Five high school sports takeaways, including eight Division 1 commitments, a major QB transfer, and more

I’ve written before about living in the golden age of Massachusetts pitchers, and this week’s Yankees-White Sox series was a perfect example.

On Wednesday, Walpole’s Cam Schlittler was in total control for the Yankees, striking out eight while allowing just two hits and one run over 6⅓ innings.

Then on Thursday, Sutton’s Sean Burke, a St. John’s (Shrewsbury) graduate, was equally dominant for the White Sox, tossing six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He was relieved by Middleborough graduate Sean Newcomb, who added two shutout innings of his own.

Meanwhile, Wellesley’s Mike Vasil, a BC High product currently recovering from Tommy John surgery for the White Sox, became an internet sensation with the release of a “WE NEED MORE WANDS” video.

Not to be left out, Cohasset’s Ben Rice collected three hits in the four-game series split.

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1. College commitments

It’s been a busy month of commitments, especially for the Class of 2027, so let’s rip through them, starting with those Division 1-bound:

▪ Hopkinton rising junior Taylor Skaff has committed to play women’s soccer at Dartmouth. The standout goalkeeper also plays for the FC Stars.

▪ Taunton rising senior Kaylee Lopes announced her verbal commitment to Merrimack softball. She is the fourth member of the Tigers’ Class of 2027 to commit to a D1 program.

▪ Lowell rising senior Collin Christiansen has committed to play football at New Haven, an FCS program. The 6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound wide receiver also plays basketball.

▪ Weymouth rising senior Tyandre Monteiro-Cooper, a 6-3, 240-pound defensive end/tight end, is also headed for FCS football with his decision to play at Stonehill.

▪ From the prep ranks, Dexter Southfield rising senior Malik Adamson, a Boston native, committed to play men’s basketball at Siena; Milton Academy rising senior Spencer Booth committed to play men’s basketball at Holy Cross; Winchendon rising senior Sladen Johnson, who started his high school career at Barnstable, committed to play baseball at Northeastern; and Pingree rising senior Colt Downey, a 6-1, 194-pound wide receiver from Marblehead, is following his older brother, Jackson, to New Hampshire to play football.

▪ At the Division 2 level, Central Catholic rising senior Caden Smith, who grew up in Salem, will play football at Bentley, while Dracut rising senior Lucas Ogden has committed to play men’s lacrosse at Southern New Hampshire.

▪ A speed round of Division 3 commitments: Duxbury rising senior Colin Murray to Bowdoin for football, Andover graduate Maliq Maliani to Endicott for football, Nobles rising senior Thomas Hall to Trinity for football, Governor’s rising senior Brandon Hennessey to Bates for football, Dighton-Rehoboth rising senior Ben Roth to Westfield State for baseball, Bedford rising senior Jason Topf to Williams for baseball, Thayer rising junior Tristan Sheehan to Colby for baseball, Duxbury rising senior Jodi Soderstrom to UMass Boston for softball, Melrose rising senior Milo Mujalli is headed to Saint Anselm for men’s lacrosse, Sandwich rising senior Addie Anderson to Roger Williams for women’s lacrosse, St. John’s Prep rising senior Ryan McCarthy, a Marblehead resident, to Nichols for men’s lacrosse, Milton Academy rising senior Daniel Protopopov to Union for men’s lacrosse, St. Sebastian’s rising senior Ethan Abdella to Bowdoin for men’s lacrosse, and Belmont Hill rising seniors Chase Kaufman and Peter Wall to Union and Colby, respectively, to play men’s lacrosse.

2. Transfer station

▪ Former Malden Catholic quarterback Dominik Mercier has transferred to Peabody. The 5-11, 160-pound rising senior threw for 1,255 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing for 501 yards and nine scores in just seven games last fall for MC. The Lancers reached the Division 3 semifinals where they lost, 21-13, to eventual champion King Philip.

▪ Former Thayer forward Michael McNamara, a Needham resident, announced he is transfering the Masters Academy International for his senior basketball season after initially announcing he would be switching to CATS Academy. The 6-9 forward started his high school career at Catholic Memorial.

