Firebirds on fire

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July 29, 2010

Firebirds on fire

The Eagle Tribune Thu Jul 29, 2010, 11:38 PM EDT

The New England Firebirds U23 softball team captured the Umpires Open in Leominster last weekend, going 6-0 in the 12-team format. It was the third tournament championship of the summer for the Firebirds, who are 17-5 overall.

North Andover's Britt Hart of Bryant and Lawrence's Liz Habib of AIC both won two games in the tournament. Offensively, former local standouts Katie Bettencourt (UMass Amherst), Monique Gosselin (Merrimack), Krissy Whitley (Southern Connecticut) Candace Waldie (UMass Amherst), Lindsay Martin (Bryant) and Stephanie Mayne (UMass Amherst) all contributed.

Demarais wins Jr. tourney

Haverhill's Alex Demarais won after a playoff hole to take top honors in the boys 12-14 division at the second Garrison Golf Center Youth Tournament of the summer. He and Haverhill's Casey Fitzpatrick both shot 29 for the first nine holes.

Haverhill's Jack Gorman came in third with a 30 while Brendan Shirley of Haverhill and Methuen's Mark Mancini tied for fourth at 31.

In the boys 8-11 division, Ryan Quinlan of Salem, N.H., came in first with a 33 followed by Haverhill's Trevor Hebb and Anthony Bonaface of Atkinson, N.H., with 37s and Dariahn Hammonds of Haverhill with a 39. Morgan Arakelian of North Andover was the girls division winner.

Methuen tops Lowell

Methuen's Red Tide defeated the Lowell Grays 12-5, last night. Vinnie Capomaccio pitched five innings to earn the victory. He also went 2 for 2 with an RBI double. Mac Lannan remained red hot at the plate going 4 for 4 and knocking in three runs. Cody Cyr also contributed two hits with two runs scored. Methuen plays its final regular season game on Friday night before beginning the playoffs on Sunday.

Three locals teams in Junior Legion Tourney

Methuen, North Andover and Haverhill will complete in this year's District 8 vs. District 5 Junior Legion Tourney, which will be an eight-team double elimination tourney, which begins on Saturday. District 8 regular season champion, Newburyport (12-4), earned the No. 1 seed in the "A" Bracket while District 5 champion Newton is the top team in Bracket "B".

Of the three local teams, only Methuen (11-4-1) will have a home game in the opening round. They open at 10 a.m. at Veterans Park in Methuen, on Saturday. North Andover (11-5) plays at Shirley while Haverhill (11-5) travels to Newton.

District 8 vs. District 5 Junior Legion Tourney

Bracket A Bracket B

1. Newburyport 1. Newton

2. Shirley 2. Methuen

3. North Andover 3. Weston

4. Needham 4. Haverhill

Saturday, July 31st

Bracket A:

Game 1 - Needham at Newburyport, 2 p.m.

Game 2 - North Andover at Shirley, 5 p.m. (at the Lura White Elementary School)

Bracket B:

Game 1 - Haverhill at Newton, TBA

Game 2 - Weston at Methuen, 10 a.m. (at Veteran's Park)

Sunday, August 1st (both brackets follow the same format) -

All game times from this point forward are TBA

Game 3 - loser of game 1 vs. loser of game 2 (at higher seed). The loser of this game is eliminated.

Game 4 - winner of game 1 vs. winner of game 2 (at higher seed).

Monday, August 2nd

Game 5 - winner of game 3 vs. loser of game 4 (at higher seed). Losing team is eliminated.

Tuesday, August 3rd

Game 6 - winner of game 5 at the winner of game 4. (If the winner of game 5 loses this game, they are eliminated and the bracket is over).

Wednesday, August 4th

Game 7 - if necessary. The winner of Game 6 hosts this game.

Thursday, August 5th

Winner of Bracket A vs. Winner of Bracket B. The higher seed will have the home game. If both teams are seeded the same, then the first tiebreaker is the record within each bracket. The next tiebreaker is a coin-toss.

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