RallyNorth.net

Central Catholic's volleyball team took care of business last night, bouncing No. 7 Peabody from the Division 1 North tourney in three straight games to set up a home semifinal matchup with third seed Reading tomorrow night.

PEABODY — If North Andover was a one man football team, Peabody might have made a comeback when all-star quarterback Brandon Walsh went down with an injury in the first quarter.

The Scarlet Knights are a complete club, however, and younger brother Casey Walsh led two scoring drives to help North Andover put away the Tanners, 35-10, at Coley Lee Field.

Central Catholic's boys soccer team, inspired by a great performance by goalie Josh Arthur, gave Peabody a battle before before dropping a 2-1 decision to close out its season at 2-13-3. Arthur made 12 saves, several of them spectacular, in his first game back since suffering a fractured skull Sept. 20. Central midfielders Tyler Stein and Andrew Schiavone also played well for the Raiders.

Merrimack College senior quarterback James Suozzo has been named the Northeast-10 conference Offensive Player of the Week. He led the Warriors through the air as well as on the ground as he compiled 383 total yards and five total touchdowns in Merrimack’s 43-30 victory on Saturday against Stonehill.

PEABODY — Peabody High coach Mark Bettencourt tipped his cap to Lawrence High yesterday.

"That's a spirited team, they hit the baseball hard. If you look at their lineup, I think 1-to-9,everyone had a hit," he said.

With his RBI double — the only extra base hit of the title game, plus a bases-loaded walk, Alex Driscoll was named MVP of the Peabody Tourney won by Andover, 9-4 over the host school. Owen McAvinchey tossed 6 1/3 innings of three-hit ball for the victory, striking out seven.

North Andover was unaccustomed to Peabody not having a spring floor, but still managed a 134.00-129.75 win. The Knights, who improved to 6-1, still dominated the event with Kristen DiTroia coming in second and Jessica Whitehead and Anne Lafond tying for third.

No. 26 Haverhill came close to upsetting No. 7 Peabody, but fell 5-4 in a shootout in the preliminary round of the Division 1 North tourney.  Ronsard Masamba and Zach Sindoni each scored in regulation for Haverhill (7-8-1) and Pete Fichera, Sindoni, Joe Richards and Josh Goehring each scored in the shootout session.

North Reading clinched the CAL title with its win over Peabody 3-0 in volleyball. Kat Mazzone and Kirsten Morrison led the Hornets in kills with nine each.

Erin Cox had 22 assists and 20 service points as North Andover topped Peabody 3-1.