Published May 21, 2020

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

THE NORTH READING-MASCO rivalry will come to end as the Chieftains get ready to join the Northeastern Conference next year. (File Photo)

NORTH READING — This spring season was slated to be the final one for one of North Reading High’s biggest rivals, Masconomet, in the Cape Ann League. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, that will not be the case as the season was canceled.

In September, Masconomet will be moving to the Northeastern Conference. Masconomet was in discussions with the NEC for six months and back in October the league principals officially extended the invitation.

Masco, which has dominated the league in many sports, has the CAL’s largest student enrollment of 1,145 students, which is 391 more than the second largest school and more than double half the schools in the league.

Masco’s enrollment, heading into this past fall, would be the fifth largest enrollment in a 12-team NEC so it seemed a natural fit.

The school was trying to get into the NEC back in 2009 but that fell through.

Two years ago, the NEC picked up the four Greater Boston League schools, Everett, Malden, Medford and Somerville. That addition only lasted two years as the four schools went back to reform the GBL and they took Revere with them.

With the loss of Revere, the door opened for Masco to take its place as they will be the 12th team to balance the league.

North Reading’s teams will now have to try to pick up either one or two non-league games to fill out their schedules.

“It is sad to see them go,” said NRHS girls’ lacrosse head coach Matt Costello, whose team faced the Chieftains once each year. “I would be interested in playing them next year.”

Masco came in second place in the CAL Kinney division in girls’ lacrosse while the Hornets came in fifth.

Costello would like to see another school replace Masco.

“Amesbury, who is in the league in other sports, is a co-op team with Whittier Tech,” pointed out Costello. “Essex Tech, who we have played, would be another good choice.”

In softball, the Hornets play the Chieftains twice. North Reading was second in the Kinney division last year while Masco came in fourth.

“They are good in most sports but just average in softball,” said Hornets assistant coach Paul Greene. “They have a nice facility up there and I know their head coach and he is a good guy.”

With the proximity between the two schools, he would like to see the teams keep playing each other next year.

“I understand why they left but I would still like to face them, even if it is only once a year,” said Greene.

Like Costello, Greene would also like to see the CAL find a replacement school with the Chieftains leaving.

“We had 12 schools with them in so it would be good to have 12 teams for balance,” said Greene.

The North Reading baseball team played Masco twice each season. Last spring, the Chieftains tied for third in the Kinney division at 9-7 in the league while the Hornets were fifth at 8-9.

“I enjoyed competing against them,” said Hornets manager Eric Archambault. “They were one of the top teams in our league.”

Archambault understands why Masco is leaving but, as of now, is not sure whether he wants to continue playing them as a non-league opponent.

He would, however, like to see a new team replace them in the league.

“I think that Essex Tech would be a good choice,” he said.

Essex Tech, which is located in Danvers, plays in the Commonwealth Athletic Conference that is mostly made up of tech schools. They do, however, compete in the CAL in gymnastics.