Published March 24, 2021
By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI
LYNNFIELD — 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 spring sports 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.
Lynnfield High girls’ lacrosse coach Ethan Blanchette is pleased with the decision.
“I’m glad the MIAA has decided to have a playoff for the spring,” said Blanchette. “The spring athletes missed out on their entire season last year and this is some small consolation for those who are playing this spring. The late season may present some challenges, but there aren’t really better options unless you eliminate games during the regular season, which I would not be in favor of.”
In 2019, the Pioneers lost in the first round of the Division 2 North state tournament to Tyngsboro to finish 11-8.
Pioneers’ head softball coach Peter Marinelli is also happy about the ruling.
“It is a good thing starting to see sports start to open again,” he stated. “The kids will benefit.”
Just like the two fall and winter seasons, all of the games will be Cape Ann League games for spring LHS teams. The league is a little smaller than last year with the departure to the Northeastern Conference by Masconomet back in September.
“I am disappointed that we will not have any non-league games but we are still going to have 14 league games,” said Marinelli.
Lynnfield softball reached the Division 3 North semifinals in 2019 losing to eventual state champions Austin Prep to end up at 14-8.
Pioneers’ boys’ tennis coach Joe Dunn is happy for the kids.
“Getting back to normalcy is terrific,” he stated. “I think that this will put the kids’ minds at ease.”
Dunn thinks that the players will only have to wear masks in doubles matches due to the social distancing but he feels that everything else will be normal.
The CAL will most likely, not have its league individual tournament due to time constrictions but that is a small price to pay in order to have a state tournament according to Dunn.
The LHS boys’ tennis team, who captured the Cape Ann League Kinney division title in 2019, finished at 15-4 as they reached the Division 3 North semifinals before losing to Weston, 3-2.
