After a slow start, the Bulldogs won seven of nine to end the regular season, including wins over St. Thomas and Souhegan. Then seventh-seeded Bedford knocked off the No. 2 Saints and No. 3 Lebanon to reach the Class I championship game against No. 1 Portsmouth.

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Clippers have been pretty good, too.

Behind the pitching of Nate Jones, Portsmouth defeated Bedford 5-1 on Saturday at MerchantsAuto.com Stadium in Manchester, giving the Clippers their third straight Class I championship and 63rd consecutive win.

For Bedford it was the end of a season in which it opened the year by going 3-4, including a 7-4 loss to Portsmouth on May 3. But in the Bulldogs’ next game, they blanked St. Thomas 10-0, handing the Saints’ their first loss, and then gave Souhegan its first loss, 7-3. Bedford also had a win over Con-Val in the regular season to go with the two playoff upsets.

Portsmouth now owns the 10th longest winning streak in the nation in high school baseball history. The Clippers’ 63 straight wins is one behind Newark St. Benedict’s, N.J. (1946-50), Naugatuck, Conn. (1969-73), Nekoosa, Wis. (1980-83) and Edwardsville, Ill. (1990-91) for sixth all-time.

Technorati Tags: baseball, Bedford, Class I, playoffs, Portsmouth

The No. 5 Sabers (13-4) fell behind early and couldn’t come back against the No. 12 Pride.

Matt Schagrin had a solo home run for Souhegan. In the seventh inning, Alex Lyon singled and stole second before scoring on a single by Chris Chininis.

Technorati Tags: baseball, Class I, playoffs, Souhegan

Technorati Tags: Bedford, boys tennis, Class I, playoffs

The Bedford boys tennis team poses with the Class I championship plaque.

CONCORD – Mark HoSang had a couple of reasons to be upset that the Class I boys tennis final had been postponed for the second time Thursday.

HoSang and the Bedford High School team were supposed to play Pelham on Tuesday at Memorial Field in Concord, but that was called off because of a forecast of afternoon thunderstorms and rescheduled for Thursday. More potential thunderstorms on Thursday bumped the match back again, this time to Friday.

But that was the least of HoSang’s concerns Thursday afternoon.

“This is what happened,” HoSang said. “I got out of school Thursday, I had a biology test and I wasn’t planning to take it. I did study a little. I got the announcement I was back in and had to take the test. I was kind of disappointed. That was frustrating.”

Just as frustrating as the Pythons and coach Lisa Terwilliger getting on a bus and heading for Concord Thursday afternoon.

“We were on the bus on Thursday, and we were in Derry,” she said. “I got a call and we had to turn around. By the time we got here (Friday), they were ready to go.”

The teams finally got on the court Friday afternoon, and No. 2 Bedford wrapped things up early by winning five of six singles matches to defeat No. 1 Pelham. The Pythons came back to sweep the doubles matches to make it a 5-4 final.

Mark HoSang serves during the No. 1 singles match.

For Bedford (18-0), the win completed an undefeated season and gave the Bulldogs their first tennis title in school history, and just the third overall.

“I’ve been waiting all season,” Myles Utell said. “Our original goal, we scrimmaged Concord on this court at the beginning of the season and we said let’s start here and end here with a championship. It’s a great accomplishment, especially in our third year as a program.”

Utell turned in a dominating performance for Bedford, cruising to an 8-1 victory over Pelham’s Matt Smith in the No. 2 match. Jim Delahunty gave the Bulldogs two wins when he finished off Ryan Fyfe, 8-2, in the No. 3 match.

Things got interesting after that. While Bedford’s Andrew Weeks was beating Ethan Ely, 8-4, in the No. 4 match, Pelham’s Matt Mercier was knocking off Taylor Summerville by the same score in the No. 5 match.

The Bulldogs lead 3-1 with two matches still going. HoSang had jumped out to a 4-0 lead over Jared Taylor in the No. 1 match, but Taylor cut the lead to 4-3 and 5-4.

In the No. 6 match, McKinley Grimes went up 6-1, but Pelham’s Gabe Ramos won four straight games to make it 6-5.

