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SL softball falls to Marshfield

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The Silver Lake High softball team’s first round playoff game did not go the way that they had hoped.

The No. 7 seeded Lakers hosted Marshfield, the 10 seed, on Friday afternoon to start off the MIAA Division 1 South playoffs. Marshfield brought their best bats with them and topped Silver Lake 9-3, ending the Lakers’ season.

The Lakers finish the season at 15-6 overall.

Marshfield set the tone in the top of the first inning, tacking on four runs–which made the difference in the game. Each of their first four batters reached base and eventually, Marshfield knocked in all of them.

The Lakers trimmed their deficit to 4-1 in the bottom of the first inning; Izzy Ruprecht shined in the game, collecting three hits and reaching base three times. Ari Sylvester knocked her in on a sacrifice fly the first time Ruprecht reached base.

Ruprecht also scored a run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Lilly Gustafson hit an RBI single to make it a 9-3 game. However, the Lakers were unable to make a comeback when down six runs.

Bri Belfort pitched for the Lakers and took the loss, but was sharp for much of the game. She had a stretch towards the end of the contest in which she retired eight straight batters. She also escaped a bases loaded jam in the sixth inning without surrendering any additional runs.

An experienced team, the Lakers will lose seven players to graduation now that their season is over.

These include: Izzy Ruprecht, Amanda Harris, Jessica Stas, Hayden Wechter, Hannah Mitchell, Stephanie Bennett and Eleanor Swanson.

Even so, pitching should be a strong suit yet again next season with the team’s ace, Bri Belfort, set to return; Ari Sylvester will also be back next season at third base.

SL alum Maddy Barone receives Div. II All-America Honorable Mention honors

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Maddy Barone was dominant this spring, and received high praise for her performance.

The Halifax native, Silver Lake Regional High School alum and pitcher on the Southern New Hampshire University softball team was chosen to be a Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-America Honorable Mention, according to SNHU’s official athletics website. With the selection, Barone became just the second player in franchise history to earn a spot on the list.

The 5-foot-8 junior was dominant for SNHU this past spring, emerging as the team’s clear-cut ace. She pitched in 33 games, including 30 starts. She went 20-7 with a 1.25 ERA while striking out 182 batters in 206.2 innings pitched. She hurled 23 complete games, nine of which were shutouts. Her ERA and innings pitched led the New England 10 Conference while her appearances, complete games and shutouts ranked second among pitchers in the league.

Barone’s top performance of the season came on March 25 against Post. In a complete game win, she allowed just one hit and two walks over seven innings and struck out eight batters. SNHU won the game 6-0.

Barone’s teammate, fellow Silver Lake alum and Halifax native Emily Critch, a sophomore, also had a highly-productive season. In 52 games, the catcher/infielder hit .266 with eight home runs and a .765 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage). After serving as the catcher in 2018, Critch primarily played third base this season.

SNHU went 38-15 on the season. Their season came to a close on May 11 following a 4-0 loss to Saint Anselm in Game 6 of the 2019 NCAA East Regional 1.

This past season, SNHU’s roster only featured one senior so with experienced players coming back next season–including Barone and Critch–the team has an opportunity to experience even more success next spring.

Four Laker runners shine at All-States competition

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Four members of the Silver Lake High outdoor track and field teams had an opportunity to shine this past weekend out in western Massachusetts.

The Lakers sent four athletes to the MIAA All-State meet out at Westfield State–and they enjoyed some positive results in the process.

Alex Loyd was the lone representative from the boys’ team. The senior, who is a first year member of the spring track team, came in ninth place in the triple jump (43 feet and 7.75 inches). His season is still not over as he already qualified for the New Balance Outdoor National Championship which will take place in two weeks.

On the girls side, senior Ali McDonough wrapped up her highly productive Lakers career. She took 17th place in the 100 meter hurdles (15.84 seconds).

