The weekend kicked off with the second annual Dick Maag JV Baseball Tournament, ending with the St. Mary’s Spartans being crowned back-to-back champions.

Better yet, across the two-day (Friday and Saturday) tournament, the champs didn’t concede a run. After St. Mary’s defeated Swampscott, 7-0, on Friday, it took care of Lynn Tech, 13-0, in Saturday’s championship.

In the championship – which saw Tony Nicosia Sr. throwing out the first pitch – JJ Avery picked up the win for the Spartans, striking out six and allowing just one hit across two innings. Rowan Merryman entered in relief and punched out three. Micah Hashikawa, Chase Collins, and Nate Cutone connected on two hits apiece.

Just as big of a story was how St. Mary’s got there. In its win against Swampscott on day one, Tournament MVP Brayden Crawford (13 K, 1 H, 0 ER) had a perfect game going until the two-out mark of the seventh inning.

Friday saw Tech defeat Lynn Classical, 11-4, while Saturday had Classical defeating Swampscott, 4-2, in the consolation game behind the pitching performance of Elijah Morin (4 K, 2 H, 1 ER). Jake Desmond (4 K, 0 H, 0 R) played well in relief, while Collin Hart, Alex Sullivan, and Gavin Collins all went 2-for-3 for the Rams.

All-Tournament team: Hart (Classical), Cutone (St. Mary’s), Albert Collardo (Tech), Andrew Paster (Swampscott).

“Overall, this was a very successful tournament. We had a lot of people come and support us over the two days,” said Classical coach and tournament organizer Pat Whalen. “I can’t thank everyone enough for the support to help make this tournament a success. My goal in creating this tournament last year was to get the JV players a chance to get some recognition… Thank you to all of the teams involved. Mr. Maag was a great person who wanted to help out the youth of Lynn and I believe this is a great way to honor his legacy. I’m hoping to bring it back for 2025.”