During the regular-season match between the teams, Bedford had won 9-0, and all Terwilliger had been hoping for was to see her team play better.

“I was hoping to see my team improve,” she said. “Everyone did. I just wanted to see improvement and I knew it was going to be a tough match.”

HoSang won the final three games of his match to beat Taylor 8-4, and Grimes held off Ramos to win the No. 6 match, 8-6.

As Grimes was coming down to the end, the rest of his teammates gathered near the entrance to the courts, a bucket of water hidden in the middle of the group. When Grimes finally won, they waited patiently for him, and doused the freshman as he celebrated with them.

“Those matches weren’t given to us, they had to fight,” Bedford coach Shawna Morley said. “They were focused. That was the beauty of this team, they knew what their mission was. The town of Bedford is such a tennis community, and they wanted to bring that home to Bedford and to the high school.”

With the win wrapped up, Morley substituted for her doubles teams.

Bedford captains Andrew Weeks, left, and Myles Utell stand with coach Shawna Morley after winning the Class I boys tennis title Friday.

Taylor and Smith took the No. 1 doubles match 8-5 over Bedford’s Steve Troy and Wesley Maddox. Ely and Mercier won at No. 2, beating Jim Foley and Warren Cormack, 8-2, while Fyfe and Ramos defeated Tom O’Reilly and Ben Greiner, 8-0.

Technorati Tags: Bedford, boys tennis, Class I, playoffs

Michael Peret helped the Souhegan boys track team to a fourth-place finish in Class I.

NORTHWOOD – Michael Peret has been a point machine for the Souhegan High School boys track team this year.

In February, he single-handedly won the Sabers their first indoor track title by winning the high jump, the 55-meter and 300-meter dashes and by running a leg of the 4×200 relay. The senior scored 40 of Souhegan’s 53 points, which tied them with Lebanon for first place overall.

On Saturday, in the Class I outdoor championship meet, Peret repeated his four-for-four performance.

He won the 100 in 11.16 seconds and the 200 in 22.7. He finished first in the high jump with a leap of 6-feet, 4-inches. And he teamed with Chris Champagne, Grant Raymond and Dennis Elverson to win the 4×100 relay.

Again, Peret had a hand in 40 of Souhegan’s 50 points, which was good enough for fourth place.

“That was my goal, to repeat indoor,” Peret said. “Get first in all my events.”

Peret was helped out a little by the order of events. With the field events starting earlier than in dual meets, the high jump was over with before he had to do any of the running events.

“I was so glad that was first because it was so much easier than running back and forth,” he said. “That definitely warmed me up and got me stretched out.”

But it also meant he had a while to wait between the 4×100 and the 200.

“I probably had about an hour,” Peret said. “I was always moving around, looking at other events and cheering everyone. That was my toughest event (the 200). That’s my last event and it’s the longest race.”

Of the events, the one that meant the most for Peret was the relay.

“It’s a team effort,” he said. “Dennis is a sophomore, he’s young. The rest of us are seniors. Some of them have never gotten a banner before, so that’s fun. It takes the most practice. Handoffs have to be exact. Anything is possible.”

Including a senior winning every event he possibly can during his final year of high school track.

Technorati Tags: boys track, Class I, Souhegan

Alvirne and Nashua South will meet in the first round of the Class L baseball tournament.

The NHIAA released the first-round matchups for the high school baseball tournaments, which are scheduled to begin on Thursday.

Eight local teams will participate, and while there are some interesting first-round matchups, its the games that could be played in the later rounds that are most intriguing.

Class L

With Nashua North (16-3) and Nashua South (12-7) on opposite sides of the bracket, the possibility for an All-Gate City Class L championship game is there, but it’s a long way off.

North earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament, and will get to host No. 16 Manchester Central (7-12) at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The Titans clobbered the Little Green during the regular season, beating them 10-1 on April 28. The winner will get to face either No. 8 Trinity (10-9) or No. 9 Spaulding (10-9) in the quarterfinals.

Also in that half of the bracket, No. 4 Salem (12-7) will host No. 13 Exeter (9-10), while No. 5 Manchester Memorial (12-7) takes on No. 12 Timberlane (9-10) in the first round.

