Varsity Club, Championships, and Recognition

Weekly Athletic Update, 4/9/2019

Congratulations to senior hurler Tim O’Connor who threw a no-hitter against the Pingree School on Saturday. The crafty southpaw struck out 9 and kept the Pingree batters off-balance all day with a nice mix of fast balls and off speed deliveries. WA’s bats responded to his efforts as they pounded out 8 runs on the afternoon to earn their 2nd consecutive win in the week. On Friday afternoon at a frigid Blackburn diamond, the hosts jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 7-6 win over ISL foe, Belmont Hill School. A mid-week match-up with yet another ISL team, Noble and Greenough saw the Hilltopers stage a furious late-inning rally only to be gamut denied in the game’s final inning to fall, 9-8. Worcester Academy begins league play on Wednesday when they host Cushing at 3:30 pm.
  • Coach Zak Johnson’s JV baseball team is out of the gate in solid fashion posting impressive wins over Cushing and Portsmouth Abbey to run their record to 2-0. Will Ernst was very effective on Saturday shutting down Portsmouth Abbey hitters in route to a 65 pitch, 8-1 triumph. Gabe Pitts banged out three hits as well to pace the offensive attack.
  • Congratulations to Head coach, Jake Sumner on his 1st career win here at WA as the varsity lacrosse team travelled to Cheshire Academy and emerged with a 6-4 win on Wednesday. A strong Suffield team turned the tide on the home town team at a blustery Morse Field on Saturday posting a hard-earned 7-4 victory. A road trip to the Winchendon School on Wednesday is the next challenge for the Hilltoppers.
  • Girls’ varsity lacrosse has shown encouraging early season signs despite getting out of the gate, 0-2. Portsmouth Abbey jumped out to an early lead on Wednesday but senior Grace McShea led a comeback with her 3-goal effort to pull the Hilltoppers within shouting distance of PA. An early morning Saturday trip to Cheshire saw the visitors fall behind early and this time the lead proved to be insurmountable, eventually falling by an 18-8 count. The team will look to gather some momentum in Wednesday’s home match against the Winchendon School. Game time is 3:30 pm.
  • Two games into the season and our softball team has seen the gamut from scratching out hits to absolutely pulverizing the softball. Credit to our oppositions pitching and the cold conditions for keeping our bats at bay in an opening game loss to Brooks on Wednesday. Senior Laura Hill got the bats going on Thursday afternoon as the team opened its home schedule with a convincing 24-9n win over Wilbraham & Monson. Hill went 4-5 and knocked in 6 runs in pacing the Hilltopper attack. Deerfield provides the opposition on Wednesday in a 3:30 start out at New Balance Field.
  • Conditions, per usual in the early spring have been difficult for our tennis and golf teams. After an early season win over Portsmouth Abbey our boys’ team has dropped consecutive matches to St. Paul’s and Pomfret School. The St. Paul’s match was particularly competitive with multiple matches going to “deuce” games.
  • On the girls’ side of the tennis ledger, our team has dropped opening season matches to Portsmouth Abbey and St. Mark’s School. Ayesha Lobo registered our lone win in the later match while senior Veronika Osgood secured our lone win in the PA match.
  • Track & Field’s numbers are a bit challenged as the team works to get healthy and to point towards a productive run in the NE Track & Field Championships in May.
  • 1st Year Head golf coach, Al Vaudreuil is anxious to get off the mark as he fills the shoes of long-term coach, Bob Thorn. Early season matches have been put on the back burner due to weather conditions, but Wednesday’s forecast should put our team out on the links in search of their 1st win. Good luck to Coach Vaudreuil and the team!
 
 
Co-Athlete of the Week:
 
Timothy O’Connor ’19 – Varsity Baseball
Laura Hill ’19 – Varsity Softball
Back