Bartlett's Neil Flanigan and Chris Mullins (#75)

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

It felt so good to be back on the grass watching high school football this past weekend!  Basketball always has been my personal favorite sport, but there is something special about watching high school football games, especially under the lights.

It was a pretty good first week for Shepherd Hill, not so good for Bartlett and Oxford. In fact, I even did something I have never done while covering a football game. I left the Shepherd Hill game at half time and it had nothing to do with the fact that the game was televised on Charter Channel 3.

Why did I leave? For all intents and purposes the game was over. The Rams had a 38-8 lead and Westborough couldn’t have stopped them if they had 12 guys on the field instead of 11. They had no chance whatsoever of coming back. 

Any way my hunch was a good one because when I got home and turned on Charter (just in case), none of the Rams offensive starters were in the game. Classy move, by the way, by Chris Lindstrom. There is no need to rub it in when you have a 30-point lead at half time of a high school game.

Drew Ravenelle: Speaking of the Rams, Drew Ravenelle was the clear-cut choice as the player of the week, with his offensive line getting a close second. It wasn’t just the two touchdowns that Ravenelle scored, it was his overall poise and leadership. Without even throwing a pass, Ravenelle is a great quarterback.

Tyler Barrie: Oxford High Captain Tyler Barrie gets the nod with the play of the week. His 54-yard punt return for touchdown against Bay Path was a real work of art.

Neil Flanagan: It was a bit of a surprise to see Bartlett sophomore Neil Flanigan with a broom in hand cleaning up the Webster Plaza Parking lot early Saturday morning. Not because the 16 year old has a job and was working on the weekend, which is a good thing, but because of some of the hits I saw him take on the football field against a physical Northbridge team the night before. This, my friend’s, is the life of a high school football player.  When I asked how he felt, he said he felt good with a bit of a smirk on his face.  Flanigan is a tough kid and a very good football player. 

Emily Dawidczyk/Oxford Soccer: “The Sweet Assassin” wasted little time showing us why she is one of the best soccer players in Central Mass, scoring five goals in the Oxford Pirates season opener vs. Southbridge.  Eighth grader Rebecca Nguyen (below) also added a goal and a pair of assists in the win for the Pirates.

Dawidczyk and the Pirates square off against Bartlett in Webster today ( September 12).

Oxford Pirates eighth grader Rebecca Nguyen

Lauren Puishys: It was nice to see Lauren Puishys (photo below) on the sidelines at Oxford High’s field hockey opener against Sutton last week. Seems like the former Pirate and current WPI goalkeeper may have some coaching aspirations down the line as she was seen giving encouragement to the Oxford players.

Former Oxford three-sport Star Lauren Puishys checking some field hockey

Lindsay Bond: We also were happy to run into Lindsay Bond, another recent grad, last Thursday at the Bartlett girl’s soccer game. Special Agent Bond informed us that she not only will she be playing basketball at Anna Maria College this year but she will also be back on the softball diamond in the Spring. Go Bond!

Nichols Bison Lose 34-7: The Bison dropped to 0-2 after being blasted by Framingham State 34-7 in their home opener on Friday night.  Quarterback Pat Viencek was the lone bright spot for the Bison, throwing for 247 yards and a touchdown in the loss.  The Bison will play Mass Maritime at home Friday, September 14.

Upcoming Game Of The Week: The Shepherd Hill Rams take on St. Peter-Marian Saturday night in Worcester in a game that should be a real barnburner.

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View From The Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

Photos and Text By Steev Riccardo

Greetings sports fans! 

It really makes zero sense that Bartlett and Oxford don’t play each other in high school football.  How many reasons do you need to argue this?

The two towns and schools are within a stone's throw of each other, the enrollment sizes are very similar, and the two schools already play each other in every other sport and have great rivalries in each of them. Yet they don’t meet every year on the football field. Something is wrong with this picture.

Both schools play much bigger schools like Shepherd Hill and Tantasqua every year and Oxford also plays a bigger Bay Path every season.  Of course we don’t want to see those rivalries end, even though there is an obvious difference in enrollment. Still, the schedules could easily be tweaked to put Bartlett and Oxford on the same field together.

Last Saturday I brought this topic up with Oxford High Athletic Director John Doldoorian while we were on the sidelines of the Oxford-Blackstone Valley Tech scrimmage. Doldoorian said he would be totally in favor of it and I would find it hard to believe that Bartlett Athletic Director Rene Langevin or either coach or any of the students would feel any differently.

