Gravell named Central’s new baseball coach
On Wednesday afternoon, Central Catholic High School Athletic Director Zach Blaszak announced that Leo Gravell has been named the school’s new varsity baseball coach.
Gravell, who played at Andover High, was an assistant coach at Tewksbury High, UNH and Windham, N.H., before taking over the head coach’s role in 2017 and serving until 2022. In his six seasons, the Jaguars qualified for postseason play each year, including winning the program’s first Division I tournament game (after being bumped from Division II) in his final season. Over the past two seasons, he’s been the head coach at Amesbury.
Gravell replaces John Sexton, who resigned as baseball and football coach last month. Central has yet to name his replacement in football, as well as a new boys varsity soccer coach.
Martiniello earns POW award
Colby College sophomore Ally Martiniello was named the NESCAC Women’s Ice Hockey Player of the Week. The Salem, N.H. resident led the Mules to a 2-0 shutout versus No. 2 Amherst on Friday night and a 1-1 tie on Saturday, stopping 86 of 87 shots faced.
Against Amherst, Martiniello saved all 39 shots she faced, including eight coming on power plays. The next night, she posted a career-high 47 saves, including six shots in overtime and all three shootout attempts, allowing the Mules to take the shootout, 1-0.
For the season, Martiniello has a 10-3-1 record, while posting staggering numbers of a .950 save percentage and a 1.05 GAA.
Caruso picks up a lot of hardware
Freshman Sophia Caruso of Haverhill helped lead Regis College to a third-place finish at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women’s Swim and Dive Championship Meet.
Caruso had another record-breaking performance, touching the wall in the 100 freestyle in 52.55, surpassing the previous program record by 0.18 seconds. She later added her second first-place finish of the meet in the 100 backstroke, posting a personal best of 1:02.00.
At the conclusion of the meet, she was named All-Conference in four events: the 200-Free, 200-Free Relay, the 100-Free and the 100-backstroke.
Hughes helps Crimson Tide win
In Monday’s consolation round of the annual Beanpot Tournament, Andover resident Will Hughes helped Harvard defeat Northeastern, 4-1. He finished with three shots on net and won 6-of-10 faceoffs.
In 22 games this season, Hughes has two goals and five assists and has blocked 16 shots.
Busy weekend of high school sports
If you are looking for something to do this weekend, there’s plenty of exciting high school events to attend.
On Friday night, the much anticipated Andover-Central Catholic boys basketball rematch featuring two of the state’s best players Javi Lopez (CC) and Josh Roux (Andover) will be held at Central (7 p.m.).
The MIAA Wrestling Sectionals will be held on Saturday at Methuen (D1), Woburn (D2) and Dracut (D3).
Also on Saturday in New Hampshire, the Division I and II state swim (8:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m.) will be held at UNH and the Division I and II state gymnastics meets will be held at the A2 Gym and Cheer complex in Salem, N.H. starting at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m, respectively.