Busy day for local teams
Tournaments begin in full force
Today will be an extremely busy day in Northern Worcester County sports circles, as 10 teams will take to the field in an effort to move on in their respective Central Mass. tournaments.
The softball and lacrosse competitions get underway beginning at 2 p.m. when the Lunenburg boys’ lacrosse team plays host to Arlington Catholic at the Veteran’s Memorial.
Most of Friday’s action will take place during the 4 p.m. hour, with the lone three softball teams who elected to move on to this stage of the season playing on the road.
Nashoba Regional, the highest seed from north of Route 117 at No. 5 in Division 1, will travel to Dudley to take on Shepherd Hill Regional, while North Middlesex Regional, the sixth seed, will take on No. 3 Wachusett Regional.
Leominster, the seventh seed, will travel to Grafton.
Should those three win, they would advance to Monday’s semifinals at the site of the higher remaining seed.
Just as Lunenburg is finishing up in Central/East, the Leominster boys’ lacrosse team will host Shrewsbury at Historic Doyle Field in the Central/ West tournament beginning at 4 p.m. The Blue Devils are coming off a loss to eventual Central Mass. Athletic Director’s Association Tournament champion Grafton on Sunday, and LHS will look to make up for some of the scoring it didn’t do against the Gators.
A Leominster win would send the Blue Devils to second-seeded Chicopee on Monday.
In addition, St. Bernard’s will travel out to East Longmeadow at 6 p.m., while Granby travels to Route 119 to play North Middlesex at 5 p.m.
A Bernardian win would send the Blue and Gold to play the Gators on Monday, while North Middlesex, should it win, would host either Saint Mary Parish School of Westfield or Pope Francis on Monday.
Three girls’ lacrosse games dot the schedule Friday.
Winless St. Bernard’s will travel to Mount Greylock, while North Middlesex and Nashoba will have 7 p.m. games: the Patriots, after NM and Granby play, will host Acton-Boxboro, while Nashoba hosts Northampton.
Should the No. 8 Patriots advance, they would travel to top-seeded Franklin on Monday. A Nashoba win would send the Wolves to secondseeded Agawam, while a St. B’s win would send the Bernies to Tahanto Regional.