Doldoorian brought up a very interesting point about this year's schedule when he questioned why the Pirates were playing Nashoba Valley Tech, which is located in Westford.  In case you are wondering, Westford is 46 miles from Oxford.  Hello? Dear Mr. M.I.A.A (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association) schedule maker, are you kidding?

On the other hand,does Bartlett have to make a 25- mile trek to play Quaboag and vice versa every year when they could practically walk to Oxford from Lake Parkway? Bartlett and Quaboag have a good rivalry in basketball, the football rivalry is non-existent. 

We need to lobby hard for a Bartlett-Oxford yearly football game and this is where the lobbying begins. Considering the way the crowds  flock to the game when each of these schools play neighboring Shepherd Hill, it makes all the sense in the world for them to meet on the football field every year. Think of the possibilities! This is an annual rivalry waiting to happen.

Nichols Bison Drop Gridiron Opener: Things didn’t exactly start off the way we hoped they would for the Nichols Bison football squad last Saturday. They were blasted by Westfield State 41-18 in Westfield, Mass.

Jonathan Winbush led the Bison with 73 yards rushing, while back-up quarterback Pat Viencek threw a pair of touchdown passes in the loss.

The Bison will take on Framingham State this Friday night in their home opener in Dudley.

Game of the week:
Oxford at Bartlett, Girls Soccer Wednesday, September 12
Two teams coming off tough seasons look to turn things around. This is our marquee match-up of the week.

A key for the Indians will be to try and stop Central Mass all-star Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk, which will be no easy task.

Emily Dawidczyk and the Oxford Pirates take on Bartlett Wednesday September 12 in Webster

When asked about playing and defending Dawidczyk, Bartlett senior co-captain Jen Grooms said, “It's nerve racking to know that it's up to me to take care of her. She is such a good player. She is stronger, so it’s a little tough. I will be as physical as she will be.”

Bartlett fullback Kayla Sizer added, “Emily (Dawidczyk) is a great player but we can’t wait to go up against her again this year.”

Upcoming High School Sporting Events

Field Hockey
Thursday, September 6:
Southbridge at Oxford

Quaboag at Shepherd Hill

Monday, September 10
Oxford at Uxbridge

Football
Thursday September 6:
Westborough at Shepherd Hill
Friday, September 7:
Bartlett at Northbridge
Saturday, September 8
Oxford at Bay Path

The Bartlett Boys Soccer team opens its season this week.

Boys Soccer
Thursday, September 6:
Bartlett at Grafton
Southbridge at Oxford
Quaboag at Shepherd Hill
Saturday, September 8
Shepherd Hill at Algonquin

Monday, September 10
Millbury at Bartlett
Oxford at Uxbridge
Shepherd Hill at Southbridge
Wednesday, September 12
Bartlett at Oxford
Shepherd Hill at Uxbridge

Girls Soccer
Thursday, September 6:
Grafton at Bartlett
Shepherd Hill at Quaboag
Oxford at Southbridge
Saturday, September 8:
Shepherd Hill at Algonquin

Monday, September 10:
Bartlett at Millbury
Uxbridge at Oxford
Wednesday, September 12:
Oxford at Bartlett
Shepherd Hill at Uxbridge

Girls Volleyball
Wednesday, September 12
Shepherd Hill at North Middlesex

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View From The Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

Bartlett Goalie Jacob Murphy

Text  and photos by Steev Riccardo

Greetings sports fans!

One thing that was pretty apparent when making the rounds at the local high school football fields this past week was that the schools are looking good and ready to play.   

It’s not only the players that are impressing. Each of the three local schools have outstanding head coaches and staffs that are equally rising to the occasion.   

You can’t help but appreciate Chris Lindstrom (Shepherd Hill), Dane Laboissonniere (Bartlett) and Mike Adams (Oxford).  They all have their own distinct way of getting their teams ready, but you get the feeling its going to be pretty exciting around here this fall. 

Some early View favorites and players whom you should keep your eye on include Rams quarterback Drew Ravenelle, Bartlett sophomore halfback Harry Le, and Oxford Pirates two-way stud senior Tyler Barrie.  You could call it a hunch, but we get the feeling that these guys are going to have big seasons and help their respective teams make playoff runs.

