Vaglica Steps Up, Spins Complete Game Shutout as Xaverian Blanks Brockton

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

Brockton, Mass. – Dylan Vaglica could not have picked a better time for his top performance of the season.

On Monday afternoon, Vaglica threw a complete game shutout allowing just four singles and throwing a mere 80 pitches as Xaverian defeated No. 2 Brockton, 2-0, to advance to the Division 1 South Sectional Semifinals at Campanelli Stadium.

Vaglica displayed a three-pitch combination, primarily relying on his fastball and curveball while also mixing in the occasional changeup. 

Concannon, Ducko Make Dreams a Reality, Lead Xaverian to Fenway Park Win over St. John's Prep

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

BOSTON – With two big outs, Doug Concannon turned a dream into a reality.

In front of a large Xaverian contingency at historic Fenway Park, Concannon entered out of the bullpen with a pair of runners in scoring position and the Hawks leading St. John’s Prep 3-2 in the top half of the seventh.

Concannon showed little signs of intimidation inducing a pop up to right field before picking up a strikeout on an outside fastball to give Xaverian a monster 3-2 win over their Catholic Conference rival Eagles on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.

Matt Donato Makes the Road Trip for Walpole a Homey One

By Matt Feld (@Mattyfeld612)

By the time the game ended, Matt Donato had Walpole feeling right at home.

With the Rebels and Xaverian tied at two in the bottom half of the eighth, Donato drilled a walk-off single to left center field to send Walpole home with a 3-2 win over the Hawks on Tuesday afternoon at Xaverian Brothers High School.

Despite it being Walpole’s home game, the game was played at Xaverian due to field conditions at Walpole High.

Super 8 Semifinals Preview

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

On Thursday evening, Braintree joined St. John’s Prep and St. John’s Shrewsbury as three of the four teams who will be a member of this year’s Division 1A Super Eight “final four”.

The Wamps, who won consecutive games against eight seeded Belmont and three seeded Central Catholic facing elimination, now await the winner of BC High and Xaverian to see who they will play on Sunday.

The Eagles and Hawks are set to faceoff Saturday morning at Campanelli Stadium with each looking to make their second trip in three years to the Super Eight quarterfinals.

In the afternoon, meanwhile, the two remaining undefeated teams in the field will go head-to-head with top seeded St. John’s Shrewsbury taking on familiar foe St. John’s Prep.

Here is how we expect the two games to unfold.

Super 8 Selection Recap and Analysis

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

FRANKLIN, Mass. — Every year Super Eight selection Monday comes and goes and with it remains a bevy of teams in awe that they managed to slip into the field while others are left in shock that they missed out.

In less than hour, this year’s committee nominated 11 teams for the eight spots, with Lynn Classical being the only one of the 11 voted down right away. Three teams, St. John’s Shrewsbury, St. John’s Prep and Central Catholic, were unanimous votes meaning they automatically were entered as part of the Division 1A tournament. Seven others, meanwhile, received at least five of the nine votes – BC High, Braintree, Andover, Methuen, Xaverian, Newton North, and Belmont - which meant they were to be reconsidered for the final five spots.

When all was said and done, here is how the Super Eight field shook out:

1. St. John’s Shrewsbury

2. St. John’s Prep

3.    Central Catholic

4. BC High

5. Braintree

6. Xaverian

7. Newton North

8. Belmont

Peabody Baseball Continues Roll With Win at Xaverian

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

WESTWOOD - Slowly but surely, Peabody is building itself a nice resume.

Behind two hits, two RBIs, and two stolen bases from leadoff hitter Nick Palma, and a complete game from starter Jake Zeuli, the Tanners defeated the Xaverian, 7-2, on a windy Thursday afternoon at Xaverian Brothers High School.

The win, put together with a 5-1 win over St. John’s Prep, and 6-1 win over Danvers, at least puts Peabody in the Super 8 conversation at this point in the season.

Xaverian Baseball Holds Off Newton North

By Matt Feld (@mattyfeld612)

NEWTON - Xaverian coach Gerry Lambert has been waiting for one of his more inexperienced players to come up big in a key spot. On Thursday afternoon, Sean Birch did just that.

With the Hawks and host Newton North deadlocked in a 1-1 tie in the top of the eighth inning, Birch lined a go-ahead RBI single up the middle that scored Aidan McLaughlin, as Xaverian went on edge the Tigers 3-2 on a cold Thursday afternoon at Newton North High School.

Xaverian (4-3) was able to grab an insurance run two batters after Birch’s single, as a balk brought home Birch to put the Hawks up 3-1.

The insurance run proved critical in the bottom half of the inning when the Tigers (3-2) threatened to win the game.