Nashua South's Connor Leary, right, strips the ball from Portsmouth's Bill Lane during Saturday's game at Stellos Stadium.

NASHUA – The Nashua High School South football team expected to come roaring out of the gate in Saturday’s season opener against Portsmouth.

That didn’t happen, but it didn’t stop South’s offense from turning in a strong performance.

After falling behind 7-0, the Panthers scored on their next three possessions. And although it took a little longer than they expected to get things in gear, South was still able to walk away with a 49-14 win over the Clippers in a non-division game at Stellos Stadium.

“I was kind of surprised,” South coach Scott Knight said. “I thought we’d get out of the gate a little better than we did. I’m not sure why. Sometimes that happens in the first game. We scrimmaged really well and we got out well in them. That’s why I thought we’d get out fast.”

Despite the slow start, South still piled up 506 yards of offense, led by quarterback Keith Farkas, who had 274 yards in the air and five touchdown passes, and running back Armond McRae, who added 196 yards of total offense and three scores.

[Go here for more photos from this game.]

The Panthers got touchdowns from five different players, and Farkas completed passes to six different receivers, going 15 of 20 with one interception. Four of his scoring tosses were plays of more than 20 yards, where the receiver turned a short pass into a big gain.

“We have that (big-play capability) in every single one of our receivers,” Farkas said. “There is just so many different weapons we have, it’s weird because we came into the season figuring we had lost Haskell and we lost Frederickson. Our players are stepping it up and working hard.”

Portsmouth coach Bill Murphy wasn’t too surprised by the outcome, and knew going in that has team, which was the runner-up in Division III three of the last four seasons, could be in for a long afternoon.

Nashua South's Brandon Gauthier runs with the ball.

“We haven’t seen the speed that some of their people have,” he said. “That was problematic. We would try to get an angle to tackle them, and our angle was five yards behind where he was. Stuff like that, we knew that probably would happen.”

Despite that, the Clippers were the ones to get on the board first. On the first play of Portsmouth’s second possession, quarterback Quinn McCann ripped through the South defense for a 53-yard run. Three plays later, with McCann on the sidelines after a hard hit, Billy Hartmann found Aidan O’Leary in the end zone on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

The Panthers didn’t need much time to respond. A big kick return by Derek Paradis gave South the ball at midfield, and McRae (17 yards on the drive) and Brandon Gauthier (25-yard run) set up Farkas’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Pat Bolton to tie the game before the end of the quarter.

After a three-and-out by Portsmouth, South took the lead for good when Farkas found Chris Thistle for a 21-yard score less than two minutes into the second quarter.

An interception by Nilsson Basora ended Portsmouth’s next drive and gave South the ball at its own 38. With the Panthers facing third-and-5, Paradis ran for 15 yards to pick up the first down, and on the next play, McRae took a short pass 42 yards for another touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

“We worked hard on our downfield blocking with our receivers,” Knight said. “They were pinching their tackles down and the linebackers were two yards off the ball. I don’t care who you play, you can’t run inside. You can run a lot of other things and that’s what we did. We were gonna take what they gave us and that’s what they did.”

South made it 28-7 on a 53-yard catch-and-run by Gauthier with less than a minute to go in the half, and the Panthers almost added more when Dan McMormack recovered a Portsmouth fumble on the kickoff. South got down to the Clippers’ 3-yard line when the half ended.

Portsmouth opened the second half by going 67 yards on five plays, getting in the end zone on a 23-yard pass from McCann to Anthony Kurylak to make it 28-14.

Portsmouth's Aidan O'Leary makes a catch in front of South's Connor Rogowsky.

But McRae answered on South’s next play, taking a handoff and going 62 yards for another touchdown to take momentum back.

“You can’t let down in any part of the game or they’ll come back and bite you,” Murphy said. “We’re making mistakes that cannot be made and they took advantage of it. If we’re playing somebody else, maybe they don’t pick up as quickly on it. It got away from us later in the game.”

McRae added a 29-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter and Jack Lobrutto had a 17-yard scoring run late in the fourth to finish out the scoring.