It might have been the last event of her high school career, but she will continue running at Bridgewater State (NCAA Division III) next season. McDonough holds the Silver Lake High record for girls in the 100 meter hurdles (15.51 seconds); it was that strong performance at Div. II states which allowed her to advance to All-States as a wildcard.

The girls team also had a pair of freshman competing at All-States, indicating the future is bright for the team. Riley Paskow came in ninth place in the 400 meter dash (59.55 seconds). Meanwhile, Summer Bejarano ran the two mile and finished 21st overall (12:31.15).

It is worth noting Paskow had the top performance of any freshman in the 400 meter dash, edging out the next best freshman by 0.78 seconds. Meanwhile, Bejarano was one of just two freshmen to compete in the two-mile event. That said, both have an opportunity to continue shining and improving over the next few years for the Lakers.

Softball falls to B-R on Rivalry Saturday

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Both sides played well and made it a competitive game.

However, the Silver Lake High softball team could not string anything together offensively against a tough Bridgewater-Raynham opponent down at UMass Dartmouth on Saturday, May 18.

The Lakers competed against Bridgewater-Raynham in the third annual Rivalry Saturday. For the majority of the game, there was no score but ultimately, the Lakers came out with a 2-0 loss and fell to 12-3 on the season.

On the mound, Bri Belfort excelled for the Lakers. She pitched a complete game and although she took the loss, she carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Bridgewater-Raynham was able to get anything going offensively. In a complete game effort, she struck out seven batters and allowed just four hits in total.

Izzy Ruprecht hit well for the Lakers, collecting three hits against Bridgewater-Raynham. All of her hits were singles including one in the top of the first inning that gave the team a scoring opportunity. Hannah Mitchell followed up Ruprecht’s first base hit with another single, moving her over to third base. However, the Lakers were unable to capitalize; Bridgewater-Raynham retired back-to-back hitters to end the inning. This started a dominant stretch of pitching for B-R; the Lakers would not have another runner reach base until the fifth inning.

According to MaxPreps, the loss to B-R snapped a nine game winning streak for the team. This streak included a pair of games where the Lakers scored 20 runs or more: against Hingham on May 15 and against Scituate on May 8. The Lakers beat Hingham 20-10 and Scituate 29-1; the latter win was their highest run-scoring total of the season.

The Lakers next game is this Friday, May 24 against New Bedford at home; the game will start at 3:30 p.m., according to MaxPreps.

SL lacrosse teams will be playoff bound

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Since they are having such great regular seasons, the Silver Lake High lacrosse teams will keep playing once those schedules run out of games.

It appears as though both the boys and girls teams for the Lakers will be competing in the MIAA South Sectional playoffs this season. Last week, the girls qualified for the playoffs despite two weeks remaining of regular season play. Meanwhile, the boys made it clear they will clinch this week.

As of the start of this week, the girls were 10-3 on the season. They have been shining offensively as of late; in their three wins last week, the team scored a combined 62 goals, or more than 20 per contest, on average.

First, they trounced Barnstable 17-5 on Monday, May 6 and the following day, they had a season-high in goals. The Lakers beat Quincy 24-8 on May 7 and two days later, they had a 21-14 win over Bridgewater-Raynham. It was the win over Quincy that put them at 9-3 on the season and qualified them for postseason play.

On the boys side, the Lakers came within a game of qualifying for the postseason with a victory over a tough Bishop Stang opponent. Stang came into last week with the same record as them: 6-3 on the season. However, the Lakers had no issue taking them down 18-7 on Saturday May 11 to improve to 9-3 on the year.

Sean Daly led the way offensively in the boys victory over Stang, scoring five goals (with one assist). Dhruva Nugent’s three goals ranked second in the win.

The boys next game is next Tuesday,May 21 at home against North Quincy (4:00 p.m. start time).

The girls next game is on the same day against the same opponent at the same time, except they will be on the road.

SL honors seniors committed to play college sports

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At the conclusion at each and every school year, the Silver Lake High varsity sports teams lose a number of talented athletes to graduation and as a result, they need younger players to step up and fill the voids.

