The Sports Buzz for June 13 - 19

It's Monday, and you know what that means. It's time for the Sports Buzz, the fastest three minutes in Brookline sports coming your way right now:

Well, the Brookline High rowing team’s strong showing at the Nationals was marred only by an equipment failure that washed out the medal hopes of the returning girls’ lightweight double scullers this past weekend.

The boys’ team of Jack Ruske and Ari Zimmet placed fourth in the nation after three days of competition among more than 1,500 rowers in the 2011 USRowing Youth National Championships in Oak Ridge, TN.

Ruske and Zimmet finished first in the semifinal on Melton Hill Lake, with a time of 7:21.24, defeating both Saratoga and the Oakland Strokes. But those teams turned the tables in the final race, placing ahead of fourth-place Brookline and behind first-place Bromfield.

Juniors Beth Kazimer and Lena Randle were in a similar position competing in a double last year, when they finished fourth at the championships in Ohio. Kazimer and Randle trained hard all year with their sights set on this year’s nationals. They had the second best time among the lightweight doubles in this year’s first heat and then in the semifinals, when they finished just  two seconds behind CRI, a rival team that also trains on the Charles River.

In the final, Kazimer and Randle were within reach of a national championship more than two-thirds into the last race. They were ahead of CRI and the rest of the field when an oarlock suddenly failed. The malfunction combined with their momentum resulted in a capsized boat, and their dream was postponed for another year.

The boys' lightweight eight also competed well, finishing 16th in the nation. The crew consisted of Sam Shapiro, Adam Rintell, Masuzyo Mhango, Alex Meyer, Dan Meyer, Colby Ko, Cody Tipton, Jake Wolf-Sorokin, and Eden Zik racing. 

Meanwhile, Brookline Rowing finished in medal position in six sprints during the Massachusetts Public High School Rowing Association championships in May.

Rowing in crews of eight plus coxswain, the third varsity girls and second varsity boys took home silver medals.

Finishing with bronze medals were four Brookline crews, the first varsity boys, second varsity girls, and first- and second-novice girls. 

Well, how about some summer baseball action? The Brookline American Legion  team got a soid pitching effort from Eric Dumas, despite a 2-1 loss to Foxboro in early season play.

Dumas, a right-hander, who starred for Brookline High in the spring, kept the hosts on the ropes for much of the night. Dumas struck out six in 5 1/3 innings of work.

But, Foxboro standout hurler Nick Carafa was also on his game. Carafa went the distance, while also striking out six.

“When I saw [Dumas] throw early I said I’m glad [Carafa's] on the hill because I knew runs were going to be hard to score in this game,”  Foxboro head coach Bill Travers said.

Brookline struck first in the top of the third, when Hikari Mamata stole second and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly.

Foxboro got the two runs it needed in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run triple by Steve Fitzmaurice.  

Finally, the Brookline Knights AAU 13-and-under baseball team was scheduled to host a pair of division games this past weekend at Amory Field. Brookline was slated to play Mass. Athletics from Billerica on Saturday and the Strike Zone from Worcester on Sunday.

"It's been a tough season for our kids, [we] have just two wins, but have played very well at times," team organizer Stewart Silvestri said. "[We] have had trouble putting seven good innings together. It's a very competitive league."

On the mound this spring, the Knights have been led by Jonas Weber, Deven Yee, Chris Baez, and Mark Daniels. Defensively, Josh Pang, Alex Kibrick, Jesse Huggins, and Stewie Silvestri have held the fort, while Liam Connor-Moreno and Pat Webler have provided solid offense.

The Knights have traveled to Providence, RI, for the New England AAU Super Regional Tournament, and also to New London, CT, for the War at the Shore tourney over the Memorial Day weekend. Brookline was one of 70 teams at the latter event.

Brookline will wrap up its 28 game spring slate at the end of the month. Then, like last year, the local players will compete for Brookline in one of two events: The Lou Tompkins All-Star Baseball Program http://www.ltabaseball.com/ or the Baystate Youth Baseballs "Tournament of Champions" http://www.baystatebaseball.com/. Both are greater Boston summer tournaments in which Brookline enters teams at the ages 10,11,12,14 & 16.

The Friends of Brookline Rowing contributed to this report.