Community Spotlight

Golf Tournament to Support Riverside-Bradford Baseball June 28

By |

The 12u Cooperstown Team of the Riverside-Bradford Baseball League, also known as the Riverside Bradford Bandits, holds its golf tournament Friday. The tournament will include breakfast, lunch, a raffle and prizes for both tournament and raffle winners. Breakfast will start at 7 a.m. followed by a shotgun start to the tournament at 8 a.m., lunch and raffles at noon, and final wrap up by 1:30 p.m.

The fee is $150 per player and proceeds will go toward the 12u Cooperstown Team. But space is limited, so all attendees must register in advance through the team’s googleform.com. Attendees can choose to register up to four players and make an additional donation to the team’s other events this summer.

Haverhill

Alleging ‘Poor Sportsmanship’ by Adults, League Ejects Private Haverhill Youth Softball Teams

By |

Near the end of the season, just before playoffs began, a regional youth softball league disqualified all of Haverhill’s teams after umpires refused to continue servicing their games. According to a May 28 email from the Essex County Women’s Softball League Advisory Committee, the area umpire association described “continued issues of poor sportsmanship” on the part of the private, pre-high school program. Only the 12-and-under and 14-and-under teams could not compete in the playoffs, according to a social media post by Haverhill Girls Softball. The post continued the Essex County league does not provide playoffs for younger players. Though she does not have direct knowledge of the situation, Umpire-in-Chief for USA Softball’s Massachusetts Association Dianne Weissbach said, in her experience, parents and coaches are almost always the problem.

Education

NECC Hoops Standout Reynoso Goes Pro

By |

When the Dominican Republic’s top professional basketball league, the six-team LNB, begins its Super League season on June 18, Northern Essex Community College standout Luis Reynoso will be there. Reynoso, the most-decorated hoops player in the Northern Essex Community College Knights’ history, was selected 16th overall in the Dominican national league’s draft this month by the Santiago Metros. Of the 56 players drafted overall, he was chosen in the second of seven rounds. Reynoso, of Lawrence, helped lead the Knights to their second consecutive Region 21/East District Championship this year, becoming the first player in the history of the Knights basketball program to earn two All-American awards. He is just the fourth athlete in Northern Essex athletic program history to earn that recognition twice.

Haverhill

Bradford’s Callen Cronin Earns Fourth in National Youth Golf Competition

By |

(Additional photograph below.)

Callen Cronin, of Bradford, won fourth place in his age division at a national youth golf competition for seven- to 15-year-olds. After making it through Drive, Chip and Putt’s three qualifying rounds, kids from across the country demonstrated fundamental golfing skills on the legendary Masters Tournament course in Augusta, Ga., including shooting putts at the 18th hole. As the name suggests, competitors shot two drives, chips and putts Sunday, April 7, before the professional tournament began April 11. “It’s only six shots for the day, but it’s not even where he finished, it’s the fact that he made it there,” said Kevin Murphy, owner of Bradford Country Club, where Cronin plays. He got to go to Augusta.

Education

Northern Essex Knights’ Reynoso Again Makes NJCAA Basketball All-America First Team

By |

Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball standout Luis Reynoso was named Tuesday to the NJCAA Basketball All-America First Team for the second consecutive year by the NJCAA Men’s Basketball Committee. Reynoso of Lawrence becomes the first player in the history of the Knights basketball program to be earn two All-American awards and is just the fourth athlete in the Northern Essex athletic program to earn to recognition twice. On the season, Reynoso appeared in 31 of the Knights 34 games, as he led the Knights to their second consecutive NJCAA Region 21/East District championship where the Knights returned to the national tournament where they finished in fifth place. The team ranked as high as number two in the national rankings during the season. He scored 614 points on the season and became the first Knight to score 1,000 career points since Joe Marshall in 2001 as her finished his two-year career on the Haverhill campus with 1,244 points

While averaging 26.6 minutes played per game, Reynoso led the team in scoring (19.8 ppg), rebounds (13.2 rbg), blocks (1.6 bpg) and assists (4.5apg).

Education

Northern Essex Community College Athletics Hall of Fame to Induct Fowle, Maiola, Fenerci

By |

Former cross-country standout Larry Fowle, national baseball player of the year Colby Maiola and men’s basketball standout Sercan Fenerci will be formally inducted this month into the Northern Essex Community College Athletics Hall of Fame. The 2024 class will be the fifth induction class since the college created the Hall of Fame in 2019. Dinner ceremonies take place Wednesday, March 20, beginning at 6 p.m., in the Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill Campus. Tickets are $35 each and available online until Monday, March 11. Fowle, a Haverhill native, has held the Northern Essex cross country school record since 2001 and is the only athlete to ever break the 27-minute mark for 8,000 meters at the college.

Business Bulletin

Northern Essex Hosts Men’s and Women’s NJCAA Championships Tournament Semi-Finals and Finals

By |

For the first time, Northern Essex Community College is set to the host the men’s and women’s NJCAA East District/Region 21 Championships Tournament Semi-Finals and Finals this weekend. The 2024 tournament marks the first time both the men’s and women’s championships have been held at the same site since 2020. The tournament takes place Saturday and Sunday, March 2 and 3. The Knights men’s basketball team earned the tournament’s top seed for the second consecutive season and advanced to the tournament’s final four by virtue of Wednesday night’s 93-61 quarterfinal victory over Roxbury. Luis Reynoso of Lawrence led the Knights with a 29-point, 15 rebound performance in the quarterfinal.

Haverhill

Podcast: In Advance of 50th Anniversary Celebration, ‘Spike’ Sprague Reveals Little Known Facts

By |

It won’t be long before members of Haverhill High School’s 1973-74 hockey team gather for the 50th anniversary of the program and one of the organizers is revealing decades-old details. The celebration takes place Saturday Feb. 17, at Haverhill High School’s Veterans Memorial rink with a game against Shawsheen. Richard “Spike” Sprague, who scored Haverhill High’s first varsity goal, gave away some secrets during a visit last week to WHAV’s “Win for Breakfast” program. “I guess you’re going to find out why I scored the goal, because he went into emergency duty because the starter was out.