The One | Sports
Courtesy WPI Athletics
Ama Biney hit .445 as a freshman center fielder for WPI’s record-setting softball team.
Saturday, March 25 — WPI softball doubleheader vs. Westfield State, 3:30 p.m., Rooftop Field, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 151 Salisbury St. So we told you about star sophomore Ama Biney as her record-breaking basketball season was ending and just before her much-anticipated second season on the diamond was to begin. Well, go ahead and get used to the record-breaking — not only from Biney, but from fellow standout Nina Murphy-Cook and an impressive roster of Engineers off to an 8-2 start.
In 10 games [as of Friday, March 18] the National Player of the Year candidate is batting .645 (20 of 31) with 16 runs, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 7 RBI and 9 stolen bases. (classmate Murphy-Cook, also on the national watchlist, was hitting .486 with 12 runs and 11 steals.) The Holy Name product, who leads off and plays center field, was recently named Div. III player of the week.
Biney and second baseman Murphy-Cook, the No. 3 hitter, will have plenty of help, namely in senior ace Clare Doolin (3-0, 23 Ks, 2.19 ERA) and junior catcher Lindsay Gurska (.438, 12 RBI), as they play their first home games at Rooftop Field against a Westfield State team that was 1-7 heading into the weekend.
[Update: This event has been postponed, but it’s pretty cool so we’re leaving it in as a sort of heads up with a TBA attached. You’re welcome!]
Sunday, March 20 — Scrabble Scrimmage 2016, 5-8 p.m., The Megaron, Worcester Academy, 81 Providence St. Where the power of words and nerds come together in the best possible way! This annual event raising critical funds for Literacy Volunteers of Greater Worcester, an organization that helps immigrants and refugees not only learn English but assimilate culturally, is considered a fan favorite. The night includes an Italian buffet, raffles and prizes for $30 per person (or $25 each for teams of four or more).
Photo courtesy mass.historicbuildingsct.com
Mechanics Hall
Tuesday, March 22 — “Junie B’s Essential Survival Guide to School,” 10-11 a.m., Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St. Junie B, for those of you pretending you don’t know, is the titular character in a long-running series of children’s books who likes to share tips and observations from her many school-based adventures. Theatreworks USA has been providing performances to youth and families who might not otherwise have access since 1961. Individual tickets are $14 ($15 day of show), and may be limited.
Wednesday, March 23 — Dangerous Journey, Desperate Journey: Experiences from the Front Door of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, 6-7:30 p.m., Weller Academic Center, Becker College, 61 Sever St. A longtime administrator and a member of the class of 2017 reflect on their trip to Greece to aid in humanitarian efforts to aid refugees fleeing Turkey. Timely, certainly, given Worcester is preparing itself to be a front door of sorts to the expected influx of refugees coming to America the next several months. This lecture is free and open to the public.
Friday-Saturday, March 25-26 — NCAA Div. I Men’s Hockey Northeast Regional, times TBA, DCU Center, 50 Foster St. OK, the “selection show” for the 16-team national tournament field is set to be announced at noon today [Sunday, March 20], so we don’t know who will be here — but it’s likely to be a strong field for the pair of regional semifinals Friday and showdown between those games’ winners Saturday.
Last year’s Northeast Regional featured perennial power Boston University, with familiar contenders Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth and 2013 national champion Yale. The last two times the regional was in Worcester, 2012 and 2014, the bracket was topped by Boston College, a perennial power and eventual 2012 champ, and familiar contenders Maine, Minnesota-Duluth (hmm) and Air Force in 2012; and UMass-Lowell, Minnesota State and Denver in 2014.
Bank on the Hockey East champ [to be crowned late Saturday, March 19] and some team from Minnesota to be here, then. All four Hockey East semifinalists are ranked in the top 14 nationally: Providence is No. 3, BC is No. 5, UMass-Lowell is No. 8, and Northeastern is No. 14. (Minnesota-Duluth is ranked 16th and one of four top-20 teams from the Gopher State in contention for a bid, too!)