South is the sixth seed and will get to host No. 11 Alvirne (9-10) on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Panthers beat the Broncos earlier this season in Nashua, winning 6-5 on May 21. The winner will take on the winner of No. 3 Londonderry (14-5) or No. 14 Concord (8-11).

Finishing out the bracket, No. 2 Goffstown (16-4) will take on No. 15 Pinkerton Academy (8-11) and No. 7 Keene (12-8), the defending champion, will host No. 10 Dover (9-10).

Class I

Portsmouth (16-0) will carry its 59-game winning streak into the playoffs. The top-seeded Clippers take on No. 16 Oyster River  (7-9) in the first round.

The winner will face either No. 8 Hollis/Brookline (9-7) or No. 9 Kennett (9-7). Those two will meet for the first time this season at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Hollis.

If the Cavaliers and Clippers both advance, it will set up the same scenario from the 2007 Class I tournament, when the eighth-seeded Cavs knocked off the top-seeded Clippers on the way to the title. That was also the last time Portsmouth has lost a game.

Souhegan (13-3) is the fifth seed and will host No. 12 Merrimack Valley (8-8) at 4 p.m. on Thursday in Amherst. The winner there will advance to face either No. 4 Con-Val (12-4) or No. 13 Kearsarge (8-8).

No. 7 Bedford (10-6) will host its first tournament game, taking on No. 10 Bishop Brady at 4 p.m. on Thursday. Whoever wins that game will face either No. 2 St. Thomas (13-3) or No. 15 Bow (6-10) in the quarterfinals.

No. 3 Lebanon (15-1) takes on No. 14 Coe-Brown (8-8) while No. 6 Pembroke (9-7) hosts No. 11 Hanover (10-6) in the first round.

Class M

After finishing the regular season with an 11-5 record, Campbell will be the fifth seed when the tournament starts on Thursday. The Cougars will host No. 12 Sanborn (9-8) at 4 p.m. in Litchfield. The teams split two games this season, with Sanborn winning the season-opener on April 12, 5-4, and Campbell taking a 6-2 win on May 13.

The winner will face either No. 4 Fall Mountain (12-4) or No. 13 Belmont (8-8) in the quarterfinals.

Somersworth went 16-0 to earn the top seed, and it will host No. 16 Stevens (6-11). The winner will take on No. 8 Mascenic (11-6) or No. 9 Franklin (10-6).

On the bottom part of the bracket, No. 2 Winnisquam (15-2) host No. 15 Conant (6-10) while No. 7 Berlin (11-5) takes on No. 10 Inter-Lakes (10-6). Hopkinton (14-3) is the third seed and will face No. 14 Prospect Mountain (7-9) and No. 6 Farmington (11-5) will host No. 11 Mascoma Valley (9-7).

Class S

Despite winning just three games this year, Wilton-Lyndeborough is in the Class S tournament. The Warriors (3-12) are the No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 Pittsfield (13-3) at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The teams split two games this season, as Pittsfield won at WLC 8-3 on April 19, and the Warriors won on the road 5-2 on May 17.

The winner will face either No. 7 Sunapee (10-6) or No. 10 Woodsville (9-7) in the quarterfinals.

The rest of the bottom part of the bracket has No. 3 Lisbon (12-3) facing No. 14 Lin-Wood (4-12) and No. 6 Portsmouth Christian (9-5) hosting No. 11 Derryfield (8-8).

Pittsburg, last year’s champion, is the No. 1 seed after finishing with a 15-1 record, and will host No. 16 Moultonborough (3-13) in the first round. The winner will get either No. 8 Gorham (11-7) or No. 9 Littleton (9-7).

No. 4 Hinsdale (11-4) hosts No. 13 Profile (6-10) while No. 5 Newmarket (11-5) takes on No. 12 Colebrook (7-9).

Technorati Tags: Alvirne, baseball, Bedford, Brookline, Campbell, Class I, Class L, Class M, Class S, Hollis, Lyndeborough, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan, Wilton

Taylor Carbone and the Alvirne softball team are the No. 3 seed in Class L.

High school softball fans will have plenty of local games to choose from when the tournaments begin on Wednesday.