▪ Former Springfield Central defensive back Anthony Whaley announced he is transferring to Cocoa High in Florida. The 5-11, 190-pound defensive back has offers from Syracuse, UConn, UMass, and Rhode Island.

3. Coaching carousel

▪ Dylan Pella will get his first shot as a head boys’ basketball coach at Medford. Pella, a 2017 Shawsheen graduate, spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Concord-Carlisle after serving as an assistant at Austin Prep and Shepherd Hill. The former Nichols track and cross-country runner works as a business marketing teacher at Medford and is associate boys’ director of New England Elite.

▪ Medford also announced the promotion of Peter Stefanopoulos as its girls’ basketball coach. The Mustangs’ boys’ volleyball coach for two seasons has spent the last three years as Medford’s boys’ JV basketball coach. He previously spent six years with Medford Travel Basketball and has led camps, clinics, and rec leagues through the Medford Recreation Department.

▪ Gloucester introduced former Masconomet coach Dave Mitchell to helm its girls’ soccer program. Mitchell went 76-8-7 at Masco, leading the Chieftains to the 2013 Division 2 state title before departing ahead of the 2025 season. A former Whitman-Hanson and Holy Cross player, he coached Bishop Fenwick from 2005-08, going 36-25-11. He has also served as an assistant at Masco and Georgetown

▪ Kira Watkins will take over the girls’ soccer program at Old Colony. The Wareham graduate played at Babson and has coached in the Freetown-Lakeville Soccer Club while running and participating in the Freetown-Lakeville Women’s Soccer League. She works as vice president of T.M. Ryder Insurance.

▪ Wellesley has opted to name assistant athletic director Chris McGrath, who has spent four years under John Brown, as interim AD. Brown will retire at the end of October.

The school said it plans to post for a full-time athletic director in “early 2027.”

“We had conducted a search this spring for a permanent new AD,” principal Jamie Chisum wrote in a letter to the school community. “We hosted stakeholder listening sessions for parents, coaches, students, and teachers, and ran a full process with resume screenings, first-round interviews, finalist days, and reference checks. We even reposted the job and screened again. Ultimately, our process did not yield a full-time replacement for the position.”

McGrath has experience as an AD at Northbridge and was an assistant AD at Medfield. He played club hockey at Maine and later earned a Master’s degree in education from Texas.

4. The combine dozen

Twelve Massachusetts girls’ lacrosse stars were among more than 100 of the nation’s top youth players invited to participate in the Girls’ U17 National Combine as part of the National Team Development Program.

The combine wrapped up Thursday and 24 players will be selected for the US Youth National Team to represent the country this fall at the Rivalry Challenge and Brogden Cup. UMass coach Jana Drummond is an assistant.

Cohasset rising junior Emily Regan is the only MIAA representative, along with NEPSAC selections: Rising junior Ashley Dimnaku (Phillips Andover), rising junior Emma Morrison (Phillips Andover), rising sophomore Wells Hanna (Thayer), rising junior Murphy Holden (Pingree), rising junior Lydia Kealty (Thayer), rising junior Maeve O’Reilly (Nobles), rising sophomore Quinn Powers (Governor’s), rising sophomore Madison Prouty (Dexter Southfield), rising junior Sydney Tighe (Governor’s), rising sophomore Ella Vaill (Governor’s), and rising junior Anne Marie Zukauskas (Thayer).

5. College corner

▪ Miami redshirt junior Samson Okunlola, a Thayer graduate from Brockton, was named to the All-ACC Preseason Team. The 6-6, 330-pound guard started the Cotton Bowl last year against Ohio State and played in all four games as Miami reached the CFP National Championship Game.

▪ Norwich senior Reilly Laitala, a Monty Tech graduate from Sterling, was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year. She was a three-time GNAC Women’s Diver of the Year, an eight-time GNAC All-Conference selection, and a seven-time individual conference diving champion. She helped lead Norwich to four consecutive GNAC women’s swimming and diving championships.

▪ Princeton freshman Lauren Dubois, a Groton graduate, earned her third world rowing championship gold medal in Duisburg, Germany, last weekend at the Under-23 championships. She rowed in the 8+ boat class and helped lead the United States to a top finish. She earned gold medals with the U-19 team in 2024 and 2025.