Even though the star senior athletes careers at Silver Lake are over, a handful of them end up using their athletic ability at the next level, playing a college sport. Recognizing this, Silver Lake High School held their own celebratory signing day on Thursday, May 2, recognizing the achievements of these senior star athletes who have already committed to playing a sport in college next year. Here is a look at who was honored.

Patrick McMahon — The Patriot League MVP soccer player will be playing for Bentley College (Division 2) this fall.

Colleen Foley — The captain of the Silver Lake girls’ lacrosse team will continue her career at Western Connecticut (Div. 3) next spring.

Anna Chapman — Also a captain of the Silver Lake girls’ lacrosse team, Chapman will play the sport at the University of New England (Div. 3) next spring.

Alex Lloyd — The forward for the boys’ soccer team will keep his soccer career going, playing for Fitchburg State (Div. 3) this upcoming fall.

Jenna Hurlburt — The midfielder for the girls’ soccer team will continue her career at Westfield State (Div. 3) this fall.

Hannah Mitchell — The captain, who plays first base for the Lakers softball team, will be a member of Union College’s (Div. 3) softball team next spring.

Katherine Morrisey — The girls’ swim team captain, who competed at the state meet this past winter, will compete at the University of Vermont (Div. 1)

Cam Danahy — The captain and linebacker of the Lakers football team will be a member of the Westfield State (Div. 3) football team this upcoming fall.

Lakers Boys LaX take Panthers 19-3

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The Silver Lake High boys’ lacrosse team continues to do what they do best: win.

The Lakers had no issue taking care of the Plymouth North Eagles last Thursday, Apr. 25 at home. The Lakers shined not only on the attack, but defensively as well. They came up with a 19-3 win to improve to 5-2 for the season.

From the start, the Lakers proved themselves to be the dominant team. In the first quarter alone, they went up 5-0, getting all the goals they needed to win the game. Dhruva Nugent was a major part of the team’s early success, notching a hat trick (three goals) in the first quarter.

The team’s dominance would not subside from there. Although they allowed a goal in the second quarter, they also put up six more to go up 11-1 at halftime.

During the second half, the Lakers held onto their lead, and expanded it. They had a spread out scoring effort, the defense got the job done and Mike Masterpolo was excellent in net.

In the win, one Lakers player had a milestone achievement in his career. Freshman Tommy Condon got in on the scoring action, netting his first career varsity goal.

Through seven games this season, the Lakers actually had a better record this season than last year when they were 4-3 at the same point. However, the Lakers did drop their road contest against Hingham on Tuesday, Apr. 30 15-5, dropping their record to 5-3 on the season.

So far this season, the Lakers have scored 94 goals and allowed 65 in eight games, meaning they have scored 11.75 goals on average while allowing 8.125.

The Lakers next contest is this Friday, May 3 on the road against the Whitman-Hanson Panthers. The Panthers are 6-5 so far this season, according to MaxPreps.

SL baseball shines over April vacation

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The bats got it done for the Silver Lake High baseball team.

Facing Plymouth North, a baseball powerhouse, the Lakers offense made the difference in their first round game of the Brad Martin Memorial Baseball Tournament on Tuesday, Apr. 16. The Lakers won the game 11-5 to improve to 2-3 on the season.

Silver Lake’s bats really started to come to life in the fourth inning, a three- run inning which gave them a 5-1 lead. They nearly batted around the lineup. Mike Quigley knocked in a run on a single while Matt Cauchon got an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

The Lakers scored their first two runs of the game in the first inning when Alex Heffernan, the No. 3 hitter, smacked a two RBI double to put his team up by a pair.

Later in the game, the Lakers offense roared in the seventh and final inning, tacking on six runs. One RBI in this rally came on a triple from Nolan Hughes, the team’s starting pitcher in the contest. Matt Bettle also had a triple in this dominant stretch of Lakers hitting.

