Around seven weeks ago, the teams of Transcript Land took to the fields of spring in quest of titles and tournament berths. With just over week left in the season, there’s still plenty to be decided.
There are 31 tournament-eligible squads in Transcript Land and while that number might conjure up images of Baskin Robbins (Back in the day Daquiri Ice was the Westwood girls lacrosse of sherbets) at this point in the action the area squads are more like Neapolitan ice cream. Like vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, the locals can be separated into three district groups: playing for pride, playing for seeding and playing for something.
Twenty teams fall into the first two categories. Either you’ve qualified for the postseason and are looking to climb the ladder in the draw in final last week — or in the case of Westwood girls lax, already sewed up a title — or you’ve been eliminated from consideration and are playing out the string.
GEARING UP – Norwood boys lax, Norwood girls lax, Walpole boys tennis, Westwood baseball, Westwood softball, Westwood girls lax, Westwood boys tennis, Westwood girls tennis, Ursuline tennis, Xaverian lacrosse, Xaverian volleyball.
PACKING UP – Dedham baseball, Dedham boys lax, Dedham girls lax, Dedham boys tennis, Norwood boys tennis, Norwood girls tennis, Norwood volleyball, Walpole girls tennis.
That leaves 11 squads left that have some serious business left to take care of over the next week or so. Once again, those teams can be split into two (to beat the ice cream analogy to death, kinda like a Hoodsie. Remember those?), those after crowns and those after berths.
As one of the many public services we provide here at Transcript Land, here’s a breakdown of what those 11 teams face in the stretch run.
Walpole/Norwood girls softball — While it appeared early in the year that these two teams would duel to the finish for the title, red-hot defending champion Milton has stormed back into race and now actually has the easiest road the crown after the Mustangs reeled the Rebels back to the pack yesterday. Walpole and Milton currently stand tied at 10-3, but while the Rebels get Framingham, Wellesley and Norwood left, the Wildcats have the less intimidating trio of Dedham, Weymouth and Natick. At 8-4, Norwood not only has one more league contest left (Needham, Weymouth, Dedham, Walpole) than the other two during a five-game final week but will need some help in the form of an upset of the Wildcats.
Walpole baseball — The Rebel chances to defend their crown again looked bleak at after their loss to Milton but thanks to a five-game win streak and the Wildcats loss Wednesday to Needham, Walpole is right back in it. The Rebels will likely have to win out against Framingham and Wellesley to post a 12-4 league mark and hope one of Dedham, Weymouth or Natick can hang at least one more loss on 10-3 Milton.
Walpole boys lax — Jason Andalo’s unbeaten crew looks to be the best bet of the potential Rebels title troika. At a perfect 13-0 in the league, the Rebels have yet to be seriously challenged by a BSC foe, the most difficult hurdle to date an 8-5 win over Needham. The Rebels closest pursuer is Wellesley at 12-2, which means that a win over the Raiders sews everything up. First on the docket though is a Braintree team that gave the Rebels a little margin for error with recent upset of Wellesley, before closing out the season with Framingham.
Ursuline softball — Like the two next teams on this list the Bears have no margin for error. Yesterday’s win over Nazareth boosted Ursuline to 5-10 but the Bears still have to string another five straight to punch their ticket. Two each against both Austin Prep and Mt. Alvernia are winnable, but a tough task awaits in the finale at Shawsheen.
Dedham softball — The Marauders win over Newton North Wednesday kept the dream alive for another couple days, but at 6-9 Dedham still needs to win out for their bid. With a trip to Milton and a visit from Norwood wrapped around a meeting with Brookline, the Marauders face long odds.
Norwood baseball — The Mustangs got a last-minute stay of execution when the protest of their Natick loss came through, but at 6-10 with contests against the Redmen, Needham, Dedham and BC High still looming, no one will say that Norwood didn’t earn it if they run the table.
Dedham girls tennis — It’s the Marauders intention to walk through the front door into the draw. With an 8-8 mark and contests against three teams they own wins over left, Milton, Norwood and Brockton, the welcome mat is out.
Westwood boys lax — It would be a nice story if the Wolverine could complete their turnaround under David Evans with a tourney berth, and despite two straight losses at 8-9 it looks doable. With Westwood already owning a 14-0 win over Ashland, their final TVL contest left, the Wolverines will need to come up with a win over one of their unfamiliar non-league foes, a 12-4 Abington team with an impressive record and a suspect schedule or a 7-10 Brookline team with a less flashy mark against strong competition.
Walpole girls lax — Come the end of the week, the Rebels could be cursing the name Sam Vilaboa. Walpole needs just one point to qualify but thanks to Norwood forging a last-minute tie Wednesday, the Rebels will have to procure in from the powerful triumvirate of Framingham, Wellesley and Franklin. Look for Walpole to be in do-or-die mode Wednesday against the Panthers.
Xaverian baseball — Out of all of our bubble residents, the Hawks would appear to have the easiest path off. At 9-7, Xaverian let its first chance to qualify slip by at Catholic Memorial Wednesday but have four more cracks at the postseason against Brockton, BC High, Waltham and Peabody. One thing is for sure, the Hawks will celebrating the bid on a bus as all four tilts are on the road.
Once again, a light slate and a wet forecast are on tap for the weekend, so we’ll get right to the good stuff.
5. Walpole baseball (13-4) — The Rebels are starting to peak heading into the tournament. In other stunning news, Jessica Biel is kind of attractive.
4. Walpole boys track/Xaverian track (4-1/3-1) — No, we didn’t forget about our track title duo.
3. Nobles girls lax (13-0) — We pumped up the Nobles-Governor’s clashes last week and they delivered with a pair of OT thrillers. Who said Kurkjian was the ISL lacrosse guru?
2. Westwood girls lax (16-0-1) — With the way gas prices are these days, I’m extremely happy the East is hosting the Division 1 state title game this year.
1. Walpole boys lax (15-0) — The No. 1 spot in final regular season Power Poll is nice. It’ll take some hardware to top the next poll.
WILD CARD — Norwood baseball (6-10) — A 15-inning win and an upheld protest in the same week? Maybe Brian Williams is right — is someone trying to tell us something?
(Tom Fargo is Sports Editor of the Daily News Transcript. He can be reached at (781) 433-8372 or tfargo@cnc.com)
