Baseball: Wellesley’s Vasil made available by Mets, snapped up by Phillies, traded to Rays

December 12, 2024 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

We keep an eye on former Wellesley baseball players, and on Thursday Mike Vasil of the New York Mets‘ farm system was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies in the first round of the Rule 5 Draft. The Phils then quickly sent Vasil to the Tampa Rays.

Vasil’s a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who attended Boston College High School and then the University of Virginia, where he played. The Mets picked him in the 8th round of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.

Vasil was invited by the Mets to spring training last year, though spent the season throwing for the Syracuse Mets, a AAA team. He went 8-10 for the year, with an earned run average just over 6.

The Rays have a good track record of developing strong pitching, so we look forward to seeing how Vasil does next year.

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Needham High stays undefeated with Thanksgiving football win over Wellesley

November 28, 2024 by admin 1 Comment

The Division I Super Bowl-bound Needham High School Rockets football team remained undefeated (12-0) on Thanksgiving, beating the Wellesley High School Raiders by a 20-13 score.

Needham led 6-0 at halftime, and stretched the lead to 20-6 in the fourth quarter, with Wellesley quarterback Lukas Prock connecting with Tennyson Charney for a final score near the end of the game. (See Wellesley Media recording of the game.)

The Raiders (8-4) made their deepest playoff march in more than two decades, though its run ended earlier this month when #1 ranked Catholic Memorial crushed Wellesley 49-7. Needham, meanwhile, heads to the Division I Super Bowl on Dec. 5 to play Xaverian Brothers.

Needham High grad and astronaut Sunita Williams, from the International Space Station, handled the honorary coin toss at the start of the game.

Congrats to the Football Team for wining the 137th Thanksgiving Football Game v Wellesley! 🏆
Huge shoutout to Suni Williams for doing the coin toss from the International Space Station! 🛰️ 🚀
Happy Thanksgiving to all! Turkey tastes better after a W! 🦃
Go Rockets! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/zAkIdK745H
— Needham HS Athletics (@NHSRockets) November 28, 2024

Wellesley and Needham High School have been facing off in football since 1882, making it the oldest public high school football rivalry.

Missed (or want to relive) Wellesley High girls’ soccer title game? Wellesley Media now has recording up

November 26, 2024 by Bob Brown

Wellesley Media has posted a recording of the Wellesley High School girls’ soccer team’s 3-1 win this past weekend over Bishop Feehan for the Division I soccer title.

We welcome photos and info on Wellesley sports: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Wellesley High girls’ soccer team wins Division 1 state title by 3-1 score

November 23, 2024 by Bob Brown

The Wellesley High School girls’s soccer team defeated Bishop Feehan by a 3-1 score on Saturday afternoon to capture its first state title in 20 years.

See a recording of the game on Wellesley Media.

The #2 ranked Raiders lost just three games during the season, two of them to Natick, which got knocked off in the semi-finals. Natick last season won the Division 1 title under the leadership of Dave Wainwright, who this year led Wellesley to the championship.

girls soccer — Wellesley’s Emily Burnham readies to put Raiders ahead 2-1 (Screenshot from Wellesley Media recording)

Though of course it was Wellesley’s players and support system who deserve most of the credit for their championship season, which included four straight wins during the postseason tournament, which culminated at Worcester State.

On Saturday, the Raiders (19-3-1) fell behind 1-0 early on a Bishop Feehan penalty kick, but Peyton Keyes answered with a penalty kick of her own 20 minutes into the game to tie it 1-1. It was a Keyes penalty kick in overtime of the semi-final game on Monday that sent the Raiders to the title game.

Emily Burnham put the Raiders ahead 2-1 just before halftime upon receiving a pass from Annie Comella in the 39th minute, and Leila Eccher gave Wellesley breathing room by scoring with 18 minutes left in regulation. (More game details in The Sun Chronicle.)

The Wellesley Police escorted the team back into town.

Congratulations to Coach Wainwright and our MIAA D1 Girls State Champion Soccer Team pic.twitter.com/B101FTbg93
— Wellesley Raiders (@wellesleysports) November 23, 2024

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A post shared by Wellesley Police Department (@wellesleypolice)

We welcome photos and info on Wellesley sports: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

#1 Catholic Memorial ends Wellesley Raiders’ football playoff run with 49-7 romp

November 23, 2024 by Bob Brown

The Wellesley High School football team got ahead early on top-ranked Catholic Memorial in their Division 2 semi-final game on soggy Friday night in Weston, but it was almost all Knights after that in a 49-7 loss for the Raiders.

Catholic Memorial looked vulnerable early with three turnovers and allowing a quarterback sack on third down. The fifth-ranked Raiders went up 7-0 on a 53-yard touchdown after Lukas Prock connected with Matthew Yen in the first quarter. Catholic Memorial answered with a touchdown, but a missed extra point kept Wellesley slightly ahead… until the Knights really took over, scoring on six straight possessions during one stretch.

(View Wellesley Media recording of the game. More from the Boston Globe and MetroWest Daily News… a subscription may be required).

Catholic Memorial advances to the Division 2 Super Bowl vs. King Philip.

Wellesley’s season isn’t done. Next up for the Raiders (8-3) is rival Needham on Thanksgiving Day on the road. That won’t be an easy matchup either: The undefeated Rockets (11-0) are headed to the Division 1 Super Bowl.

(Photos courtesy of Darren Bovie.)

Wellesley vs Catholic Memorial football in Weston — Catholic Memorial players can’t catch Matthew Yen (#10) as he races for Raiders’ first and only touchdown (Photo by Darren Bovie)

We welcome photos and info on Wellesley sports: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com

Wellesley High girls’ soccer team headed to Division 1 state final

November 18, 2024 by Bob Brown

The Wellesley High School girls’ soccer team topped Brookline High by a 2-1 score in overtime on Monday night in Weymouth to advance to the Division 1 state final. Peyton Keyes knocked in a penalty kick early in OT for the victory.

#3-ranked Brookline sent the game into overtime by scoring with just three seconds left in regulation. The #2-ranked Raiders took an early 1-0 lead on an own goal just a few minutes into the first half.

For Wellesley Coach Dave Wainwright, this marks the second year in a row he has led a team to the Division 1 finals. Last year, he led Natick to the title, and it looked like the Raiders might be facing the Redhawks in the finals in what would have been a classic matchup. Natick had already defeated Wellesley twice by 1-0 scores this season.

But #4-ranked Bishop Feehan knocked off undefeated Natick in double overtime by a 2-1 score later on Monday night in Weymouth. Natick topped Bishop Feehan for the state title last season.

The 2024 finals are set between Wellesley and Bishop Feehan for Saturday, Nov. 23 at 3pm at Worcester State.

Football postseason: Scenes from Wellesley High Raiders’ 14-7 win over Bishop Feehan

November 17, 2024 by Bob Brown

The Raiders’ fifth-ranked football team topped #4 Bishop Feehan on the road in Attleboro on Friday, Nov. 15 by a 14-7 score.

Junior Tennyson Charney came up big on offense and defense, catching the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and later making a big stop on defense to give Wellesley the ball back to secure the win (see more in the Globe, subscription may be required). Quarterback Lukas Prock connected in the first quarter for a long touchdown pass to Will Zalosh to go up 7-0.

The Raiders play in the semi-finals on Friday, Nov. 22 (6pm) vs. #1 ranked Catholic Memorial at Weston High School. The winner will advance to the Division 2 super bowl game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough in early December.

Here are photos from the Nov. 15 game vs. Bishop Feehan courtesy of Darren Bovie.