Bartlett Boys Soccer: We caught a little bit of the Bartlett boys soccer practice last week and while there were a few familiar faces, like Evan Anderson and Nick Terranova, on the field, the team is most definitely in rebuilding mode. 

The Indians lost Central Mass all-star Nick Kobel (Springfield College) and superb goalie Tyler Mandeville (UMass Dartmouth) and a flock of other key pieces to graduation, but look for coach Ryan Renault’s team to be ready for action when they open next Tuesday at Doherty in Worcester.

The Indians play at Grafton on Thursday, September 6, before their home opener on Monday, September 9, in Webster.

Bartlett Girls Soccer: The Bartlett girls open Thursday, September 6, at home against Grafton and follow it up with a trip to Millbury on Monday, September 10. Everyone is raving about junior Dani Stone, who led the Indians last season as a sophomore and could be a real threat this season as the Indians look to turn things around and get in the winning column.

Shepherd Hill Field Hockey: The Shepherd Hill girls open their Field Hockey season on Thursday, September 6, at home against Quaboag.  They then travel to Quabbin on Saturday, September 8, and Southbridge on Monday, September 10. 

In a key matchup down the road they play at Oxford, who were 18-0 during the regular season, on September 27.

Shepherd Hill Girls Volleyball: The Rams girls volleyball squad opens their season at Worcester North on Wednesday, September 5, and will be home on Monday, September 10.

Oxford Girls Soccer: Central Mass all-star Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk and the Oxford girls open their season on Thursday, September 6, at Southbridge and follow that up with a home opener under the lights on Monday, September 9, against Uxbridge. The Pirates take on Bartlett in Webster on Wednesday, September 12.

Nichols Bison Opener: The Nichols Bison open this Saturday at Westfield State. The teams had an epic 21-20 contest last season in Dudley that saw the Bison lose on a blocked extra point after an amazing 95-yard fumble recovery and return for a touchdown by Peter Curto.

We are hoping that former Shepherd Hill fullback Anthony Wilga gets to see some playing time. Wilga was on the first ever View from the Sidelines super team for his tremendous sports accomplishments last year, especially on the football field, where he ran for over 800 yards and scored 13 touchdowns.

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View from the Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

Anthony Wilga sporting new colors this year
More photos follow 

Text And Photos By Steev Riccardo

Hello Sports Fans!

Second year Head Football Coach Kevin Loney and the Nichols Bison are going into this season looking to do something that didn’t happen all last season, they would like to win a game. 

With an opening day battle at Westfield State happening on Saturday September 1, the Bison have been working hard to get ready to turn a program around that has struggled and has not had a winning season since 2003. In fact they haven’t even hit .500 since they went 5-5 in 2007. It has been a tough road as of late, but that looks like it may be about to change.

There is a good feeling in the air at Nichols and with Loney and his coaches instilling a positive attitude into his young team, wins could be coming soon.  They certainly have the talent.

The team has a bunch of pretty good players returning from last year’s squad, including senior linebacker Peter Curto, right tackle Joe Richardson, who is 6’8” 330 pounds (after losing 30 pounds), speedy wide receiver Joe Lambert, quarterback Jacob Shoup (10 TD’s), and center Neil Raddu, who missed all of last year with an injury but looks to anchor the offensive line this season.

The team also has some intriguing newcomers including former Bay Path graduated and WWE wrestler 26-year-old tight end Ken Doane, who enrolled in college as a freshman and has impressed Loney with his toughness. Pro wrestling fans may remember Doane from when he wrestled under the moniker Kenny Dykstra.

Another newcomer is former Shepherd Hill star Anthony Wilga, who gives the team more versatility and toughness at fullback. Wilga had 13 touchdowns and 800 yards in his senior season for the Rams last year. 

Wilga, along with freshmen Lucien Cance, will be part of a talented group of power backs, which also includes sophomores Jonathan Winbush and Brett Franciosi, both of whom Loney spoke highly of.

“We have a bunch of great young backs, everyone of them can play, I don’t know how we are going to get them all the ball. It’s a great problem to have. In an ara where fullbacks are passé we have some great fullbacks,” said Loney. 

The Bison also have high expectations for a pair of returning halfbacks in Felipe Njeim and Chris Gallego who will play key roles in the backfield.

The team looked good scrimmaging last Saturday when guys making plays on both sides of the ball.

