Rugby
Mass. Rugby Organization
The Essex County Bulldogs Rugby Football Club claimed the Massachusetts Rugby Organization's state championship with a 14-13 win over the defending champion Berkshire United Rugby Football Club Saturday in Pittsfield.
In 2008 the Bulldogs had just 22 kids playing flag rugby against each other. By 2010, they fielded a U19 team and began competing against other programs across Massachusetts.
Last season the Bulldogs lost their first match of the season to Berkshire by more than 40 points. That season, they improved enough to earn a berth in last year's state tournament, advancing to the finals versus Berkshire. The Essex County club was within 20 seconds of claiming last year's state championship. Berkshire scored in the final minute, winning the title 17-12.
Earlier this year, both teams met up again at Amesbury Sports Park in a regular-season match that ended in a 20-20 tie. After that match, the Bulldogs were perfect, scoring over 170 points against Seacoast RFC, Portland Maine and Arlington Catholic High School. Meanwhile, Berkshire did equally well.
Going into the state finals last weekend, the Bulldogs and Berkshire were ranked number one and two, respectively.
Led by coaches Dave Hill, Chip Lynch, Joe Stanley and Dennis Donnovan, the Bulldogs scored five times, including one successful try each from Amesbury's Matt Bell and Masconomet's MacKenzie Cashin, topping Worcester RFC in the semifinal by a score of 29-11.
On the opposite field, the speedy Berkshire club ran past the Springfield Rifles RFC, posting a 29-0 shutout, leading to a rematch of last year's championship.
In the final, Berkshire jumped out to a 5-0 lead on the first drive of the match, before Amesbury's Connor Norton pushed the ball in for the Bulldogs. Masco's Andrew Swimm gave the Bulldogs the 7-5 lead with the two-point goal kick after the try. Late in the first half, Berkshire's speedy backfield outran the Bulldog defenders for another try, and then added another three points with a goal kick to close the half.
The second half became a defensive grind with neither team giving much ground until the Bulldogs pushed the ball down the field in the final minute of the match. With 22 seconds left, Norton got his second try of the match, and Swimm nailed a tough goal kick to give Essex County a one-point lead. A frantic push by Berkshire was defended by the Bulldogs, giving them the championship.
Post 150 Junior Legion Baseball
Newburyport 5, Gloucester 4
Evan Habib pitched four innings, allowing six hits for Newburyport. He had six strikeouts. Tim Englehart pitched the final three innings, allowing one run on two hits. He had three strikeouts. Justin Snyder was 2 for 2 with a home run. Leighton Paradis was 1 for 3 with two RBIs.
Source: www.newburyportnews.com
Essex bid to start t20 campaign with a win - East Anglian Daily Times
Greg Smith, who is in a 13-man squad for Essex's match against Surrey and could make his t20 debut for the county.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
10:00 AM
ESSEX Eagles turn their attentions to Friends Life t20 action for the next few weeks starting with a trip to the Kia Oval to face Surrey Lions tomorrow night for their opening match in this year’s competition.
Eagles head coach Paul Grayson has selected a 13-man squad for the match, start 6.30pm, and he is anxious to see his charges commence their South Group qualifying matches with a victory.
“One-day cricket is all about momentum and, obviously, we want to make a good start against Surrey Lions where we have a good record over the years,” he said.
“We know that the South Group is tough and there are some good cricketers in our section but I believe in our lads. We have some excellent players ourselves and if we get some good results early on in the competition, then I believe that there is every chance that we can qualify.
“Last year, we won seven and lost seven plus a couple of games were washed-out so we were inconsistent. Batting will be our strength this year in this format and so we’ve got to be very workmanlike in the way that we bowl. We’ve also got to be smart with our bowling changes and our spin options.
“We feel that we are better prepared this year than we were last year when we came straight off a four-day game and went immediately into the Twenty20 campaign. This time, we’ve had some time to prepare and practise our skills and we are hoping for a big performance on Wednesday night.
“Then we’ve got three matches in as many night next week, so the games come thick and fast and if you do lose a game, you can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself, you might have to play again the next night.”
Essex will only have one overseas player for the competition despite intense efforts to sign another player to join James Franklin.
“We really tried to get a second overseas player in to join us but we have been let down by a couple of players,” Grayson explained.
“It’s proved a really difficult situation trying to bring someone else in but I’m happy with the squad we’ve got. I would have liked another one-day specialist bowler but we’ll live with that. It means that we’ve got to find a way to bowl well in the format and trust our batsmen to perform more consistently because last year, they didn’t do that.”
History favours for a winning start for the Eagles whose impressive record against Surrey in the FL t20 format includes victories in nine of the 13 matches with only two defeats while the other couple of games were abandoned.
Essex squad: J Foster, J Franklin, M Pettini, T Westley, G Smith, O Shah, R ten Doeschate, A Wheater, G Napier, T Phillips, D Masters, T Mills, M Chambers.
Source: www.eadt.co.uk
Sussex football star killed in crossfire - Progress Index
SURRY - A high school football standout from Sussex County was shot and killed at a graduation party in Surry County Saturday. Tyquan Johnson, 18, had graduated from Sussex Central High School on Friday evening, the school's principal Dr. Arthur Jarrett said.
"Tyquan was an excellent young man, always smiling on the field and in the classroom," Jarrett said. "He had a big heart and he was a good person. He will be missed by both our school and our community," he said. Johnson was quarterback for the school's football team.
Police say that Johnson attended a private graduation party held in the 2100 block of Alliance Road in Surry Saturday night and was caught between two groups of people that were firing at each other after the party.
"There was some type of conflict between several young men that the victim got caught up in," Surry County Sheriff Alvin Clayton said, adding that according to witnesses, between a dozen and 50 shots were fired in the altercation.
Three people were hit, including Johnson, Clayton said. "Mr. Johnson died on the way to the hospital," he said. The other two victims, who were also from Sussex, suffered non-life threatening injuries.
Autopsy results have concluded that Johnson died from a gunshot wound. His death was ruled a homicide. Clayton asked Virginia State Police and the Sussex County Sheriff's Office for assistance in investigating the case.
"We do have suspects in the shooting and we will be charging folks soon," Clayton said.
Johnson had planned to play football at North Carolina Wesleyan, Jarrett said.
Markus Schmidt may be reached at 722-5172 or mschmidt@progress-index.com
Source: progress-index.com
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