Published March 25, 2021
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
NORTH READING — The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association voted last week to approve an extended postseason tournament for spring sports that will include state semifinal and final rounds.
It will be, if the tournament gets completed, the first tournament to finish since the fall season of 2019. The winter season playoffs of 2020 went deep but the plug was pulled a few days before the state finals games in basketball and hockey due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There was no season at all last spring. This past fall and winter there were just regular season games with some leagues doing a league tournament the final week.
That is the same situation in this current Fall 2 season.
The spring season is slated to start on April 26 with the regular season wrapping up on June 15. The postseason will go until July 3 ending nearly three weeks after it normally would.
North Reading High girls’ assistant softball coach Paul Greene, whose daughter Michelle is the head coach, is very pleased with the decision.
“We are very excited about it,” he stated. “Being outdoors helps and we will do all of the protocols the MIAA wants us to do. It didn’t look good for a while (about a full postseason) but our kids are competitive and we have a good team coming back.”
Greene went on to say that he really missed coaching last year and felt bad for the seniors who missed out on playing. The Hornets had five seniors on last year’s roster.
Back in 2019, North Reading went 18-4 as they lost 5-4 to Arlington Catholic in the Division 2 North quarterfinals.
Batters will most-likely have to wear masks and the umpire behind home plate might call balls and strikes from behind the pitcher’s circle.
Hornet girls’ lacrosse coach Matt Costello is looking forward to the new season.
“I think it is fantastic,” he stated. “They (MIAA) were thinking about the kids after what happened last spring.”
The rules changes should be minor in girls lacrosse. All players will have to wear masks and the eight-meter shot might be altered a little for social distancing purposes. However, unlike field hockey last fall which went from 11-on-11 to seven-on-seven, there will be no shortage of players on the field.
North Reading will only play other CAL teams in the regular season like they have all school year and even though Greene and Costello are disappointed about no non-league games, they are pleased overall.
“I am just grateful that we will get to play,” stated Costello, whose squad won five games back in 2019.
Six seniors from last year’s squad didn’t get to play for Costello last spring..
The CAL is one team smaller than last season as Masconomet left for the Northeastern Conference last September.
