Varsity News: What you need to know about the Super 8 returning

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Good evening and welcome back to Varsity News!

The state’s active coaching fraternity is suddenly without a pair of legends.

In a span of 48 hours, Canton boys’ hockey coach Brian Shuman and West Boylston football coach Mike Ross publicly stepped down — days after informing their teams — with Shuman retiring and Ross saying he plans to take at least one year away from coaching.

Shuman was a staple at Canton, capturing five state titles in 21 years as head coach, including one in March with his son, Teddy, skating as a senior. Shuman won 19 Hockomock League titles, was named national high school Coach of the Year by USA TODAY, and called it a career with a 371-72-38 overall mark.

Ross claimed six Super Bowls, with stops at Worcester North (2002, 2004) and Grafton (2012), before he spent the past 11 seasons at West Boylston, leading the Lions to four straight Super Bowl appearances, three titles from 2022-24, and a 102-22 record. Overall, he is 208-76.

Those are some big shoes to fill.

On Wednesday morning in Franklin, the MIAA’s Board of Directors took the final step in a six-year odyssey, voting 20-3 to bring back the Super 8 tournament, officially called Division 1A, for baseball and boys’ and girls’ hockey.

How did we get here?

The Super 8 was introduced in boys’ hockey in 1991 and ran until 2020. During that time it went through multiple machinations, from play-in games to a flip-flop between double-elimination and pool play. Baseball introduced its version in 2014.

Why have a Super 8?

In theory, in sports with a “pattern of dominance” it takes the top, elite programs that are hogging titles and corrals them in the Super 8, thus opening up the rest of the Division 1 tournament to more contenders. Detractors say it can take the shine off a Division 1 underdog story if that team doesn’t get to go through the best, while others argue it essentially gave a second state title to the top division.

Why did it go away?

Because the Super 8 provided a different path to a state title than other divisions, in 2021 the MIAA’s Tournament Management Committe voted to suspend it for a minimum of four years in order to study it and build a more equitable structure.

Now it’s back?

Yes, both baseball and ice hockey felt strongly and created subcommittees to determine logistics. The MIAA provided a set of four guidelines that any Super 8 tournament would need to abide by, and both proposals met those. Other sports, such as basketball, have rejected the idea. Lacrosse was mixed. Football has a subcommittee working on a proposal and meets Thursday morning.

So what will they look like?

While similar, there are differences. Both will pull the top eight teams by power rankings across all divisions to set the field. In baseball, they will be seeded 1-8 and play a best-of-three first-round series with each team hosting at least one game. The four winners advance to a single-elimination semifinal, followed by the state championship. Venues for semifinals and finals will be the same as other divisions.

In hockey, each team will play three round-robin games at neutral sites, with the top four teams by record advancing to the semifinals. Champions will end up playing five games, a key equity issue.

Schools will not be allowed to “opt-out” of either Super 8 tournament, which was one of the most significant areas of contention.

So when does it start?

The baseball Super 8 will resume for the 2027 spring season. For hockey, it will begin with the 2027-28 season, which coincides with a statewide realignment that is expected to reduce boys’ and girls’ hockey by one division each, still leaving six titles to hand out at TD Garden each year.

Boys’ lacrosse: No. 14 Bishop Feehan avenged a quarterfinal playoff loss and took out No. 3 BC High despite trailing, 8-5, in the fourth quarter, thanks to Nick Dunn’s late equalizer and Chase Dreystadt’s OT winner . . . Softball: Unranked Fairhaven went on to the road to take down No. 7 Somerset Berkley behind a two-homer, nine-strikeout two-way performance from Brianna Pierce . . . Boys’ volleyball: Led by the play of Baylor Mandell, Alex Morrison, and Ben Jolly, No. 16 Newton South came up big against a Westfield team that is No. 1 in the state in the MIAA’s power rankings . . . Girls’ lacrosse: Concord-Carlisle had been No. 1 all season before losing two out of three, including a narrow defeat to then-No. 5 Reading on Saturday, to fall to No. 6 in the Globe Top 20 poll.

