Tech Boston Runs Away from Taconic for D2 Crown

By Ethan Winter (@EWints)

Springfield, Mass. - “Defense wins championships” is one of the oldest sports clichés in the book, but for the Tech Boston Bears, it still rings true. The Bears employed a ferocious defense to stifle the Taconic Braves, en route to a resounding 78-40 win in the Division 2 State Championship, the first title in program history.

“It starts with defense and it ends with defense,” said Tech Boston head coach Johnny Lee Williams.

For Taconic (17-8), the Tech Boston (25-1) defense was unlike any they had seen all year, as the Bears forced 34 Braves turnovers.

MIAA Boys' Basketball Tournament: Divisions 1 and 2 State Championship Previews

For the first time ever, two league opponents will square off for the MIAA Boys' Basketball Division 1 title. Hockomock rivals Franklin and Mansfield split their season series, and have been as evenly matched as two programs can be the last few seasons.    Photo by Eamon Convey.

 By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

The MIAA Basketball season will conclude in Springfield on Saturday with a total of eight state championship games.

Over at the Mass Mutual Center, the Division 1 and 2 Boys' and Girls' state finals will commence, while across the way at Springfield College the Division 3 and 4 games will take place.

SuiteSports' will have complete coverage from both venues, but before then, let's break down each of the four divisions.

Here are our previews, players to watch, and picks from the Division 1 and 2 boys' state finals. Check back tomorrow for previews from the Division 3 and 4 games.

Taconic Baseball Edges Pope Francis in D1 West Pitching Duel

By John McGuirk (@patsfan1313)

SPRINGFIELD - After the final out was recorded, and the traditional handshakes and goodbye hugs were done, Pope Francis coach Pat Moriarty took a stroll all by his lonesome across the Forest Park diamond one last time.

Wanting to spend a few minutes to gather himself, Moriarty had come face to face with the reality that he had coached his final game in a Cardinals uniform.

Having announced earlier this season that he, along with his family, will be moving to Deerfield Academy, where he will be taking over the head coaching responsibilities there beginning next season, Moriarty was trying to come to grips with it all.

Making things more difficult was the fact that his team had just been eliminated from the Division 1 Western Mass. tournament, falling to Taconic 1-0 Wednesday afternoon in eight innings.

Pope Francis Baseball Spoils Taconic's Perfect Season

By John McGuirk (@Patsfan1313)

SPRINGFIELD - Taconic knew it was on the verge of making history, but once the Braves realized they would be in for a major tussle against Pope Francis, that mindset quickly changed to survival mode.

In a game that embellished a playoff-type atmosphere from start to finish, it was the host Cardinals who came away triumphant, following Kevin Murphy's ninth inning, walk-off RBI single which gave Pope Francis a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Forest Park.

MIAA Baseball Super 8 Projections: 5/15/17

Maryland commit and St. John's (Shrewsbury) star Sean Burke.  Photo courtesy of @smburkey3

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

In exactly two weeks, the MIAA Division 1A “Super Eight” committee will gather at  MIAA headquarters in Franklin to vote on who the best eight high school baseball teams in Massachusetts are.

Despite the overall uncooperative weather this spring, the Super Eight picture has slowly started to take shape, with many teams starting to make their case as the regular season begins to slowly wind down. So, without a further ado, SuiteSports is excited to unveil its first Super Eight Projection, which we will be updated every Monday until selection day on May 29th (so, basically just next Monday).

Here is how we see the Super Eight field shaping up at this time. For our complete MIAA baseball Top 25, click here.

MIAA Top 25 Baseball Poll: 5/15/17

BC High ace Mike Vasil helped the Eagles clinch another Catholic Conference title with a no-hitter against rival Xaverian.   Photo by Brendan C. Hall, via ESPN Boston.

Our rankings of the best teams in the state during the 2017 baseball season, as selected by our panel of staff writers and correspondents. (Updated 5/15)

1. St. John’s (Shrewsbury) (12-2; Last Ranking: 1) After losing in an extra innings marathon at Xaverian, the Pioneers beat three good teams with a 40-1 run differential.

2. Central Catholic (12-2; Last Ranking: 7) Going 10-1 in the minefield that is the Merrimack Valley Conference is extremely impressive. With Sam Lara and Steve Hajjar leading this staff, the Raiders appear to be Super 8 bound.   

Previewing the MIAA Boys' Hoops D2 Sectional Finals

Jerrod Clark and the Brighton Bengals have had some pep in their step this tournament season.

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612) and Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

We're getting down to the nitty gritty of the MIAA boys' basketball tournament, and the next few days will see sectional championship games played across all 16 sections.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves with all that. Here's our preview of the four sectional finals in Division 2. If you would like to read our Division 1 sectional final previews, you can find them here.