High School Sports Highlights of 2012

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

Happy Holidays sports fans!

2012 was a fantastic year in high school sports and there were a great many individual and team highlights. This week we take a look back of some of the athletes that made this year so special.

There were so many great highlights, but here are the best of the best.

Meghan Fornaro:  2012 Shepherd Hill graduate had an incredible basketball career at the hill and reached the 1000-point mark in her final season to cement her place in the school’s history.  Her 42-point performance against North Middlesex in the playoffs was one of the best individual performances of the year.

Nick Kobel: Kobel ended his magnificent career at Bartlett by reaching the 1000-point club.  His 39-point effort against St. Bernard’s in his final game was a masterpiece. Kobel just finished his first season playing soccer at Springfield College.

Bartlett-Oxford Game/Donny Freeland: Freeland, the then-Oxford junior led the Pirates to a 48-38 upset win over Bartlett and the process shut down Nick Kobel and held him to one point.

Oxford Baseball team: The Oxford Pirates (18-6) and manager Justin Richards had an incredible season before bowing out in the state semi-finals and were definitely one of the best “teams” of the year.

Nick Lemay (above): The Oxford Pirates lefty was virtually unhittable, going 10-0 with an ERA under 1.00.  He also hit over .400 and earned himself a nod on the Central Mass all-star team. Lemay is now attending Becker College.

Nicole Mangaudis (shown above): “The Franchise,” aptly nicknamed by her coach Jamie Heatherman, completed a remarkable career at Oxford High School, pitching in every single inning of every game in her four-year career.  Mangaudis is now attending UMass Amherst.

Stella Worters: Shepherd Hill’s excellent long distance runner Worters had a great season in both indoor and outdoor track as a sophomore. She ended the year by earning a spot on the Cross Country super team.

Emily Dawidczyk: “The Sweet Assassin” was the View From The Sidelines” Athlete of  the Year mainly because of her outstanding indoor and outdoor record-breaking track campaigns.  Dawidczyk then went on to have a Central Mass all-star season in soccer, leading all scorers and dominating all season, including a remarkable 6-goal game against Shepherd Hill.  Dawidczyk will be playing Division 1 soccer at Sacred Heart University in the fall.

Shepherd Hill football: The 10-3 Rams made it all the way to the Super Bowl at Gillette Stadium before losing a tough battle to undefeated Nashoba.  From Drew Ravenelle to Brad Picard, they were great to watch all season long.

Alex Givins-Perry (shown above): The emergence of junior Alex Givins-Perry on the football field gave Bartlett a new dimension and 1300 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns.

Chris Dutting:  Dutting had an incredible season for the Rams that kept getting better and better every game. His performance in the playoffs against Doherty was one of the best individual efforts of the year.

Shepherd Hill girl’s soccer: Led by the emergence of goalie Meghan Dunn and a staunch defense, the Rams had a superb soccer season (13-3-3).

Lauren Barton: The extremely talented Shepherd Hill Rams soccer star was named to her second consecutive Central Mass upper team. She will be taking her talents to Manhattan College in the fall to play Division 1 soccer.

As the winter season starts, the Bartlett Indians are off to a 4-1 start in boys basketball, the Shepherd Hill girls look to be pretty solid, and The Sweet Assassin has already broken one of her own records. It's business as usual!

Central Mass Fall All-Stars: The Central Mass Fall All-Stars were announced this week and the locals were nicely represented.
 

Football
Superteam: Matt Petrell(Shepherd Hill)
Honorable Mention: Chris Dutting (Shepherd Hill), Drew Ravenelle, (Shepherd Hill), Tyler Barrie (Oxford), Alex Givins-Perry (Bartlett)

Girls Cross Country
Juleanna Schultz (Shepherd Hill), Stella Worters (Shepherd Hill)
Boys Soccer

Honorable Mention: Tyler Martin (Shepherd Hill), Evan Anderson (Bartlett)
Girls Soccer
Super Team: Lauren Barton (Shepherd Hill), Emily Dawidczyk (Oxford)
Honorable Mention: Amanda Keovongmanysar (Shepherd Hill, photo below)
Girls Volleyball
Danielle Watkins (Shepherd Hill)

Amanda Keovongmanysar


Final Word(s): Before departing, I would like to say a few words about Bartlett High School football coach Dane Laboissonniere.

Since I returned to write for The Patriot in August 2011, Coach Laboissonniere has been a total professional and has gone out of his way time and time again to help make our job easy. He has also done a fantastic job not only as Bartlett’s coach but also as an educator who has helped his kids get to the right colleges and pursue their education.  In my opinion, I don’t think there is a better person to be coaching the Bartlett Indians at this time than him and his excellent staff.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their support this year and wish you all a happy and successful New Year! 

Until next week, see you on the sidelines! Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any sports news and check out the new View From The Sidelines Facebook page with exclusive photos and news at https://www.facebook.com/ViewFromTheSidelines