For as much space as Bishop Feehan senior Brody Bumila has, rightfully, received here, this is his first Athlete of the Week nod. On Friday, the 6-foot-9-inch lefthander fired a 20-strikeout no-hitter against Moses Brown (R.I.) in a 5-1 Shamrocks win. His only blemish? Drilling the leadoff hitter, who came around to score. Bumila sat down the final 16 batters, tossing 64 of a season-high 91 pitches for strikes. The 20 strikeouts are a school record, besting the 19 fired by Mike Walsh (class of ‘66), who happened to be on hand for his 60th reunion.

In addition to tossing a nine-strikeout, walk-free no-hitter to beat No. 14 New Bedford, 3-0, on Saturday, Apponequet sophomore Reese Taylor fired a five-inning one-hitter, punching out 11 with one walk in a 13-1 triumph over Old Rochester. She also contributed a homer, double, and three RBIs, and struck out 12 in a 10-3 win over Dartmouth and doubled while striking out eight in a 12-4 victory vs. Fairhaven. That’s a 40-strikeout week.

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Honorable mentions: Cole Hogencamp became the boys’ lacrosse scoring leader at Mansfield, reaching 337 with a 10-point day to beat Oliver Ames, 18-3 . . . Mason Thompson did the same at King Philip, posting 7 points in a 16-5 boys’ lacrosse win over North Attleborough, pushing him to a school-record 301 for his career . . . Arlington Catholic senior Stephen Constantine eclipsed 300 career points in a 12-4 boys’ lacrosse win over Cambridge . . . Winthrop junior Ace Daigneault topped 100 points this season with 11 (7 goals, 4 assists) in a 14-4 boys’ lacrosse win over Gloucester . . . Gloucester senior Jaeden Chipperini posted his 500th career save during a 15-5 boys’ lacrosse loss to Swampscott, and Whitman-Hanson sophomore Brady Johnson got to 400 saves with 15 in a 15-9 win over Plymouth South . . . Danvers senior Evan Roach won his 500th career faceoff during a 16-13 boys’ lacrosse win over Marblehead . . . Dracut senior Andrew Mullen exceeded 200 career points during a 16-1 boys’ lacrosse win over Methuen . . . St. Mary’s senior Ava Nason exploded for seven goals, including her 300th, during an 18-14 girls’ lacrosse win over Archbishop Williams . . . Bristol-Plymouth senior Emma Ericson reached 300 career points in a 16-7 girls’ lacrosse win vs. Bristol Aggie . . . Norwell junior Lexi Davos reached 200 career points in a 22-3 girls’ lacrosse win over Hull . . . Foxborough junior Chloe McGarry recorded her 100th career assist in a 21-5 girls’ lacrosse win over Stoughton . . . Haverhill junior Keira Drouin made her 100th career save during a 13-5 girls’ lacrosse win vs. Tewksbury . . . Medfield junior Paige Henebry forced her 100th career caused turnover in a 22-7 girls’ lacrosse win vs. Norwood . . . West Bridgewater seventh-grader Lili Morales homered twice and drove in seven runs in the opening frame of a 20-1 softball rout of Bourne, setting school records for first-inning homers and RBIs . . . Danvers senior Addi McCarty hit for the cycle in a 13-0 softball triumph over Newburyport . . . Marblehead senior Tessa Francis and Georgetown senior Maddie Grant both reached 700 career softball strikeouts . . . Right behind them was Norton senior Liana Danubio, who notched her 600th career K in a 10-0 softball win over Medfield . . . Rockland senior Kiley Murdock reached 300 career strikeouts in a 4-3 softball win over Fontbonne, and Marshfield sophomore Caroline Arruda notched her 200th in an 8-2 softball win over Hingham . . . Attleboro junior Lola Ronayne drove in her 100th run during an 8-7 softball loss to Taunton . . . Weymouth softball stars Bella Pires (100 career hits) and Jill Ondrick (50 career home runs) both reched major milestones . . . Duxbury junior Catherine Grimaldi notched her 100th career hit in a 10-7 softball win over Hanover . . . Senior Otavio Perks became the all-time O’Bryant kills leader when he surpassed 900 in a 3-1 win over Greater New Bedford.