“Defensively we are a little bit ahead because these guys have all played together for a year and we are still trying to put the offensive together,” said Loney. “I think we are lot closer than we were last year. We are going to continue to take it one day at a time.”

Speaking of last season Loney showed his team the film of their tough 21-20 loss to Westfield State last season and told the team how the outcome could have been very different.

“Our kids saw how many mistakes we actually made. If you lose a game by single digits that means somewhere in the game you had a chance to win it,” said Loney, “All the scores they got, we gave them help.”

Westfield State squeezed out that win in a game that saw Curto recover a fumble and run it back 95 yards for a touchdown on one of the most exciting plays of the season. However, before the celebration was even over, the extra point was blocked and the Bison suffered a heartbreaking loss.

Loney is confident about the opener at Westfield. “We know they are a really good team, I think they had a great off season, but we think we are better, its going to be a great game.”

The Bison play their home opener Friday September 7 against Framingham State with a strong schedule that includes games against Plymouth State, MIT, Endicott, and Salve Regina.

Bison defensive coach Will Blanden gives instruction

Quarterback Jacob Shoup needs to have a big season

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View From The Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

Akeem Belnavis led Bartlett to the semifinals
in Auburn before losing to Main South

Text and photos By Steev Riccardo

Hello Sports Fans!

It was almost exactly one year ago that the first View from the Sidelines column was published in The Patriot and I must admit, it has been a great pleasure writing this column every week.  The local sports scene continues to thrive here and it’s a great honor and privilege for me to be able to cover it every week for you.

As the new school gets ready to start in the next few weeks, the excitement is starting to build. Before you know it, the fields will be active, the crowds will be cheering, and the action will be hot and heavy. 

Of all the high school sports, it's high school football that always seems to generate the most excitement.  You not only have the schools and the players, but you have the cheerleaders and the marching bands; it’s a real production.  The countdown is on, and September 7 is the magical kickoff day!

Let's not forget about the summer so quickly though. It was an awesome few months of basketball camps, basketball leagues, baseball, softball, and a fantastic Nichols College football camp, which brought back memories of the days when Joe Namath and his cohorts were raising you-know-what around Webster Lake.

There were several great camps this summer, one of which was Tony Paranto’s BHS Sweat and Desire Camp, which was a huge success and further demonstrated that high school basketball is more popular than ever.

Nichols College head football coach Kevin Loney ran an outstanding camp for football players, which showcased the tremendous talent that can be found at area high schools.  Most of the local high school coaches were at the camp held on the school campus in Dudley as well as a couple of quarterbacks that will be key to their teams this fall in Bartlett’s Ricky Spooner and Shepherd Hill’s Drew Ravenelle.

In Girls Summer Basketball league action, the Shepherd Hill Rams finished in an impressive second place in the Shrewsbury league, which gives coach Jim Hackenson a lot to look forward to in the post Meghan Fornaro (22.5) era that ended when the 1000-point scorer graduated in June. 

The Rams will be led next season by all-star junior guard Brooke Packard (9.2), a defensive specialist, senior Taylor Daniels (8.5), and sophomore Ciara McKissick (5.1). On paper they look awfully good. 

Nick Kobel is off to Springfield College to play soccer

Speaking of star players graduating, the Bartlett Indians basketball squad also lost its leader in Nick Kobel, who will be attending Springfield College in the fall to play soccer.   Have no fear though, Bartlett fans, the Indians made it to the semi-finals of the Auburn Summer League before losing 70-67 at the buzzer to Main South last week.

Despite Kobel’s departure, the team may be even better next year than they were in 2011-12.  The Indians have a great core of players returning, including forwards Akeem Belnavis (14.6) and junior Alex Givens Perry (10.5) and guards Matt Huberdault (8.1), and junior Evan Anderson (5.3).  They also have sophomore transfer Jacob Mailloux, who will give them tremendous depth up front, and looked fantastic this summer.

Shepherd Hill Football: The Shepherd Hill varsity football schedule was made available this week and the Rams will be opening on September 7 at home against Westborough High School. They travel to St. Peter-Marian for a key week two match-up. They will meet Bartlett at home on October 12.

Cody Peck: Before moving on this week, we need to give a shout-out to Shepherd Hill 2012 graduate and football star Cody Peck, who ran for 863 yards and scored four times last year for the Rams. 