Both teams open division play next week, as South hosts Pinkerton on Friday at 7 p.m. at Stellos Stadium. Portsmouth will host Souhegan, also on Friday.

Technorati Tags: Division I, football, Nashua South

Coming off a championship season, the Panthers returned a handful of young, talented players – including quarterback Keith Farkas – but injuries and close loses drop South to 3-5 in the division and out of the postseason.

The good news for this season is that the Panthers are year older, and healthy heading into the season. The bad news – the division hasn’t gotten any easier.

Last year’s finalists, Salem and Nashua North, are expected to be in the mix. Pinkerton, Manchester Central and Londonderry seem to be in it every year. Manchester Memorial has improved and Exeter joins the party as well, having moved up from Division II.

“Hopefully we’re in the mix,” South coach Scott Knight said. “There will probably be a couple of good teams who don’t make the playoffs. We didn’t make the playoffs and we could have beat anybody on any given week if we had played four quarters. But you have to play really, really well to make the playoffs.”

The Panthers should continue to play well on offense. Despite losing Nick Haskell, Nick Frederickson and Pete Gill, South returns a strong offensive group that averaged 34 points a game in the division last year.

Farkas starts his third year on the varsity at quarterback and four starters – Ian Parson, Cody Mawn, Brad Carrier and John Bieren – return along the offensive line in front of him. Nick Marquis will also start on the line and Julier Rivera, a transfer from Lowell, will provide some depth.

Nick Puleo and Brandon Gauthier will try to fill the slot position occupied by Haskell last year, while Connor Leary and Ray Ramos will fill in for Frederickson. Nilsson Basora also returns at the wide out position and juniors Derek Paradis and Armond McRae return after seeing a lot of time as sophomores.

“We think we’ll be able to put points on the board, because we have a lot of those kids back,” Knight said. “We expected to look pretty good on offense and we’re where we want to be. Defense was going to be the big question mark.”

That was the problem for the Panthers a year ago, as they allowed an average of 28.1 points a game last year. In their five division loses, South scored an average of 29.6 points, but gave up almost 40.

A new commitment to that side of the ball – and to overall team chemistry – has the coaching staff feeling good about the defense’s chances of improving.

“We learned a lot and we totally refocused,” Knight said. “I’ve always been proud of our kids and our coaches do a great job of getting the most out of our kids, and I was embarrassed to say last year, we did not reach our potential for one reason or another. We did a lot of soul searching. I thought we did some good things last year.

“We’ve got a new defense as far as personnel goes. We’ve got a lot of unproven guys. So far we like how they’re flying around.”

Up front seniors Luke Beliveau and Allen O’Dell will be joined by junior Brandon Dupray. Mike Brannen moves from nose tackle to linebacker this season to join Dan McMormack, Jeff Carmona, Chris Thistle and John Bieren. In the secondary, Paradis will return to his safety position, and he’ll be joined by Ramos, McCrae, Puleo and Connor Rogowsky.

While a handful of those players were hurt throughout last season, some, like Beliveau, McMormack and Thistle, were on the field during the Panthers’ championship season two years ago.

“We have a lot of kids who are seniors who were on the field with that team,” Knight said. “Our goal is just to play well and we’ll see where the chips fall. It’s going to be a tough league.”

The Panthers start out with a non-division game against Portsmouth on Saturday, and then jump into division play by hosting Pinkerton on Sept. 10.

Technorati Tags: Division I, football, Nashua South

BG's Matt Bayne Ward was named the Division I Offensive Player of the Year.

Bishop Guertin high school lacrosse players Matt Bayne Ward and Adam Hall helped lead the Cardinals to their third Division I championship this spring.

Both players were recognized for their individual seasons, as Bayne Ward was named the DI Offensive Player of the Year and Hall earned the division’s Defensive Player of the Year award. The Cards also placed eight players on the division’s first-team, as a total of 14 BG players received recognition.

Joining Bayne Ward and Hall on the first team are Jack Kryston, Matt Thistle, Tom Labadini, Erik Kelly, Al Eaton and Nick Carluccio. BG’s Nick Astarita, Beau Brooks, Luke Solms, Bob Fahey and Chris Keating were named to the second-team.

