WELLESLEY — In the very back of Chelmsford ace Matt Stuart’s mind is that each of the program’s last three state tournament runs have ended in games he started.

Yet another gem from the senior Gardner-Webb University-commit on Sunday instead has the Lions reaching a new height.

With a complete-game shutout, in which the four-year starter allowed just three hits and two walks with eight strikeouts, Stuart won a true pitchers duel to lift 14th-seeded Chelmsford (17-8) over No. 11 Wellesley, 1-0, in the Div. 1 state quarterfinals to secure the program’s first trip to the Final Four.

Evan Kobrenski’s RBI double in the fifth inning proved the game-winner, getting just enough against Raiders sophomore Max Boehm (complete game, one run, four hits, four strikeouts) in a 74-pitch gem.

“It’s amazing, it’s what we’ve been working for all year,” Stuart said. “Every year so far, we’ve been knocked out when I’ve been pitching. I was 0-for-3 coming into this (tournament). So that first game (in the first round) was a big step for me, and to win this one is just amazing.”

“We’re crazy excited,” added Chelmsford head coach Lou DiStasi. “This team has been building for several years. We challenged ourselves with a really tough schedule because we knew that we wanted to compete for the state title. … To get this, into the Final Four, I think it means so much to the town and to the community.”

Batters had trouble all game producing much of any real opportunities against either pitcher, both of whom each set down seven straight batters at one point. And when chances with runners in scoring position came up, the two combined to force a 1-for-7 mark at the plate.

Boehm efficiently forced a slew of routine plays for his defense by pounding the strike zone, while Stuart’s mix of pitches did the same and produced at least one strikeout in every inning but the third.

“I knew coming in he was a good pitcher,” Stuart said. “But I knew if we got one, I knew I wasn’t going to let up a run. So just get that run, and it was over.”

It wasn’t until the fifth inning that a run was scored, in which Boehm nearly got out of the jam prior. John Latham’s leadoff double was advanced to third on a Keegan Briere (2-for-2) sacrifice bunt. Boehm answered by taking away a squeeze opportunity with a lineout.

On the next pitch, Kobrenski tucked a grounder just inside the first-base line for a two-out double and the 1-0 lead.

“That’s been our team all year,” DiStasi said. “(Kobrenski) has been unbelievable for two consecutive years. … To get that double for us to win, couldn’t have gone to a better kid.”

That’s the only damage Boehm allowed, but Stuart held up his promise.

Will Goggin (2-for-2) and Cole DeFina hit two-out singles to put runners on first and third in the fifth, only for Stuart to force a lineout to shortstop to end the threat. Only one runner reached in the sixth and seventh innings, and it came on a dropped routine fly in the outfield.

Stuart, whopitched well in those three previous state tournament losses, closed the door in the program’s biggest win to date.

“It was like he always does,” said DiStasi. “He pitches every single one of the big games that we ever get. … It’s the way he’s been his entire career. We expect him to do something like that, even though every time he does it, you just smile and say, ‘Wow, you’re an amazement.’ He’s the biggest competitor I’ve ever coached.”

There’s quite a history with this Chelmsford group, as many of the players were on the Cal Ripken 11-year-old team for DiStasi back in 2019, which qualified for the 2020 World Series as 12-year-old representatives.

COVID cancelled it, and they never had the chance for that glory.

“Our 12-year-old team that was destined to go to the World Series … never had the chance to do it,” DiStasi said. “This might be a nice little alternative, so we’ll take it.”

Originally Published: June 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM EDT

NEW YORK — Injured Red Sox starter Tanner Houck still has not thrown off a mound more than three weeks after landing on the IL.

The 28-year-old righty was placed on the 15-day injured list May 14 with a right flexor pronator strain.

“Playing catch but not on the mound yet,” manager Alex Cora said Saturday before Boston’s game against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.

Houck has struggled this season with an 8.04 ERA (43 ⅔ innings, 39 earned runs) in nine starts.

Is his progression going slower than initially expected?

“Not really,” Cora said. “When you go on the IL, you never know.

“I’m not saying this is the case but when they (trainers) start working on you, they feel like it’s more time than in the beginning or less time,” Cora said. “So I leave it up to them to see where we’re at but we just gotta be patient.”

Other Red Sox injury updates:

~ Setup man Justin Slaten, who the Red Sox placed on the 15-day injured list June 1 with right shoulder inflammation, has not begun throwing again.

~ Third baseman Alex Bregman (right quad strain) “feels good” after beginning his running progression Thursday, Cora said. “The progression is going well. Let’s see how he feels tomorrow and then we’ll go from there. Obviously we’re still far away from starting the baseball progression,” Cora said.

