In advancing to the the second round of the state tournament for the first time, the 16th-seeded North Reading girls’ lacrosse team received a career-high four goals from senior attack Shea Tully in a 14-9 Division 3 victory over Cardinal Spellman Saturday afternoon.
“I thought this was a legacy game for her,” said North Reading coach Matt Costello. “She got a draw control, kept possessions alive with three ground balls. She’s such an awesome kid, everyone loves her on the team. She’s the backbone, energy-wise, of our team.”
Senior captain Brianne Slattery contributed a goal and career-high four assists for the Hornets (9-10).
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“She really quarterbacked our offense and involved so many kids,” Costello said.
“She was so selfless today, tried to get others involved. That assist number could have been even higher, but their goalie made some pretty solid saves.”
Erin O’Donnell (four goals), Marina Duffy (three), and Elle Murphy (two) led the offense and Ava Smith made 13 saves for the Cardinals (11-9), who finished with the best record in program history.
Division 4 State
Watertown 8, Medway 5 — Junior midfielder Molly Driscoll (four goals), senior attack Alex Karalis (three), and senior midfielder Maggie Driscoll (one) provided the offense in a first-round win for the No. 20 Raiders (9-12). A strong defensive effort led to opportunities to strike in transition.
“We’ve been progressively getting better in our transition game,” said Watertown coach Peter Karalis. “We talk a lot about controlling the middle of the field, getting stops and moving the ball up the field.”
The defensive core of senior Maeve Lawn, junior Molly Sheehan, and junior Sarah Morrissey was stellar in front of sophomore goaltender Victoria Dicker, who made her sixth career start. “She came up big the entire game,” said Karalis. “She was making stops. She’s surrounded by a great group of defenders, athletic girls that can play all over the field.”
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Baseball
Division 4 State
Joseph Case 9, Lynn Tech 0 — Sophomore Jackson McLane twirled a two-hit, eight-strikeout gem to lead the Cardinals (8-13) to a preliminary-round win.
“He pounds the strike zone,” said Joseph Case coach Dave Ulmschneider. “He throws three pitches for strikes. He did a really good job of attacking the strike zone today. This is what he’s done all year. He’s given us a chance to win in every game he’s pitched.”
Junior center fielder Will LeBoeuf went 2 for 2 with a walk, three runs scored, and two RBIs and senior second baseman Christian Chapman scored a run and plated three.
Boys’ lacrosse
Division 2 State
Milton 11, King Philip 7 — Junior Luke Haley, senior Ian Wick, and junior Luke Hartford each notched three goals for the No. 23 Wildcats (10-9) in a first-round victory on the road.
Division 3 State
Ashland 5, Southeastern 2 — Making their first tournament appearance since 2019, the No. 30 Clockers (6-13) made the most of their opportunity with a preliminary-round win. Senior goaltender Aydin Fish made 14 saves, stonewalling the opposition at every turn.
“He was the backbone of it all today,” said Ashland coach Bill Graham. “He kept the guys together and engaged the whole time. He does a great job orchestrating the defense.”
Division 4 State
East Bridgewater 18, Pittsfield 3 — Freshman Niko Triantafillou recorded five goals and three assists in a preliminary-round victory for the No. 30 Vikings (9-10).
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“He’s a phenomenal athletic threat, he’s a really good player,” said East Bridgewater coach Bill Silva.
“He’s a guy that’s really quick, shifty, and his left hand is better than most kids’ right hand. He’s got a good eye for the game, a really good lacrosse IQ.”
In his second game of the season after recovering from a knee injury, senior Anthony Patete finished with three goals and four assists. After posting three wins last season, the Vikings utilized strong faceoff wins by senior captain Brett Peterson and sophomore Colin Brown to establish possession. “The faceoffs were really key, we were winning a lot of those,” said Silva. “We had possession a lot and when we did have the ball, we made good things happen.”
Softball
Division 1 State
Central Catholic 16, Beverly 3 — Through three innings, Beverly, the 32nd seed in the Division 1 softball tournament, held a 3-0 lead over top-seeded Central Catholic. With timely hitting and a more focused approach, the Raiders (20-1) battled back to earn a first-round victory.
“We took advantage of some opportunities and chipped away,” said Central Catholic coach Stacy Ciccolo.
“It wasn’t flashy, but when we got to the 4-3 [score], we started to settle in. Beverly came out and punched us in the mouth and we were a little stunned. It wasn’t until we scraped our way back into it that we got comfortable.” Junior Zaynah Wotkowicz was intentionally walked in her first two at-bats, but broke through by clobbering a grand slam to push the lead to 8-3.
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“It’s midway through the game, we’ve got bases loaded with one out and Zaynah has yet to see a pitch,” said Ciccolo. “Obviously, the goal would be to be patient because you could get excited in that moment. She had to stay settled in and look for a pitch that she could drive. That’s exactly what she did.”
Wellesley 3, Shrewsbury 2 — With the No. 35 Raiders trailing by a run and down to their final out, junior Ryan Renzella (3 for 4, three RBIs) blasted a two-run double to left field, lifting Wellesley (11-8) to a preliminary-round win.
“She was the offensive star,” said Wellesley coach Emily Hunt. “Ryan stepped up in a huge, huge way. There was no one better at the plate that I wanted than Ryan.”
With the win, the Raiders earned their first playoff victory in 14 years. “It’s unbelievable,” said Hunt. “I couldn’t be prouder. We’ve worked really hard, it hasn’t come easy. They deserve it.”
Junior Hayley Butler tossed a complete game, throwing 51 strikes on 61 pitches, surrendering five hits and one earned run. The defense helped out, including freshman right fielder Abby Brown making a diving catch in the first inning.
Division 4 State
Advanced Math and Science 6, Northbridge 1 — The No. 16 Eagles (12-7) surged ahead with a four-run fifth inning and senior Ashley Correll fired a 15-strikeout one-hitter in the first-round victory in Marlborough. In the fifth, Emelia Carvalho doubled in the tying run, Brooke Laudate scored the go-ahead run on an error, and Guilaminia Yost (2 for 3) knocked in a pair of runs with a double to left.
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Girls’ tennis
Division 1 State
Andover 5, Franklin 0 — Rachel Chen and Mia Thomas won at first and second singles for the eighth-seeded Golden Warriors (17-2) in a first-round sweep.
Boys’ volleyball
Division 1 State
North Andover 3, North Middlesex 2 — A diving dig by Ernest Kim, a set from Yash Patel, and the clinching kill off the hand of Kyler Shea finished off a resilient win for the No. 13 Scarlet Knights (16-5), with a 15-11 third-set clincher.
Trailing, 0-2, in the program’s first postseason home game, North Andover drew the Crozier Field House crowd back in as Gyan Mistry (15 kills, 13 digs) earned the winning point to finish off a 25-23 third set.
“It was a very loud environment,” coach Mike Scammon said. “When we started picking things up in the third, it was thunderous.
The crowd was a big contributing reason we got back into the game.” Patel (42 assists), Shea (11 kills, 10 digs, 4 blocks), Jake O’Neil (12 kills), and Ben Metsch (4 kills, 4 blocks) made key contributions to the comeback.
“We felt we had a strong competitive team, we wanted to earn that top-16 seed [to get a home game],” Scammon said. “That was a very big team goal of ours. The guys were excited about it.”
Correspondents AJ Traub and Julia Yohe contributed to this story.
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.