The latest Wellesley, Mass. sports news:
Reidy field due for new scoreboard
Wellesley Youth Baseball & Softball is seeking to replace the scoreboard at Reidy Field that was installed in 2007 when the field was renovated.
“We have been nursing our old scoreboard along since 2016, but it finally ‘bit the dust’ in 2021,” says organization admin Ann Williams.
The new board wouldn’t have any “fancy bells and whistles,” but would just include the basics such as home and away scoring, balls, strikes, etc. The hope is to have it in place by opening day, April 24.
The subject is on the Natural Resources Commission agenda for its Feb. 2 meeting.
8th grader Bella Gopen wins tennis championship
With her recent United States Tennis Association New England 14-and under Sectional Championship win, Wellesley Middle School 8th grader Bella Gopen has become one of the top young players around.
Gopen didn’t just win the Sectional Championship this year—she dominated at the Jan. 13-15 event at Concord’s Thoreau Club. The Wellesley resident made the finals a year ago as a first-year 14-and-under player, so expectations were high. She handled it by not dropping a set.
Gopen started hitting the ball around with her mom at the age of 8. Now 14, Gopen has been playing USTA competitive tennis since she was 11, and is competing both regionally and nationally.
This past December, she traveled to Tuscon to play in the USTA Winter Nationals LI, where she and doubles partner Sasha Miroshnichenko (Southlake, Texas) reached the quarterfinals of the girls 14 doubles.
“I love the competition aspect of tennis and problem solving on the court,” Gopen says. “I also love my tennis friends who understand the hard work and sacrifice this sport entails to do well.”
Strengths for Gopen are her consistency and “patience to move the ball until I get the right one to be aggressive and put away with my forehand or at net.” Running down balls and playing tough defense are also signature skills.
Off the court, Gopen loves to cook and hang out with her friends and family.
Super Sox fan Lynne Smith gets AARP’s attention
Wellesley’s Lynne Smith, she of the eye-catching Red Sox outfits, is among the fans over 50 highlighted in an AARP online magazine article. While others obsess over Harry Styles or The Sopranos, Smith (and husband Gary) are huge Sox fans, and Lynne wears her devotion on her sleeve and pretty much everywhere else.
“A few years ago, the Red Sox made me a special ambassador, and I can go anywhere in the park. It’s a magical place, and fans like to get their picture taken with the Hat Lady. I once calculated that I’ve been in about 10,000 photos,” she tells AARP.
Wellesley lacrosse all-stars tapped to play in A Shot for Life game
Wellesley residents Charlie Hazard (Belmont Hill) and Avery Mather (Dana Hall) have been selected to participate in a lacrosse all-star game dubbed A Shot for Life that raises funds for the Mass General Cancer Center. A Shot for Life events also include other sports, including baseball, softball, basketball, and soccer.
This cause is of special interest to Mather, whose mother Heather says Avery’s grandmother has been successfully treated at MGH. “So this lacrosse fundraising seemed like the perfect confluence of interests for her.”
The Clash Against Cancer games will be played later in February (the girls’ game is on Feb. 26 at Union Point in Weymouth).
More: Wellesley’s 2023 Boston Marathon charity runners
