Busy week for the Rockets

April 18th, 2025

• Baseball and girls lacrosse picked up wins, while boys lacrosse dropped a close one against Walpole. 

It was a busy week at home for Needham High School Sports, with both lacrosse teams, boys volleyball, baseball and softball hosting games. They went a combined 4-1 at home, with impressive performances across the board. 

Baseball started the week off on Monday, April 14, against Walpole at DeFazio Park, defeating the Timberwolves 1-0 for their win of the season. 

In sophomore Will Cassidy’s first varsity start on the mound for Needham, he threw a complete game, allowing just four hits while striking out three batters. Unfortunately for the Rockets, the opposing pitcher, Andrew Burke, also had a stellar day on the mound, recording four strikeouts and not allowing a hit. 

The difference between the teams came in the bottom of the sixth inning when a pitch hit Colin O’Donnell to put a runner on base for the Rockets, their first since the second inning. Head coach CJ Golbranson brought in pinch runner Logan Layish to replace O’Donnell, and after Joey Saratella flew out to center field, he had Alex Rufo pinch-hit. Layish was able to steal second to put himself in scoring position, and shortly after, Burke threw a wild pitch, which advanced him to third. Rufo then hit a sacrifice fly into center field, and Layish scored the game’s only run. Walpole got a man on first in the top of the seventh but could not bring him home, and Needham would win it 1-0. 

The following day, Tuesday, April 15, boys lacrosse also took on the Timberwolves, but they would fall 14-10, bringing their record to 4-3. The Rockets got on the board first with a wrap-around goal from Michael Roach, but Walpole responded quickly, as Jack Cotter tied the game at one. Walpole would go on to score the next two goals before Needham tied the game again at three. With 1:20 left in the first, the Timberwolves would add another goal to take a 4-3 lead into the second quarter. 

After six scoreless minutes, the Rockets tied the game again, thanks to a goal from defender James Lalonde. Walpole netted the next three goals, pushing their lead to 7-5 by halftime. Out of the break, the Rockets scored two goals in about three minutes to shrink the Timberwolves lead to one. But Walpole would push the lead again, scoring five unanswered goals from the middle of the third to the beginning of the fourth quarter. Despite two Rockets, Roach and Cal Sullivan, recording hat tricks, Needham ran out of fuel and couldn’t complete a comeback attempt.  

Boys volleyball had better luck that day, sweeping Framingham 3-0 to improve their record to 6-2 on the season. 

On Wednesday, April 16, softball cruised past Milton thanks to strong performances at the plate. Ellie Gerstel, Kaitlyn Cheng and Maricel Puccilo all recorded three RBIs as the Rockets won 14-5. After dropping their first game of the season, they have won four of their last five games to bring their record to 4-2. 

Girls lacrosse would cap off the week with a dominant 14-4 win over Milton on Thursday, April 17. It was all Needham from the get-go, as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. They added four more in the second to take a 10-1 lead into the halftime break and never looked back, coasting to victory. Emmie Verville led the team with four goals, while Sami Bonasia, Sophia Meade, Lila Jantzen, and Francesca Adams added two each. Lisa O’Leary and Addie Stedman also tallied a goal in the win. 

You can check out each goal from the girls lacrosse game here:

 

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Sports Anchor Mike Levin has the highlights from baseball and boys lacrosse below:

The highlights above ran as part of the Needham Channel News, a weekly newscast airing on The Needham Channel every Thursday at 7:30pm. The Needham Channel News can be found on the Community Channel: Comcast 9, Astound 15 and Verizon 29. Most Thursdays it also can be viewed on our HD Channel on Verizon 2129, Astound 613 and streaming on this site.