Local Sports Roundup:
Westborough 8-Year-Olds capture Ashland Summer Sparkler Tournament
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Region - Talk about your first impressions. The Westborough Little League's 8-year-old Division All-Star team made the most of its first competitive tournament, capturing the Ashland Summer Sparkler Tournament championship.

The tournament consisted of teams from Ashland, Blackstone, Holliston, Hopkinton, Southborough and Westborough.

Southborough was the top seed, with a 9-1 pool play record, but was upset by Holliston, 4-1, in the semifinal round of the tournament. Westborough (7-2-1) was the No. 2 seed and defeated Hopkinton, 11-5, in the semifinals. Westborough then swept the best-of-three final round, defeating Holliston, 8-5 and 13-11.

Players on the Westborough team were Jonathan Ashton, Matt Bongi, Kyle Clarkson, James Coffey, Sam Correnti, Cavan Crowley, Cailen Duckett, Isaac Grosner, Johnny Kelley, Trevor McNamara, Spencer Nagi, Mac Pigaga, Jake Prouty, Colin Priest and Ryan Shufflebarger.

Coaching the team were head coach Mark McNamara and assistants Ed Crowley, Rick Clarkson, Jim Coffey and Rob Nagi.

Key pitching performances were turned in by Bongi, Correnti, Cavan Crowley and Priest. Sparking the offensive effort were Kyle Clarkson, Duckett, Trevor McNamara, Pigaga, and Shufflebarger. Sparkling on defense were Ashton, Grosner, Kelley, Spencer Nagi and Prouty.

Key moments in the games included:

Kyle Clarkson's basesclearing triple in the semifinal against Hopkinton to give Westborough a lead it would not relinquish;

Spencer Nagi's unassisted double play at third base when Holliston had the bases loaded with one out in the second game of the finals;

Priest's shut-down pitching in the late innings of all three playoff games;

Trevor McNamara's flawless play at first base all series;

Kelley catching two would-be base stealers from behind the plate to kill Hopkinton and Holliston rallies;

Pigaga and Grosner's turning of a double play against Holliston; and

Correnti's relief pitching in the final game.

Girls soccer

The Central Scholastic team captured the Bay State Games Gold medal last month, defeating the only team that beat it - the West team - in the final, 2-1.

Central finished with a 5-1 overall record, also having defeated Metro (3-0), Southeast (6-0), Northeast (2-0) and Coastal (3-1). The team's loss was a 2-0 decision to West in the second game of the tournament.

Locals on the team were Westborough's Becky Mongeau, who had a goal in the win over Coastal, and Shrewsbury's Maura Fox.

Boys soccer

The Central Scholastic squad finished 2-3-1, in last month's Bay State Games, dropping the Bronze Medal game to Northeast by a 2-1 score.

Southborough's Josh Whitney scored three times in the six-game tournament. Other locals on the team were Northborough's Tyler Grams, who attends Algonquin Regional, and Westborough's Chris Salvadore.

Baseball

The Central Scholastic team was 2-3 in Bay State Games competition, defeating Southeast (5-0) and Metro (12-1), and losing to Coastal (4-0), Northeast (9-0) and West (6-0).

Locals on the team were Westborough's A.J. Rouleau and Fran Whitten, Shrewsbury's James Leonard, Marlborough's Tyler McElman, and St. John's players Zach Ford and Tim Quinn.