Sports

March Madness in July! Watertown Summer Basketball Playoffs Tip Off

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Watertown’s highly competitive Papas Elite Summer Basketball League has reached the postseason and Tuesday night the top squads played their quarterfinals. The best-of-three semis start Wednesday. In the quarterfinals, fourth seed Made Men fell to fifth-seeded Gauchos 70-67. Donohues Kaos, the third seeds, beat sixth-seeded Middlesex Magic 59-41. Top seeded Game Creek came away with a 59-41 win over eighth-seeded The Dream Team.

Sports

Raiders Youth Softball Team Rolling Through Season Unbeaten

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By Del Furbish

The 10U Raiders are tearing up the softball diamond all over Middlesex county this summer. Already seven games into their 14 game schedule and they remain unbeaten. There are 42 teams competing in the 10U division and just four remain perfect so far.  The towns the gals have come up on top so far with are Newton, Cambridge, Somerville, Woburn, Lexington, Charlestown and Medford. Led by Coach David Reilly the roster includes Katie Haley, Abigail Bass, Katey & Marissa Cabral, Nairi Davidian, Sadie Davis, Cecelia Maillis, Katelyn O’Connor, Elizabeth Parmley, Victoria Reilly, Zana Schwab, Anna Steffens and Ava Husson.

Business

Baseball Hall of Fame Award Winner to Wear Suit from Watertown

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Legendary Boston sportswriter Dan Shaughnessey will be honored at this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies, and will do so decked out in a suit made in Watertown. 

The Boston Globe columnist will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award on July 23. He will receive the award at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. While he hails from Newton, Shaughnessey gets his clothing at Eastern Clothing of Watertown. “Dan has been a friend and customer at Eastern Clothing for many years and we are proud that he will be wearing one of our suits while being honored for the 2016 J.G Taylor Spink Award,” said John M. Airasian, who co-owns the business with his father, John S. Airasian. “He will be joining unbelievable company in the world of baseball writing with this well deserved award. We wish him continued success on his remarkable 35 year career.”

Schools

Watertown Field Hockey Coach Up for USA Today Coach of the Year

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USA Today High School Sports is looking for the high school coach of the year and Watertown High School field hockey coach Eileen Donahue is one of the 20 nominees. Besides receiving the honor of being coach of the year, if Donahue wins the WHS athletic department would receive $1,000. The school of the second place coach gets $500 and the third place one gets $250 for the athletic department. Donahue and the Raiders have compiled quite a resume, with seven straight state titles and the national record for the longest unbeaten streak, that stands at 160 after the end of the 2015 season. Voting began on Thursday and runs through Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 2 p.m.

To vote, go to: http://contest.usatodayhss.com/

Government

Town Seeking Volunteers to Serve on Victory Field Renovation Committee

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After a two-year hiatus, the town will begin looking at renovating the track and tennis courts side of Victory Field, and Council President Mark Sideris seeks community members to serve on the committee. 

There will be nine members of the Ad Hoc Committee on Victory Field Renovations, including five people appointed to represent different parts of the community. The one stipulation the committee must abide by is that the renovation will include a natural grass area inside the track, not artificial turf, because that was the biggest area of concern, said Sideris at Tuesday’s Town Council meeting. Three members of the general public will be selected, including one direct abutter of the field, Sideris said. The two others will represent field users, but are not related to school athletics or youth sports, he added. Additionally, there will also be one member representing Watertown youth sports groups who will be selected by the Council President.

Sports

Raiders Relay Team Rocks at Track Outdoor Nationals

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A foursome from Watertown High School finished third place at the New Balance Outdoor National, the highest finish for a team from the school. 

The sprint relay team of sophomore Nicholas Cordeiro, junior Vasken Kebabjian, senior Austin Lin and senior Jeremy Breen ran a 3:37.25 and finished third of 60 teams in the Emerging Elite competition at the meet at North Carolina A&T in Grensboro, N.C. In the race, the first two legs are 200 meters, the third is 400 meters and the final one is 800 meters. The finish is the highest ever for a Watertown team in 40 years of the competition. The Raiders team could not compete under the Watertown High School name due to MIAA rules, so they named themselves Shamrock Track Club. Lin also ran the 400 in 50.74 and finished 34th in the Emerging Elite race.

Girls Lacrosse

Watertown High School Athletes Honored by School Committee

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Watertown High School athletes completed a very successful year, and more than a dozen seniors completed a busy high school career. 

Watertown’s teams claimed one state championship (field hockey), two North Section titles (field hockey and girls basketball) and three Middlesex League titles (field hockey, girls basketball and girls lacrosse), said Watertown Athletic Director Michael Lahiff. He added that the football and boys hockey teams made it to the section finals, and football team beat Belmont on Thanksgiving Day, plus the track team has a relay competing at the Outdoor Nationals. Girls Lacrosse Has a Banner Year
The girls lacrosse team received plaques from the School Committee on Tuesday for their league championship. They also showed off the banner that will go up in the WHS Gym. This is the team’s fourth straight league title it its six year history.