girls’ tennis (D3), and No. 12 Newton North boys’ volleyball (D1). No. 11 King Philip baseball (D2) is the only other double-digit seed to reach a final four thus far.

Find Matty Wasserman’s coverage of the Meet of Champions, which saw two of the state’s all-time great track stars wrap up their MIAA careers in style. And check out Mike Puzzanghera’s coverage of Bishop Feehan and Brody Bumila, who struck out seven and homered in a quarterfinal win.

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

▪ Attleboro junior Lola Ronayne launched her 12th homer of the season, which was also the 100th hit of her career, during a 10-0 Division 1 quarterfinal softball win over Bridgewater-Raynham.

▪ With two homers and a double, East Bridgewater senior Maggie Schlossberg, who is committed to Providence, picked up her 100th career hit and set the school record for home runs in a season with 10 during a 9-6 Division 4 quarterfinal softball loss to Tyngsborough.

As we noted, the upsets came early and often during Saturday’s quarterfinal matchups. We’ll even ignore any No. 5 over No. 4 results.

In Division 1 baseball, it was No. 8 Cambridge over No. 1 BC High, 5-1, on senior Joel Rojas-Cruz’s two-run homer in the seventh inning. It marks the Falcons’ first trip to a state semifinal. “It’s a special day for our program,” said Cambridge coach Rob Merrill.

In Division 2, 11th-seeded King Philip, riding junior righthander Matt Labriola, pulled off a 1-0 shutout of No. 3 Reading with Brady Herlin homering for the lone run. And No. 7 Longmeadow outlasted No. 2 Walpole, the defending state champ, in 13 innings. More about them in the next section.

Division 3 baseball saw No. 8 Hanover handle No. 1 Pittsfield, 9-0, as Cole Hendrickson racked up four RBIs on three hits and Will Davidson struck out 14, and No. 15 Weston stunned No. 7 Norwell, 5-1, behind the pitching of senior Ryan Hinckley, who struck out nine.

In Division 4, No. 7 Seekonk had ace Cole Arruda on the mound, and after a shaky first inning he buckled down for a 5-2 victory over No. 2 East Bridgewater.

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But not every upset came from the baseball brackets. Lenox softball cashed in a 3-2 Division 5 quarterfinal win over No. 1 Hoosac Valley as Cassidy Flynn fired seven innings of two-run ball. In Division 3 girls’ tennis No. 12 Weston denied No. 4 Ursuline, in D1 boys’ tennis No. 7 Needham nipped No. 2 Westford, 3-2, and in D2 boys’ lacrosse No. 9 Walpole ended top-seeded Billerica’s dreams of a repeat, 14-8.

After 13 innings, something had to give, and it was Longmeadow junior Alejandro Santiago delivering the winning RBI single to send the Lancers past Walpole. The Timberwolves had forced extras with Shane Harrington’s game-tying RBI single in the seventh.

Who didn’t leave the yard Saturday? At least 21 players homered in 26 combined baseball and softball quarterfinal games, led by Schlossberg, who launched a pair of dingers for East Bridgewater.

Tyngsborough enjoyed a trio of blasts from Kiley Hogan, Kaelyn DiMento, and Kristen Desechenes, while Shrewsbury (Lola Ronayne and Sophia Borges), King Philip (Ali Gill and Bailey Cederbaum), Attleboro (Lola Ronayne and Sophia Borges), Dighton-Rehoboth (Cam Cloonan and Sara Marsella), Longmeadow (Brody Harrington and Wright), and Taunton (Ashlyn Hebert and Aniyah Bailey) all saw the ball leave the yard twice.

The rest of the day’s round-trippers belonged to Cambridge’s Joel Rojas-Cruz, Catholic Memorial’s Daniel Colon, King Philip’sHerlin, Bishop Feehan’s Brody Bumila, and Seekonk’s Shelby Quinn, who has homered in all three of the Warriors’ playoff games.

Cam Cloonan, D-R — The Villanova-bound senior made plenty of noise with her bat, finishing with a homer, a double, four hits, and five RBIs during a 16-13 slugfest win over St. Mary’s in Division 3 softball action.

Brayden Durant, Drury — The freshman was electric on the mound, dealing a three-hit shutout with seven strikeouts to send the Blue Devils past Keefe Tech, 6-0, and into the Division 5 baseball semifinals.

Maddy Karlon, Maynard — The sophomore fanned 15 batters while allowing just one run in a 4-1 Division 5 quarterfinal softball win over Franklin County Tech.

Matt Labriola, King Philip — The junior struck out 14 in a three-hit shutout of Reading as the Warriors prevailed, 1-0, in the Division 2 baseball quarterfinals.

Joel Rojas-Cruz, Cambridge — The senior came through with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, completing a three-hit day to propel the Falcons past top-seeded BC High, 5-1, in the Division 1 baseball bracket.

Hudson Cambal, Dennis-Yarmouth — The senior spun a three-hit shutout with four strikeouts as the Dolphins clinched a spot in the Division 4 baseball semifinals with a 5-0 win over Rockland.

Arann Hanlon, Nantucket — The senior posted 8 points, scoring three goals and dishing five goals, giving him a hand in 80 percent of the Whalers’ tallies during a 10-9 Division 4 boys’ lacrosse triumph over Pentucket.

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Maddy Karlon, Maynard, 15

Will Davidson, Hanover, 14

Matt Labriola, King Philip, 14

Reese Taylor, Apponequet, 12

Liana Danubio, Norton, 11

Ryan Hinckley, Weston, 9

Cole Arruda, Seekonk, 8

Drew Gustafson, Masconomet, 8

Brody Bumila, Bishop Feehan, 7

Brayden Durant, Drury, 7

ANya Fagundes, Seekonk, 7

Kiley Hogan, Tyngsborough, 7

Ryan Kelly, Milton, 7

Jenna Callahan, Attleboro, 6

Ryanne Dubay, Hampshire, 6

Ollie Henke, Cambridge, 6

Kyle Bongette, Catholic Memorial, 5

Cam Cloonan, Dighton-Rehoboth, 5

Daniel Colon, Catholic Memorial, 4

Ali Gill, King Philip, 4

Cole Hendrickson, Hanover, 4

Bella Abrams, East Bridgewater, 3

Bailey Cederbaum, King Philip, 3

Reegan Durden, King Philip, 3

Emma Ellis, Shrewsbury, 3

Jay Gagnon, Taunton, 3

Sara Marsella, Dighton-Rehoboth, 3

Mariah Pancinella, Hampshire, 3

Carly Smith, Tyngsborough, 3

Brady Malo, Lincoln-Sudbury, 5

Charlie Thurlow, Manchester Essex, 5

Christian Maranian, Acton-Boxborough, 4

Rex Friedholm, Lincoln-Sudbury, 3

Teddy Glynn Norwell, 3

Arann Hanlon, Nantucket, 3

Dexter Izzo, Bishop Feehan, 3

Lee Spry, Abington, 3

Keegan Masso, Bishop Feehan, 14

Jeremy Jenkinson, Nantucket, 13

Devyn Blige, Norwell, 10