High school tournaments todayBaseballDivision III semifinalsAt SNHUNo. 18 Hopkinton (11-9) vs. No. 6 Bow (13-5), 4 p.m.
Previous tournament games: Hopkinton beat No. 15 Berlin, 3-1, in the first round, then topped No. 2 Conant, 2-0, in the second and No. 7 Bishop Brady, 4-0, in the quarterfinals. Bow beat No. 11 Winnisquam, 10-0, in the second round after getting a bye, then beat No. 3 Belmont, 6-2, in the quarters.
Head to head: The Falcons beat the Hawks, 12-3, on April 18.
Notes: A topsy-turvy Division III tournament has put two local rivals together with a trip to the final at stake. The Hawks’ ride can be summed up with the 18th seed sitting next to their name. Struggles in the field and at the plate plagued Hopkinton during a slow start to the season, but the mound triumvirate of Kyle Slevira, David Nelson and Ben McManus has delivered in the clutch, permitting just a single run against some of the division’s better teams. The semifinal starter is still up in the air, but it’ll be McManus or Slevira that gets the ball and looks to extend the Cinderella run.
The Hawks will face another team that has shown plenty of heart and grit. The Falcons’ win over Belmont was the latest in a string of gutsy wins over higher-ranked teams, and they’ve done it with a combination of strong pitching, good defense and timely hitting. Connor Blandini, Jeff Bell and Austin Beaudette have sparked the offense throughout the year, and Conner Lorenz broke out in the quarterfinals. The Falcons lean on their pitching, however, and with Bell – fresh off of a no-hitter in the second round – slated to get the ball, there’s reason for confidence that the good times will continue.
Boys’ lacrosseDivision III semifinalsNo. 5 Hopkinton (11-4) at No. 1 Laconia (16-0), 7 p.m.
Head to head: Laconia beat Hopkinton, 8-3, in the season opener on April 15
Notes: While Laconia has cruised through its season undefeated, Hopkinton has been one of the hottest teams in Division III. After a 2-3 start, the Hawks won eight of their last nine games to finish the regular season with the No. 5 seed. Hopkinton avenged an April 25 loss to Monadnock on Friday, winning 12-11 in the quarterfinals. Laconia dispatched of ConVal 17-8 in its quarterfinal matchup. The Sachems have been a high-scoring bunch, notching 14.5 goals per game in the regular season and double-digits in 14 of the 15 contests. To pull the upset, Hopkinton – which was the lone team to hold Laconia to single digits – will need big games from forwards Joe Cullinan, Sam Schuster, Liam Flanagan and Owen Kanter, as well as goalie Derek Amoth.
TennisSingles tournamentAt The Derryfield School, 3 p.m.
Notes: There’s a local player in both final fours – No. 1 Justin Toler from Concord on the boy’s side and and fourth-seeded Sydney Herrington from Bishop Brady on the girls’ side. Toler was the runner-up in this tournament last year as a junior. He’ll face No. 4 Aaron Diamond from Mountonborough in what looks to be the powerhouse semifinal matchup. The other side of the bracket has No. 6 Matt Lapsely from Souhegan facing No. 7 Zach Gould from Bedford, who Toler beat in last year’s semifinals. Herrington, who was the runner-up last year as a freshman, will face top-ranked Sam Barros from Pinkerton in the semifinals. The other half of the girls’ draw has unseeded Sage Winter of Portmsouth taking on defending-champ Julia Chappell from Manchester Central, the No. 2 seed. Conditioning will be a factor as the finals will also be played on Tuesday.