Peck, who is heading to Westfield State in the fall, is going to make history when he gets written up here in this column one week and has his band Scan The Sky written up in the Arts column next week.  Not only does Peck excel on the football field, but he is also an outstanding lead singer in a really good punk band. 

If you want to check out Cody on stage, Scan The Sky will be doing a free show at the Oxford bandstand on Saturday, August 25!

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View from the Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines

SCHEDULE

Bartlett at Northbridge September 7
Oxford at Bay Path September 8
Bartlett at Shepherd Hill October 12
Shepherd Hill at Oxford November 2

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo 

Greetings Sports Fans!  We were able to get a sneak peak at the high school fall schedule this weekend and a few gems immediately caught our attention.

The Bartlett Indians, who are coming off a 7-5 season, and the Shepherd Hill Rams, who were 8-4 a year ago, will meet on the Hill October 12 in a key gridiron battle, as it is every year.  The Rams trounced the Indians last year in Webster 40-14, dominating from start to finish, so it’s a good bet that the new-look Indians will be out for revenge. 

In another key football battle, the Rams will travel to Oxford (3-8) on November 2 to take on the Pirates and new head coach Mike Adams and what looks to be a newly revamped offense.  Firstly, however, the Pirates will look to get their season off on the right track with an opening day clash with the Bay Path Minutemen on Saturday, September 8, in a noon matinee in Charlton.

Other interesting football tilts include the Rams taking on the Auburn Rockets in Auburn on October 5. You may recall that the Rams upset the Rockets last year ended their long winning streak. 

You can also put October 21 on your calendar, when the Indians take on the Leicester Wolverines, who thwarted their district hopes last year in the playoffs. Expect a hard-nosed battle when these two teams meet.

The Why Not Game: Am I the only one scratching my head around here trying to figure why Bartlett and Oxford don’t play each other on the football field? It doesn’t make much sense does it? It could be a huge rivalry between the neighboring towns which already play in just about every other sport. They match so well enrollment-size and geographically, it seems like a no-brainer.

Soccer Battles: Both the Bartlett and Oxford boys and girls teams will meet on the soccer field on Wednesday, September 12. The boys will meet in Oxford, with the girls doing battle in Webster.

Field Hockey: The Oxford Pirates girl’s field hockey team, who are coming off a remarkable 18-0 season, will open their season at home on Tuesday, September 4, against Sutton. 

The Pirates will have to overcome the loss of a very strong senior class that included leading scorer and Central Mass all-star Michelle Williams and superb goaltender Lauren Puishys, who had an amazing 11 shutouts in goal a year ago.

AAU Baseball Tryouts: Tryouts for the upcoming AAU baseball season are August 12th and/or August 19th.  10U-12U are from 1pm-4pm at Lemansky park in Auburn and the 13U-15U are 9:00-12:00pm at Lemansky park.  The tryout fees are; $20.00 for returning players and $30.00 for new prospects.  Please pre-register at www.centralmassbaseballclub.com

Ted Avlas, the Broadcaster: Did you know that Webster’s own Ted Avlas, a Patriot's season ticker holder since 1976, shelled out $500 for a piece of the parquet floor signed by Larry Bird? It's true! When Teddy is not handling business for the Webster Schools he can be heard broadcasting Bartlett Football and Basketball games on Webster Cable TV along with color guy Ed Kunkel.

Avlas started doing football games on WGFP with Rene Langevin in 1988 and was joined later by Kunkel. The two have been doing the games on Webster Cable since 2000.

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news that you would like to see in the View!

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

Hello Sports fans, welcome to the view!

Believe it or not, we are about six weeks away from the kickoff of the high school football season, and to say that we are not excited would be a big fat lie.

In this week's Patriot, we have a feature on Bartlett head football coach Dane Laboissonniere, and you can expect a lot more football talk here in weeks to come.

We're hoping to lock down new Oxford head coach Mike Adams for an interview and to get a preview on what is happening on the hill with the Rams and senior star quarterback Drew Ravenelle.

All three of the local football programs have some interesting story lines this fall.

The official high school football schedules have not been released yet, but we do know the Bartlett Indians are opening at Northbridge on Friday, September 7. A year ago the Indians lost at home to the Rams and are looking for revenge against a team that will be heavily favored to win it all this year in Central Mass.