Also making the second team were Souhegan’s Steve Jellison and Brendan Laine, and Nashua North’s Mark Lavine. Honorable mention went to Colin Delea (BG), Jon Ritter (North), Will Naber (Nashua South) and Adam Stokes (Souhegan).

In Division II, Bedford coach Matt Guerard was named Coach of the Year while the Bulldogs’ Trevor Morrissette was named to the first-team. Nate Larave and Mike Marinelli of Bedford, along

Merrimack's Mike Currie received Division II second-team honors.

with Mike Currie of Merrimack, were named to the second-team.

Hollis/Brookline’s Kyle Moynihan and Justin Shutt were both named to the Division III first-team, while the Cavaliers’ Pat Clark and Zach Dunn received second-team honors. H/B’s Brandon Rocha was named honorable mention.

Technorati Tags: all state, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, boys lacrosse, Brookline, Hollis, Merrimack, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan

Souhegan, Nashua South, Bishop Guertin, Merrimack and Hollis/Brookline each had six girls receive all-state honors.

In Division I, Souhegan’s Rachel Dobbs and South’s Stephanie Haftel were both named to the first-team, while Alexa Katsiginais and Chelsea Larivee of Souhegan reveived second-team honors.

Nashua North’s Erin Duffy, Ellie Shuman and Maddie Cody and South’s Mikayla Feehan were named to the third team. Morgan King (Souhegan), Meggie Whitney (Souhegan), Ashley Philips (Souhegan), Caitlin Ackerman (South), Vanessa Viola (South), Kelly McIntyre (South), Kristie Cox (South) and Kaylee Murray (North) recevied honorable mention.

Bishop Guertin’s Kristianna Purington and Julia Wright were both named to the Division II first-team, as was Merrimack’s Sarah Rothhaus.

Nicole Pettiglio of BG, Emily Pollard of Merrimack and Demi Bennett of Bedford all made the second-team, while BG’s Callie Santos and Merrimack’s Joslyn Schwalbe received third-team honors.

Receiving honorable mention were Meghan Maguire (BG), Tiffany Stanton (BG), Caitlin Heaps (Bedford), Taylor Hogan (Merrimack) and Erin Maclean (Merrimack).

H/B had three players named to the Division III first-team: Kati Sousa, Lorin Field and Alicia Papineau.

The Cavaliers also had three players receive second-team honors: Emily Dutile, Leigh Kowalski and Julie Worthern.

Technorati Tags: all state, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Brookline, Division I, Division II, Division III, girls lacrosse, Hollis, Merrimack, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan

BG’s Francis Hernandez, Mike Kelly and Jeff LaCoste all earned Class L honors, as did North’s Eric Muite, Kevin Rosenberg and Andrew Williams and Merrimack’s Tom Duda, Steve Harshman and Devin Martin. Colin Quinn of Nashua South was also named to the first-team.

In Class I, Souhegan’s Michael Peret, Milford’s Max Goudreau and Hollis/Brookline’s Sean Quinn were named to the first-team.

In Class M-S, Campbell’s John Cialek, Evan Leith and Anthony Rinaldi received first-team honors.

Technorati Tags: all state, Bishop Guertin, boys track, Brookline, Campbell, Hollis, Merrimack, Milford, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan

Alek Morency was one of three Nashua North players to make the Class L first-team.

After compiling the best record in Class L, the Nashua High School North baseball team had five players receive All-State baseball honors.

The Titans had three players named to the Class L first-team to lead 29 local players who were recognized with All-State honors.

Kevin McGowan, Alek Morency and Joe Breen of North were named to the Class L first-team, as was Alvirne’s Travis Terrell. Second-team honors went to Ryan Gendron and Brandon Cox, both of Nashua South, along with Merrimack’s Colby Hoyle and Alex Trammell of Bishop Guertin. Kyle Turner (North), Anthony Guidice (North), Mike Spirito (BG), Tom Hudon (Merrimack) and Dan McCormack (South) were named to the third-team.