100 career lacrosse points: Swampscott junior John Von Barta, Winthrop senior Reese Ferrara, Phillips Andover sophomore Ashley Dimnaku, Phillips Andover sophomore Emma Morrison, Beverly senior Madeline LeBlanc, Dennis-Yarmouth junior Jenna Richard, Hamilton-Wenham junior Jane Boardman, and Hopkinton junior Avery Quebec.

100 career lacrosse goals: Hopkinton junior Matt Lotti, Hamilton-Wenham junior Jane Boardman, Bishop Feehan junior Chase Dreystadt, Lexington senior Dylan Lane, Archbishop Williams junior Emily Fleming, Shawsheen senior Cera Salter, North Reading senior Addie Hajj, Hopkinton junior Taylor Interrante, and Acton-Boxborough junior Charlotte Wren.

No-hitters: Joseph Case’s Lila Alvarez (10K), Lowell’s Lillie Brown (4K), Nauset’s Emmet Blatz (5 inn., 9K), New Bedford’s Kiley Gonet (5 inn., 9K), Apponequet’s Reese Taylor (9K), Marblehead’s Tessa Francis (8K), and Phillips Andover’s Ashley Schuman (14K).

Coach of the Week: Lowell Catholic baseball coach Matt Stone, who has been at the helm since 2012, earned his 200th career win with a 4-3 victory against North Middlesex.

⚾ How incredible was this this leaping catch by Bridgewater-Raynham sophomore Cole Despinosa against Dartmouth?

🥍Winchester senior Gianni DePrimeo went airborne for the overtime winner in a 12-11 boys’ lacrosse victory vs. Reading.

⚾ Senior Cameron Gobeille walks it off with an RBI single for Natick baseball in a 10-9 win over Brookline.

🏀 It’s always a good time re-living Bishop Feehan’s run to a Division 1 boys’ basketball title as the No. 14 seed.

Brian Ferris, a teacher and field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse official, suffered the life-altering injury in December.

Wellesley’s Tara Battaglino is the complete lacrosse package, on and off the field The qualities of the 6-foot-2-inch, Brown-bound superstar go way beyond the numbers, with her uplifting and unselfish leadership inspiring greatness. At Apponequet, a love for baseball and the trust of a senior class produced a 12-1 start Having already surpassed last year’s win total, the Lakers are looking to make noise in the Division 3 tournament thanks to a trio of talented starters and a steady lineup.

Westford Academy’s Gabriel Freeman spotted the sun setting behind the MSTCA Division 2 state outdoor relays and captured this image of athletes and coaches packing up after a long day at the track. There’s no new high school photography gallery this week, but you can still check out last week’s offerings:

High school sports photo gallery: Students capture images from the week that was

Interested in joining our free student photojournalism program and get your photos published by the Globe? Find out how to sign up.

Trivia: Name the only school to win multiple baseball Super 8 crowns?

Email your answer to [email protected] and, if you’re correct, we’ll shout you out in next week’s edition.

Last week we asked What the oldest unbroken outdoor high school track record in the state is (among active events)? Answer: Lexington’s Ron Lee set the state javelin record of 234 feet, 10 inches, in 1972.

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Plan your week:

Thursday: Baseball, No. 3 St. John’s (Shrewsbury) at No. 1 BC High, 4 p.m.

Thursday: Boys’ volleyball, No. 4 Needham at No. 1 Brookline, 5:15 p.m.

Friday: Girls’ lacrosse, No. 1 Cohasset at No. 5 Hingham, 4 p.m.

Friday: Softball,No. 5 King Philip at No. 1 Taunton, 6 p.m.

Saturday: Boys’ lacrosse, No. 2 Lincoln-Sudbury at No. 10 Hingham, 6:30 p.m.