The high school football season will be huge, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be covering other high school sports as well. From soccer to cross country to field hockey, it's looking like an exciting Fall.

Girls High School Soccer: It should be very interesting to watch Oxford High School soccer all-star Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk in action in her final season in what has been a remarkable career thus far.

Dawidczyk had 10 goals last year and was named a Central Mass All-Star. She has a lot of schools looking at her final campaign as she prepares to take her game to another level.

Coming off a three-win season, Dawidczyk is hoping her team will improve this year as well. The Pirates also have Gina Manzi, who had five goals and a total of nine points, returning.

Bartlett junior Dani Stone, who had nine goals last year for the Indians as a sophomore, is also a player to watch this fall. Her team is looking to improve their 4-14-1 record from last season.

Auburn Summer League: The Auburn boys basketball summer league playoffs are scheduled to get underway this week. Bartlett has been excellent with an 8-1 record, while Oxford is right there with the Indians at 8-2. Shepherd Hill, which rebuilding, has been up and down at 5-4. We hope to have some info and photos of the playoffs for you in next week’s paper so stay tuned for that.

Shepherd Hill Hoop Girls: The Shepherd Hill girls’ summer league team made it all the way to the finals of the Shrewsbury summer league before bowing out to Algonquin 31-14. This is only a sign of good things to come from a solid Rams team led by junior defensive wiz and all-star Brooke Packard. They finished an impressive 10-2 in summer league action.

Dewey Bozella: A few months back, I was privileged to hear Dewey Bozella speak at Nichols College. Just this past week ESPN aired the special on his life and I have to tell you if you haven’t seen, please do. It's amazing and very inspirational.

Bozella served 26 years in prison of a sentence that was overturned. Upon his release, he fought in a pro boxing match at the age of 52 and won and then retired undefeated, it’s quite a story.

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news that you would like to see in The View!

Akeem Belnavis drives to the hoop

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

Greetings sports fans!

The Auburn Boys Summer Basketball League is in its 34^th year of existence and continues to be the cream of the crop as far as high school boys' leagues go around these parts. It also serves as an excellent tune-up for a majority of the Southern Worcester County League’s teams.

If you are a fan of the local teams, the Auburn league is the best place to get a preview of Bartlett, Oxford, and Shepherd Hill, who are all involved, as they are every year. 

From the looks of things, and keep in mind that it is very early, all three teams look to have solid talent on board and should once again be competitive players in the SWCL.

Bartlett has looked very good and has an outstanding array of both returning talent and up and comers who could play key roles for head coach Tony Paranto next season.  The Indians are one of only two undefeated teams at 6-0, the other being Uxbridge, which could also be a powerhouse in SWCL.

Nick Terranova runs the offense

The Bartlett summer team has included a familiar cast of key players, including senior captain and shooting wizard Matt Huberdault, outstanding leaper Akeem Belnavis, juniors Alex Givens-Perry and Evan Anderson, and point guard Nick Terranova, all of whom played key minutes last season.

Bartlett hoop captain Matt Huberdault

Despite losing Central Mass all-star stud Nick Kobel, the Indians may be even better this coming year. They have a lot of depth and some interesting young players moving up the ranks, including sophomore transfer (St. John's) Jacob Mailoux, who at 6’3” gives them some much-needed height at forward.

The Oxford Pirates also have a ton of players coming back from their 11-10 2011-12 team, including outstanding lock-down defender Donny Freeland, point guard Mike James, and a couple of players who have not played at the summer league due to baseball commitments, Cody Stone and Tyler Barrie, who will be major contributors. They have a very strong senior class and may very well be the best defensive team in SWCL this year. 

Pirates Quram Mohammed surveys the court

The Pirates could also have a surprise in junior Quram Mohammed, who has looked very impressive at the Auburn league.

One team that needs to rebuilt and from the looks of things have a lot to work with, is the Shepherd Hill Rams. 

The Rams and coach Duane Corriveau lost the core of their team to graduation last year, including Kyle McKissick, Chris Patrinos, and Matt Rayla. These are guys who will be hard to replace, but the Rams summer team has some interesting players and a lot of size on it, including returning seniors Jessie DiTomasso and Justin Terlizzi, who will play key roles.

The Rams got a good look at Bartlett last week in a tough loss and it certainly looks like it will once again be a battle when the two meet this coming winter.  The Indians (13-9) beat The Rams (14-8) in a hard fought 66-59 contest last season in Dudley in their only head on match up.