~ Starter Kutter Crawford (wrist pain) was supposed to throw a bullpen session this weekend. But Cora said it’s now going “to be the end of the (this coming) week.”

“Most people’s experience there is solely related to baseball,” said Richard Johnson, Fenway expert and curator at The Sports Museum in Boston. “But the fact is that this year, you can see an event that’ll be very similar to what your grandparents saw.”

Promoters Mark and Matt Nolan want “Fight Night at Fenway,” scheduled for Saturday, to be both a time capsule and time machine, taking spectators back to boxing’s glory days and what the sport can be for the city in the future.

The Nolans got their license to organize fights last year with the goal of bringing boxing back to Boston. After Fenway, “That’s mission accomplished,” Matt Nolan said.

“It’s not just like our dream, it’s everybody’s dream — every boxer on planet Earth,” he said. “Just the idea that some kid can fight his way to Fenway Park. It’s like hitting the lottery. You can’t you can’t beat it. There’s nothing comparable.”

Boston has played a long and impressive role in American boxing history and the development of the sport itself, said Johnson, author of “Field of Our Fathers, An Illustrated History of Fenway Park.”

The city was home to “Boston’s Strong Boy,” John L. Sullivan, born in 1858 to Irish immigrant parents and widely considered America’s first sports superstar. The first heavyweight champion of the world, he was as famous as Muhammad Ali was in his time.

Sam Langford, a Black Canadian-born boxer, moved to Boston as a teenager but was blocked from competing in the world championships by racist policies and is considered one of the greatest non-champions in boxing.

Other boxing stars with Boston connections include Marvin Hagler and Rocky Marciano of nearby Brockton. ”The Boston Bomber” Tony DeMarco, whose statue raises his fists at passersby in Boston’s North End, was the last fighter to win in the ring at Fenway in 1956.

For a time after it was built, Fenway Park was the only outdoor venue with a significant seating capacity in Boston, making it a destination for all kinds of events, including boxing starting in 1920.

After new owners took over in 2002, the park became a venue for a variety of activities, including concerts and sporting events such as hockey, snowboarding, Irish football and curling.

“Back in the day, it was sort of the Swiss Army knife of sports facilities in Boston. And it’s returned to that — a little bit of everything. So, returning boxing to the park is just a nod to the past,” Johnson said.

Other venues can feel “more corporate and sterile,” but Fenway is living history, said Johnson, who calls it the “largest open-air museum in New England.”

Mark Nolan said it’s not for lack of trying that no one has hosted a boxing fight at Fenway in almost 70 years. But many promoters couldn’t make a pitch that landed with ballpark management.

The Nolans, who teach full time and own a boxing gym in Waltham where people can train regardless of their ability to pay, were different. After success hosting events at other venues, Mark Nolan said Fenway Sports Group connected to their “everyman” appeal and decided to give them a shot.

The brothers fell in love with boxing while accompanying their father, a boat captain, to the gym as kids.

When they expanded from coaching amateur boxers to professionals five years ago, they were dismayed by what they found: shows full of uneven fights set up to make the promoters as much money as possible, with established amateurs fighting people who “have no right putting gloves on in any capacity whatsoever” in venues like high school gymnasiums. Fighters weren’t being paid fairly and contracts weren’t transparent.

They came up with a simple business plan: pick good venues, pay fighters well and only host matches in Boston proper. They said a lot of promoters sell fighters, but they’re focused on selling fights fans want to see.

“They’re making sure that every fight is well-matched,” said Thomas “The Kid” O’Toole, a fighter from rural Galway, Ireland, who has lived in Boston for the past two years, “Nobody wants to see someone go in and just knock their opponent out right away and beat them up for four, six, eight rounds. They want to see a competitive fight.”

O’Toole went professional in 2021 and is undefeated with 13 fights. He said his fight against St. Louis-born Vaughn “Da Animal” Alexander at Fenway will be “the biggest test of his career.”

Massachusetts-born Lexi “Lil Savage” Bolduc will compete in her fourth professional fight. She faces Sarah Couillard in a rematch after coming out on the losing end of a majority draw at the Royale.

“Fighting at Fenway, I think adds a little bit of pressure because I’m local, I grew up in Mass and idolized a lot of players as I was growing up. … But at the same time, I’m trying to use it just as a huge opportunity and really soak in the moment,” she said. ”Pressure makes diamonds.

“To be able to kind of stand on that same ground of some of the most accomplished athletes, it’s really remarkable,” she said.