Week of May 4...

Last week produced both stunning upset victories and playoff-eliminating defeats. Several teams poised themselves at or near the pinnacle of their respective conferences while others contended for pride alone. An assortment of uncomfortable but "playable" weather conditions permitted most teams to battle their way out of bottlenecked schedules and into a more routine work week as they readied themselves for playoffs. As a result, your opportunities to see the Bruins in action are dwindling even as the pressure and importance of the remaining contests is elevated to new fingernail-chewing and hair-graying levels.

A tough season for the golf team saunters on, highlighted last week by a 15-6 win against the Warriors of Beth Tfiloh, a club that had amintained a winning record prior to their matchup with the Bruins. Unfortunately, the Wednesday triumph was closely followed by Thursday's 14-7 loss to the theretofore winless Indian Creek squad, dropping Park to 2-7 on the year. The regular schedule concludes this week as another Wednesday-Thursday double looms with the team facing middle-of-the-pack Glenelg Country and 7-3 Friends School on the 6th and 7th respectively.

Boys' tennis began last week by slipping in an overdue set against the Quakers, completing the match begun almost a week prior. The Bruins two-doubles team came from behind, winning four straight games, to defeat Friends and earn the match victory. With a jumbled lineup due to injury and illness, the squad then fell to BT 3-2 on Wednesday and was shutout by Loyola on Friday to end the regular season. The loss helped to eliminate Park from the team tournament but did nothing to lessen the fervor of Bruins vying for individual titles. Those finals are scheduled to start Monday, May 11th at McDonogh. Stay tuned for the pairings and results.

Coming off a huge win over John Carroll the week prior, the boys' lax team was feeling confident going into their second of three key games against top opponents when they took Boys' Varsity Field against AACS last Tuesday. Mere seconds after the opening faceoff, the Bruins had lost a star defenseman to a turned ankle. A quarter or so later, another left the contest with a shoulder injury. Character may have been the word of the day, however, as Park held onto an early lead for an 11-9 surprise (at least for the Eagles) win. The theme continued Thursday against Pallotti when Park took a third quarter lead that they would not relinquish, beating the Panthers 9-7. The three best records in the B-Conference had been knocked off one by one during the Bruins' sweep that began the week before! Friday's guest, Sts. Peter and Paul, could do no better playing David to Park's sudden Goliath, losing 11-5. This week, the boys round out their schedule against three more conference foes: Key at home on Monday (5/4), a grudge match at AACS on Tuesday (5/5) and home again against Chapelgate on Friday (5/7). Another successful stretch could very well result in a three-way tie among the conference leaders. Impressive crowds have cheered the boys' latest inspiring efforts, perhaps without much of the background knowledge to complete the story. "What's Bruin" readers recognize the remarkable nature of this run. Spread the word among the fans!

Another spring feature, perhaps without all the drama of the boys' season (for now!), the girls' lacrosse team remains among the very best in the B-Conference, breezing through last week's competition while tinkering with strategy and honing the details of their attack along the way. Monday witnessed the Bruins defeat Baltimore Lutheran 18-3. An imperfect first half on Tuesday failed to impede the girls on their way to a 18-7 win over Glenelg Country. Scheduled for Friday was Pallotti, who'd narrowly lost a previous clash between the two by only three goals. This time, Park cruised 18-11. With only one conference game remaining, Tuesday's (5/5) contest at AACS, the Bruins have settled into second place with a record of 9-2 (10-2 overall) behind the Quakers mark of 12-0 (12-2). Mercersburg Academy of Pennsylvania will be the final tuneup before the playoffs on Wednesday (5/6) at 4:30.

The title of "Regular Season Champ," were it based upon wins and losses alone, would be the sole possession of the softball team. They captured first place in the C-conference by thumping then leader St. John's last Monday by a score of 17-3. The thrilling accomplishment was quickly eclipsed, however, when on Tuesday the girls won a pitcher's duel 3-1 against RPCS, paced by the 100th (as well as 101st through 105th) strikeout tossed by Park's own Chelsea Burwasser, a feat worthy of a mention on Digital Sports as well as our very first name drop here on the blog. That's 105 strikeouts versus 7 walks in 52 innings. For those unfamiliar with the world of softball statistics, those numbers are relatively, um... ridiculous. The victory clinched the top seed and a first round bye in the playoffs set to begin this Friday. The girls will have nearly a two week rest prior to the start of their post-season run towards the final.

Not yet at the top of their conference, baseball can do much to shuffle the standings this week. Sweeping the season series against Boys' Latin with a 6-4 victory last Thursday reestablished the Bruins as sole owners of second place before losing 13-3 to the first place Baltimore Lutheran Saints on Friday. The loss left the boys (now 7-5 in conference) percentage points behind the Saints and Lakers for the Red Division lead. This Tuesday (5/5) Park takes on 10-1 (15-8 overall) Pallotti, the Black Division leader. Cross-division play continues on Wednesday (5/7) at second place and 9-2 (11-6 overall) Friends School. Pending those results, Thursday's challenge against Severn could wind up either an opportunity to seize first or a battle for third in the division. The Admirals thrashed the Bruins in mid-April 22-12. Those potential ramifications qualify the contest as our GAME OF THE WEEK, so please mark your calendars and head to Sugar Field for the 4:15 start.

See you there!

GO BRUINS!

An alumni note: Maggie Sachs ('07) helped the Stanford women's lacrosse team (ranked 13th in the country) to its fifth consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship, and followed it up by shocking Penn (#3 nationally) in an 8-6 upset. Maggie and her Stanford teammates await the announcement of the NCAA tournament field to ascertain whether or not they've made the Division I playoffs. Keep sending all of your alumni sports news!