Rams' Jessie DiTomasso and Indians' Akeem Belnavis battle for position 

With lots of action left at the Auburn league, there are plenty of great games coming up, including an interesting contest between Bartlett and Oxford this Thursday at 6 p.m.

Tom Jankins/Brindley Foundation: We ran into Quaboag baseball and basketball star Tom Jankins in Auburn last week. The Quaboag senior, an outstanding baseball and basketball star, was part of the Brindley Foundation’s championship winning season.

Jankins, who was the league MVP, pitched his team past the Worcester Eagles 9-4 in game one, while a couple of Shepherd Hill hurlers, Victor Champagne and Drew Ravenelle, led Brindley to a 13-2 win in the finale.

Jankins said he enjoyed playing with former Bartlett star Nick Kobel, who he has been competing with since they were youngsters and wished him well as he heads to Springfield College in the fall.  He also had some kind words about Bartlett junior Anthony Higbie, who he said has “a bright future” as a baseball player.  That was good to hear because we are big Higbie fans around these parts!

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news that you would like to see in The View!

Text and Photos By Steev Riccardo

This past weekend I was sitting around with a bunch of local coaches talking hoop (which was a total blast by the way) and Billy “The Kid” Herrion’s name came up in the discussion. Of course I was the one that brought it up because I usually do.

The former Oxford high basketball star was fresh in my mind for good season. I was recently interviewing Kirsten Doldoorian, a member of the Oxford High School 1000-point scorer club and we ventured into the Oxford gym to snap some photos and there was the 1000-point club banner with Herrion’s name on top hanging on the wall.

Ironically even though Herrion is the all-time boys leading scorer ay Oxford, he isn’t the all-time scorer, that honor goes to Carle Berube, who scored over 2000 points, a record that will never be touched unless some sort of a modern day miracle happens. Still “Billy The Kid’s” accomplishments in a Pirate uniform will never be forgotten.

Back to the conversation that got this all started. One of the guys sitting at the coaches’ table was Paul Bolio, who as a junior played with Herrion at Oxford, and of course reminded me that he was on the team and played in “The Game.” Yes “The Game”.

If you were around in 1976 then you know exactly what game he was talking about.  It was that infamous 85-83 double overtime game in which Oxford beat Bartlett and our boy Mr. Herrion dropped in 47 points.  It was without a doubt the greatest high school basketball game I had ever seen and Bolio didn’t dispute that for one minute.

As incredible as the game was it was Herrion’s performance that was out of this world. Lets not forget that there was no three-point line in high school basketball back then, which makes his performance even more special.  It was a shooting exhibition that you couldn’t believe and unfortunately no one had a video camera in the room that night.

It’s great performances like that which will always be remembered.  This of course leads us to some of this past school year’s unforgettable high school performances, some of which will also always be remembered.

Fornaro Mania Hits 40 (left, below): It was Megan Fornaro’s last home game and an opening round district game against North Middlesex when the senior captain went berserk and dropped in 42.  She was unconscious at times, ice in her veins, hitting 8 three-pointers and putting on a clinic that left everyone in the gym shaking their heads.

Rocco’s Hit Vs. Prouty:  Recently I met a kid who played for the David Prouty high school football team this past season and I told him I was on the sidelines during their game against Bartlett at WPI and we both looked at each other and said “the play” at the same time.  The play we were speaking of was easily the play of the year in high school football. Well, at least in these parts it was.

Bartlett QB Ricky Spooner had just thrown an interception on the last play of the first half with his team trailing and the Prouty defender that made the interception decided to try and cross the field and run down field. He never saw Bartlett’s Rocco DiStefano (above with Megan Fornaro), who came out of nowhere and clocked him jarring the ball loose.  An alert DJ Kirby-Thomas scooped up the ball and ran it 40 yards down field into the end zone giving Bartlett a half time lead which they would not surrender.  The crowd was shocked and there was this crazy sportswriter jumping up and down on the sideline. It was epic.

Lemay The Strikeout Machine (above): It was opening day in high school baseball when Oxford Pirates lefty Nick Lemay set the tone for a very successful season for the Pirates striking out 16 batters en route to a 10-0 season that was unmatched in Central Mass. 

On this day in retrospect like many of his other starts Lemay was unhittable. The star pitcher is headed to Becker College in the fall but for now lets remember him for producing one of the best high school performances of the year.