On the mound, Hughes pitched on four days rest for the Lakers–and he was sharp. He got pulled in the sixth inning with the team up 5-2 and picked up the win.

Plymouth North rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, they could only muster three runs before recording three outs to end the ballgame.

Two days after their Plymouth North victory, the Lakers also beat New Bedford 7-6 in a nine inning contest to improve to 3-3 on the year. Hughes had a two RBI triple in the win, Heffernan gave the team a strong start on the mound and Quigley earned the win in relief.

The Lakers next bout is this Saturday, Apr. 27 on the road against St. John Paul II (11:00 a.m. start time).

SL boys lacrosse picking up where they left off

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With experience on their side, the Silver Lake High boys’ lacrosse team has continued rolling over the competition this season.

After going 14-4 last year, the Lakers success has showed no signs of subsiding. As of the start of this week, they were 3-1 on the season, once again showing they might just be a playoff caliber team.

The Lakers return a trio of their top players from last season: Patriot League All-Stars Sean Daly, Mike Masterpolo and Matt Dole. Offensively, Daly led the way last season with a team-high 101 points (55 goals, 46 assists). In net, Masterpolo, a junior, played well his sophomore year and provides the team with experience there once again. Meanwhile, Dole is a major asset for the team on faceoffs.

Offensively, the team is loaded with experienced talent. Daly and Dole provide the team with plenty of it in the midfield while Jake LaFerrera is also a returning player. On the attack, the starting line is identical as it was last year. This includes Brendan Dean, who scored 30 goals last season as well as Greg Wolff and Dhurva Nugent, the latter two of whom are juniors this season. Wolff scored 42 times last season while Nugent did on 38 occasions and dished out 32 assists.

Defensively, the team does not have as much experience, but has largely been fine so far this season. Sophomore Kyle Neal is that unit’s only returning starter this season. He will be joined by senior David Marani and junior Peyton Amiraule to provide support for Masterpolo in net.

The Lakers enjoyed a great deal of success last week. First, they beat Pembroke 20-9 on Tuesday, Apr. 9 and two days later, they beat Boston Latin 16-6.

The Lakers next game is on Tuesday, Apr. 23 on the road against Hanover (4:00 p.m.).

SL baseball building experience with younger team

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Nolan Hughes leans into the pitch. (Photo by Aaron Duke)

The personnel is largely different, but the goals remain the same for the Silver Lake High School varsity baseball team.

The Lakers lost 12 seniors to graduation following last spring when the team went 13-7 and made yet another MIAA Division 1 South tournament appearance. Now, it will be up to many younger players and varsity newcomers to lead the team this season.

The Lakers will be propelled by their starting rotation that does feature three returning varsity players: Nolan Hughes, Alex Heffernan and Michael Quigley. Each of them pitched well for the Lakers last season. Quigley threw a no-hitter in his first career varsity start last season, Hughes was a Patriot League All-Star and Heffernan is a four-year varsity player.

The challenges for the Lakers will include finding pitching depth and filling out their starting nine as they hope to contend for another Patriot League title; with Duxbury, Hanover and Plymouth South returning strong teams, it will be a challenge, as usual.

Cole Whidden and Jake Holmes should log some innings for the Lakers and the same could be said for Harrison Milbert, a freshman and first-year varsity player.

Hughes and Heffernan will both likely see time at first base when they are not pitching while Bobby Ohlson and Matt Bettle provide the outfield with some varsity experience. Will Cauchon’s bat will return to the lineup, seeing time at third base and as a designated hitter and Connor Burgess takes over behind the plate as the team’s starting catcher.

As of the start of this week, the Lakers were 0-2 on the season. They dropped their opening game against Xaverian 11-1 on Thursday, Apr. 4 and two days later, Barnstable beat them 5-0.

The Lakers next game is scheduled for Wednesday,

Apr. 16 on the road against Plymouth North (2:00 p.m. start time).