The NHIAA released the pairings for all four classes of softball on Tuesday, and 11 local teams will be participating, with eight of them playing the first round at home.

Class L

After finishing the season with a 17-3 record, Alvirne enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will host No. 14 Pinkerton Academy (8-11) in the preliminary round at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Hudson. The Broncos won the lone regular-season meeting between the two teams 12-8 on May 26.

The winner will move on to the quarterfinals to face either No. 6 Spaulding (12-7) or No. 11 Nashua South (9-10). The Panthers defeated the Red Raiders 4-3 on April 14, in the first game of the season for both teams. The preliminary round game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in Rochester.

On the other side of the bottom of the bracket, No. 2 Salem (17-2), which has won nine in a row, hosts No. 15 Timberlane (6-13) and No. 7 Dover (11-8) hosts No. 10 Manchester Central (10-9). The winners of those games will play in the quarterfinals.

Nashua North (14-5) earned the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 Bishop Guertin (9-10) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Titans won the regular-season meeting on April 23, 4-3. The winner gets either No. 4 Londonderry (16-3), which is on an 11-game win streak, or No. 13 Manchester Memorial (8-11) in the quarterfinals.

Merrimack (10-9) earned the No. 9 seed, but stumbled into the playoffs having lost five of their final eight games. The Tomahawks will head to Hampton to face No. 8 Winnacunnet (10-9) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Warriors won the lone regular-season meeting on May 10, 4-3.

The winner will face either No. 1 Concord (18-1) or No. 16 Trinity (5-14) in the quarterfinals.

Class I

All four local participants will host first-round games on Wednesday.

Bedford (12-4) finished the season as the No. 3 team in the standings, according to the Heal Point System. After opening the season with 10 straight wins, the Bulldogs have lost four of their final six. They host No. 14 Merrimack Valley (9-7) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The teams didn’t meet in the regular season.

The winner will take on either No. 6 Hollis/Brookline (11-5) or No. 11 Coe-Brown Academy (10-6). The Cavs will host the first round game against the Black Bears at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Bears won the regular-season meeting 10-2 on May 12.

On the other side of the bottom of the bracket, No. 2 Bishop Brady (15-1) hosts No. 15 Con-Val (6-10) while No. 7 John Stark (11-5) hosts No. 10 Portsmouth (11-5).

Souhegan (11-5) is the No. 4 seed and will host No. 13 Monadnock (8-8) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Amherst. The Sabers won both games against the Huskies this season, winning 14-2 on April 29 and 8-7 on May 3. The winner will face either No. 5 Laconia (13-3) or No. 12 St. Thomas (8-8)

Milford (10-6) earned the No. 8 seed and will take on No. 9 Plymouth (10-6) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Keyes Field. The teams didn’t meet during the regular season. The winner will take on either No. 1 Kennett (14-2) or No. 16 Lebanon (8-8) in the quarterfinals.

Class M

Campbell (15-1), which finished the regular season without losing to a Class M opponent, is the No. 2 seed in the tournament, and will host No. 15 White Mountains Regional (6-10) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Litchfield. The teams didn’t play each other during the regular season.

The winner will take on either No. 7 Conant (11-5) or No. 10 Somersworth (9-7) in the quarterfinals.

Winnisquam (16-1) is the No. 1 seed and will host No. 16 Epping (5-11) in the first round, with the winner taking on either No. 8 Berlin (10-6) or No. 9 Gilford (10-6).

No. 4 Franklin (14-2) hosts No. 13 Mascoma Valley (8-8) in the first round, while No. 5 Stevens (14-3) hosts No. 12 Newfound (8-8). The winners will meet in the quarterfinals.

No. 3 Sanborn (15-2) will take on No. 14 Fall Mountain (7-11), with the winner facing either No. 6 Hopkinton (12-4) or No. 11 Farmington (8-8).

Class S

After another undefeated regular season, Wilton-Lyndeborough (15-0) is the top seed in the tournament. The Warriors will host No. 16 Derryfield (1-14) at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. WLC won both regular season meetings, sweeping a doubleheader on May 12, 25-2 and 19-6. The winner will face either No. 8 Sunapee (9-7) or No. 9 Gorham (10-6).