Honorable Mentions: There are so many other great individual performances this past year that we could mention from Shepherd Hill’s Stella Worters to Bartlett’s Nick Kobel to Oxford’s Nicole “The Franchise” Mangaudis.

If you want to get really technical about it, The View Athlete of the year award winner Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk, who was a running and jumping machine in Indoor and Outdoor track for Oxford could fill an entire highlight reel herself.  That’s how good of a year she had. 

All it all it was fantastic a real pleasure for me to get to see it all.

Photo of The Week: This week’s photo of the week is Oxford senior athletes Tyler Barre and Gina Manzi, who took a few minutes away from their busy school schedules a few weeks back to smile for the camera!

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Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

There was no surprise whatsoever to hear the news that Oxford’s Emily “The Sweet Assassin” Dawidczyk, Shepherd Hill’s Stella “The Sensation” Worters, and Oxford’s lefty hurler Nick Lemay were named to the Central Mass all-star team this past week.

The local trio of stars all had outstanding seasons this spring and were huge for their respective teams. They were unanimous choices for the elite Central Mass all-star squad and should all be proud of their great accomplishments.

Emily Dawidczyk: We have praised and written about Dawidczyk week in and week out for she not only is regarded the best in SWCL but now the best in Central Mass and one of the best in the state and in New England at what she does.  The scary part is that she is only a junior and has the opportunity to go even further, and she will.

Lemay: (above) From the moment Lemay took the mound on opening day and pitched a three-hitter, striking out 16 against Quaboag, you knew he was going to dominate and dominate he did all season long.
He finished with a 10-0 record and an incredible 0.23 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 60 innings. He also batted .444 with three homeruns and 22 runs batted in. Most importantly, he led the Pirates to the state semi-finals. Lemay is headed to Becker College where we expect to see him do much of the same.  He was clearly the best baseball player in our area.

Stella Worters: Stella was no less than sensational this year as a sophomore at Shepherd Hill.  She dominated the mile-run and proved that by winning the Central Mass title. She also finished fourth at the state meet, beating her Central Mass mark by 8 seconds. She was also part of the the Rams 3200 relay team, which finished second in Central Mass.  Worters is without a doubt the best long-distance runner in the area and has two more years to entertain us with her outstanding talents both indoors and outdoors.

Southern Worcester County League All Stars: (more photos below)

Baseball First Team: Nick Lemay (Oxford), Drew Ravenelle (Shepherd Hill.)

Baseball Second Team: Evan Anderson (Bartlett), Nick Cardoni (Oxford), Cody Stone (Oxford), Bryan Stearns (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Softball First Team: Nicole “The Franchise” Mangaudis (Oxford), Evelyn Marquis (Oxford), Molly Covill (Shepherd Hill), Sam Miller (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Softball Second Team: Lindsay Bond (Bartlett), Sarah Smith (Oxford), Cassidy Colby (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Tennis First Team Doubles: Bri Borus and Sandy Tarasiak (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Tennis Second Team Singles: Jen Grooms (Bartlett).

Girls Second Team Doubles: Steph Gallant and Chrissy Chevalier (Shepherd Hill).

Boys Track First Team: Arthur Hackenson (Bartlett), Rocco DiStefano (Bartlett), Izzy Kyei (Oxford) Chris Patrinos (Shepherd Hill), Leo Harmon (Shepherd Hill), Jake Grotton (Shepherd Hill).

Boys Track Second Team: Andrew St. Germain (Oxford), Elijah Fossas (Shepherd Hill), Dan Stomski (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Track First Team: Emily Dawidczyk (Oxford), Jordan Orrell (Oxford), Stella Worters (Shepherd Hill), Juleanna Schultz (Shepherd Hill), Kate McCambridge (Shepherd Hill).

Girls Track Second Team: Anissa White (Oxford), Emily Mattson (Shepherd Hill), Kaleigh Durkan (Shepherd Hill), Emily Thibaud (Shepherd Hill).

Congratulations to all the locals that made the all-stars and all the rest of the high school athletes that made the spring season incredible.

The Franchise and Evelyn Marquis, SWCL all-stars

Molly Covill, SWCL all-star

Lindsay Bond, SWCL all-star

Leo Harmon, SWCL all-star

Jordan Orrell, SWCL all-star runner

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