Baseball/softball notebook: Lincoln-Sudbury girls ‘ramp it up’

Lincoln-Sudbury had one of the more thriving programs in the state the last two years but head coach Devan Morrison wasn t totally content The back-to-back - records were something almost any softball band in the state would kill for but the regular season success didn t transfer to the postseason as the Warriors lost in the state quarterfinals last year and the Round of two years ago When I was looking at our crew the last two years I wasn t happy with our resiliency come tournament time Morrison noted Once the Dual County League set it up so that we played everyone just once it opened up so a great number of opportunities It did present a little bit of a geographical challenge but it was good to have a chance to play good competition I was very transparent about this with our upperclassmen and explained why I yearned to ramp it up In addition to the two DCL showdowns against Bedford and its star pitcher Alyx Rossi the rest of the slate included Rhode Island power LaSalle Newton North Hopkinton Central Catholic Tyngsboro Wachusett King Philip and two against Silver Lake Despite that gauntlet the Warriors are - After a disappointing - loss to LaSalle Lincoln-Sudbury presented specific mettle against defending Division state champion Walpole The inspired Warriors knocked off the Timberwolves - The season opener against LaSalle was a punch in the gut but it woke us up Morrison We were really fired up against Walpole and winning that contest even though it was early in the season gave us the confidence and belief that we could handle the tough schedule Another watershed moment for Lincoln-Sudbury was the two-game series with Silver Lake After losing to the Lakers - in the first meeting the Warriors rebounded with a - preeminence in the rematch That was a big challenge for us Morrison commented The first championship was a tough one it was scoreless after and they went on to win - That really left a bad taste in our mouths We did get a second chance three weeks later to show we were better than that and we really played certain gritty defense Lincoln-Sudbury has star power UMass-bound Kelsey Blanchette has been a mainstay on the mound and at the plate The Lent sisters Ashley and Nicole and Sophie Jorjorian have joined Blanchette at the top of the lineup Back on top again Xaverian captured its third consecutive Catholic Conference title rallying from a - first-inning deficit to defeat St John s Shrewsbury - The winning run came home when Nolan Rappoli was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded in the last of the seventh The league presents us with several challenges throughout the season and what we need to do to be a good group in the postseason reported Xaverian coach Gerry Lambert You have to be able to bounce back from adversity we got slaughter-ruled - in our first league match against BC High So this group has done a good job of bouncing back all year long Xaverian had to against St John s Shrewsbury Lambert stressed to his club after the inning that this wasn t the time to try and play hero ball I just explained them let s take things one bat at a time Lambert announced Sometimes kids want to hit a grand slam home run with no one on base In the second inning we were able to go up there and string together five straight singles and our No and No hitters Jack Coen and Will Curley came up big with two strikes on them It s not reliably going to be the No guy in the lineup getting the key hit The title contest went back and forth Xaverian rallying to take a - lead only to watch the Pioneers rally with four runs to tie the competition setting up the wild finish I think we were stunned when Nolan got hit Lambert mentioned I can say I ve never seen a challenge won on a hit-by-pitch Usually it s a fly ball tag-up line drive grounder I was just telling the runners on base to stay out of the double play The last thing on my mind was a plunk on the shoulder All-Star contest schedule The Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association will host its th annual Senior All-Star baseball match on Tuesday June at BC High s Monan Park with a p m start The tournament will feature league MVPs from various North and South leagues in Eastern Massachusetts Among those who have competed in the meeting include future major leaguers Tom Glavine Manny DelCarmen Mike Vasil and Kevin McGlinchey Admission is The MBCA Junior Select All-Star Games will be held at Howard Park in Malden on Thursday June The Junior Selects will play at followed by the Sophomore Selects