Last week, the Hudson HitDawgs were able to pile up wins between the four age groups, finding their way into many tournament brackets as the week progressed. Some teams played their final games of the season this week, with 11U managing to finish off their season with a 603 Classic Championship in Londonderry on Sunday.
Hudson’s 8U team had a week of ups and downs, with some struggles in the Conway Classic contradicting total domination in the 603 Classic. The 8U HitDawgs began the week with a 15-8 loss against Dracut in pool play for the Conway Classic in Tewksbury, then beat Hollis-Brookline 10-5 in the first game of the 603 Classic in Londonderry on Tuesday. Hudson then played Dover in Londonderry on Thursday, and won 6-5. The HitDawgs wrapped up their week with a Saturday split doubleheader, playing in the quarterfinals of the Conway Classic, and unfortunately falling to the host Tewksbury 10-5, ending their tournament and finishing themselves off as the fifth-place finishers in the 8U age bracket before taking a ride up to Londonderry and besting Salem Blue 14-1 to win their pool in the 603 Classic. They will play the winner of Hollis-Brookline/Dover at 7:30 PM on Founders Field in Londonderry on Tuesday. If they win there, they would wrap up their season in the 603 Classic Championship Game on Wednesday night at 5:30 on the same field.
For 9U, they found success in the Conway Classic, earning themselves a trip to the semifinals on Thursday evening. Hudson, unfortunately, struggled in the 603 Classic last week thanks in part to a very tough pool, coupled with a nearly impossible first-round opponent. The HitDawgs began their week in Tewksbury with a 18-10 loss to Salem Blue, then, on Tuesday, they lost in Londonderry 12-7 to an Exeter team that finished in the top 3 in the 9U NH State tournament a few weeks back. On Thursday, the HitDawgs lost a tough battle against Reading Red (Reading, MA) 9-8 in Tewksbury. Friday, Hudson lost 13-9 to Great Bay (Epping, NH) in Londonderry, and then on Saturday, Hudson swept their doubleheader between Londonderry and Tewksbury with a 16-4 win over Seacoast in Londonderry for their first game and then beat Georgetown, MA 14-4 in Tewksbury, sending them into Sunday at 1-2 in each tournament. Hudson split their Sunday doubleheader, beating Reading Black 28-6 in Tewksbury, advancing them to the semifinals in the Conway Classic, and losing to Quintown 10-0 in the nightcap in Londonderry, ending their 603 Classic run. Hudson will play against Salem Blue on Thursday at 5:30 PM in Tewksbury for the semifinals. If they win, the finals will be on Saturday at 11:30 AM.
For the 10U HitDawgs, they entered the week 1-1 in the Conway Classic, while not yet starting the 603 Classic. They played their first game of the week on Thursday against Amherst in Londonderry, winning 15-1. They then beat Londonderry on Friday 8-7 to move to 2-0 in pool play before wrapping up their pool in Tewksbury with a convincing 15-8 win over Georgetown n Saturday in the early game and then traveled to Londonderry where they beat Marshwood 11-10 to win their pool. On Sunday, Hudson earned a bye into the semifinals before being upset by Londonderry by a final score of 10-5, losing to the eventual champs. Hudson still has at least one more game to play at the 10U level this week as they take on Methuen on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals for the Conway Classic. Semis would be on Thursday against Reading with the finals being slated for Saturday at 2:00 PM.
The 11U HitDawgs wrapped up their 2024 schedule last week, with their season ending in a 603 Classic Championship. 11U went 4-2 this week in Londonderry after starting the week with an 11-5 loss to Dover on Tuesday, beating Londonderry’s B-team on Wednesday 8-2 and then their A-Team on Thursday 6-5. Hudson then wrapped up pool play with an unfortunate 7-1 loss to Nashua, slotting them as the third seed for the bracket before getting revenge against Dover and beating them 4-3 on Sunday morning to advance to the championship Sunday afternoon against Nashua, which they won 5-2 over Nashua.