Also on the top half of the bracket, No. 4 Pittsfield (13-3) will host No. 13 Moultonborough (6-10) and No. 5 Lin-Wood (10-6) hosts No. 12 Profile (6-10).

No. 2 Colebrook (15-1) takes on No. 15 Hinsdale (2-13), with the winner facing either No. 7 Littleton (9-7) or No. 10 Portsmouth Christian (7-7). No. 3 Woodsville (13-3) hosts No. 14 Groveton (6-10) and No. 6 Newmarket (10-6) faces No. 11 Pittsburg (7-9).

Technorati Tags: Alvirne, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Brookline, Campbell, Class I, Class L, Class M, Class S, Hollis, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Nashua North, Nashua South, playoffs, softball, Souhegan, Wilton

Milford's Brianna Corron won the long jump at Saturday's Class I meet.

NORTHWOOD – Brianna Corron had plenty of reason to be nervous heading into the Class I track and field championship meet on Saturday at Coe-Brown Academy.

One of the biggest meets of the outdoor season hadn’t always been kind to the Milford High School senior.

As a freshman, Corron false started in the 4×100-meter relay, getting her Spartan team disqualified.

Last year, as a junior and one of the top seeds in the 100, Corron stumbled and fell just before the finish line in the prelims. Not only did she miss out on the 100 final – and potential points for Milford – the fall affected her in the long jump, where she finished second.

So when Corron stood near the long jump runway late during Saturday’s meet, having won both the 100 and the long jump, there were a number of emotions running their own race through her mind.

“I’m ecstatic,” she said. “I’m really pleased, not only for myself, but coming in first means a lot for the team. I feel awesome. It was a really rewarding feeling.”

Despite Corron being seeded high in both events, Milford coach Mike Wright didn’t expect her to win both.

“Not the 100, that came out of nowhere,” he said. “It’s awesome. Last year, she stumbled in the 100 and didn’t make the finals, and she was one of the top four seeds. Because of that, she lost the long jump. As a freshman, she false started in the relay, and we had the No. 1 or 2 ranked relay that year.”

In the 100, Corron ran a 12.8 to edge out the Lebanon duo of Cathy Liebowitz and Becca Valente. All three were seeded close together before the race.

“To have runners like Becca and Cathy from Lebanon, they were pushing me,” Corron said. “I started off (high school) running with Mel Forte, and she always was pushing me. To have someone better than me, pushing me all four years of high school, and finally with the hard work it came out.”

Corron’s winning leap of 16-2¼ in the long jump came in the first round of competition, which turned out to be important during the finals.

After running the 200, Corron returned to the long jump with tired legs and her steps were off. Following her first jump of the finals, she got up favoring one leg.

“My hamstring happened to be tight and hurting,” she said. “It was definitely tight, and it was after the 200 and my steps were a little off, I was feeling a little different and tired.”

Jumping last, Corron was able to wait as the rest of the field went through its third and final jump. When no one had leaped further – Kennett’s Liza Townsend finished second with a jump that was half an inch shorter – Corron decided not to take her final jump and called it a day.

“I was nervous (going in),” she said. “The thing is, I’ve seen the absolute highs of track, and the absolute lows of track. I prepared well all week, rested all week. I didn’t practice too much. I learned a lot from (track). Track has taught me more about life than a lot of other experiences.”

Corron will have at least one more high school meet, having qualified for the Meet of Champions on June 5 at 2:30 p.m. at Merrimack High School.

Technorati Tags: Class I, girls track, Milford

Technorati Tags: boys track, Brookline, Class I, girls track, Hollis, Milford, Souhegan

Matt Schagrin got the win, allowing three hits and six walks while striking out nine in a complete-game performance.

Souhegan started the scoring in the second inning. Nick Hession singled to left and went to second on a passed ball before scoring on a single by James Astbury.

In the fourth inning, Hession added a two-run double, scoring Tyler Manoogian and Schagrin. Terry Dugdale also had a double and Astbury added a two-run double.

The Sabers finish the regular season with a 13-3 record, and will host a first-round game in the Class I tournament. Milford ends the year with a record of 2-14.

Technorati Tags: baseball, Class I, Milford, Souhegan