Souhegan placed two players on the Class I All-State first-team, with senior DJ Petropulos and sophomore Terry Dugdale receiving honors. Also making the first-team were Bedford’s Joe Maher and Hollis/Brookline’s Macyn Clifford. Bedford’s Jeff Gancarz and Nate Harrington were named to the second team, as were Souhegan’s Matt Schagrin and H/B’s Kevin Chase. Lucas Olen (Bedford), Kyle Beaulieu (Souhegan) and Kenny Glover (H/B) made the third team.

Campbell placed four players on the Class M teams, with Josh McGrath and Cullan Baker receiving first-team honors. Zach Saucier was named to the second team and Jacob Lang made the third team.

Wilton-Lyndeborough’s Tony Grazianno was the lone Warrior to be named All-State, making the Class S third team.

Technorati Tags: Alvirne, baseball, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Brookline, Campbell, Hollis, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Nashua North, Nashua South, Souhegan, Wilton

Alvirne's Taylor Carbone was one of 12 local softball players to receive first-team All-State honors.

A dozen local softball players were named All-State first team, and 24 players total received All-State honors. Two local coaches also were honored as Coach of the Year in their respective classes.

In Class L, Alvirne’s Taylor Carbone, Nashua North’s Rebekah Jackson and Nashua South’s Kaitlyn Belair all received first team honors. Nicole Abreu (Alvirne), Chelsea Ogozaly (Bishop Guertin), Rachel Bohannan (Merrimack) and Aimee LaLancette (Nashua North) were named to the second team, while Stephanie Roy (Merrimack) received honorable mention.

Bedford coach Derek Geddes was named Coach of the Year in Class I, and two Bulldogs, Heather Fyfe and Casey Levis, were named first team. Joining them were Hollis/Brookline’s Katie Dion and Meghan Gervais along with Abby Douglas of Milford and Bree Gunter of Souhegan.

Christine Connors (Hollis/Brookline), Jackie Caswell (Milford) and Angela Mukai (Souhegan) were named to the second team and Morgan Mason (Milford) and Sam Jones (Souhegan) received honorable mention.

In Class M, Campbell’s Laurie Gatherum was named Coach of the Year while Julia Nolan and Chelsea Caynon received first-team honors. Campbell’s Erin King was named to the second team.

In Class S, Wilton-Lyndeborough’s Marika Thompson was named to the first team and Sam Broderick received second-team honors.

Technorati Tags: all state, Alvirne, Bedford, Bishop Guertin, Brookline, Campbell, Hollis, Lyndeborough, Merrimack, Milford, Nashua North, Nashua South, softball, Souhegan, Wilton

The Nashua High School South was down to her final attempt at 9-feet, 6-inches during Friday’s Class L track and field championship and the odds were stacked against her.

Although she’d cleared the height in practice, Rapsis had never cleared 9-6 in a meet. Add on that she was breaking in a new pole at a track that she didn’t usually perform well at and . . .

“I thought I was done,” she said. “It’s stressful coming down to that last jump. I was kind of bummed out, but then I listened to my coach, who told me to bring my hips up more and bring my head back. I went in and went over. I wanted to cry, it was so exciting.”

And just like that, Rapsis had reached a new height in the pole vault.

“I usually don’t do my best at Merrimack,” Rapsis said. “I was kind of nervous. I’m using a new pole. I was really bending my 120 pole, so I moved to a 130. I felt 10 times better after I did a couple of jumps.”

With a previous best of 9-1, which had her seeded second in the meet, had resigned herself to finishing in the same spot. Even without a win in the pole vault, she’d still make it to the Meet of Champions, and that was all right.

“If I got second again, I’m going to move on to the Meet of Champions, so I’m not really that worried,” she said. “When we hit nine feet, there were a bunch of us who were tied for first place. I had skimmed the bar when I went over 9-6, so I was shocked that I made it.”

And to make the win more meaningful, it came on her mother’s birthday.

“I didn’t even know what to expect and I was so excited,” Rapsis said. “It was pretty amazing.”

Technorati Tags: Class L, girls track, Nashua South

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