Matt Williams

Here's an interesting question I was kicking around while suffering an acute bout of withdrawl at the end of the high school sports season:

Which sport was the best on the North Shore this past school year?

Straight off the top, let's define "best" by asking which sport can carry the most caché throughout the state. In other words, which sport had the most success in the postseason — against contenders from other areas when the pressure is highest and the most is at stake?

I added up the number of teams in The Salem News coverage area (which includes Peabody, Danvers, Salem, Beverly, Ipswich, Swampscott, Marblehead, Hamilton-Wenham, Masconomet, Bishop Fenwick, St. John's Prep and North Shore Tech) that qualified for MIAA state tournament brackets and what their winning percentages were.

To keep things simple, I only included MIAA tournaments that are contested in a single elimination, tournament-style fashion in which all teams with a .500 or better record qualify. (A Sabremetric that could measure and include points from the state track, wrestling and gymnastics meets is well above my pay grade.)

For the 2008-09 high school season, the numbers bear out that boys soccer was the best sport on the North Shore. Teams from the West and the South should have quaked at the legitimacy of this area's ability on the pitch.

Anchored by the Cape Ann League's utter dominance in the state tournament, the North Shore's boys soccer teams racked up a combined 17-9 playoff record. With a pair of Eastern Mass. champions from the area in Masconomet (Division 2) and Hamilton-Wenham (Division 3), no other sport came close. St. John's Prep's run to the Division 1 North final also helped as nine of the area's 12 boys soccer teams qualified for the tournament.

A few other sports did manage to finish above .500 in postseason play:

Softball, led by Danvers' run to the Division 1 North final, was 8-7;

Hamilton-Wenham's Division 3 championship propelled boys tennis to an 8-7 mark;

Three wins each by the Prep and Swampscott helped baseball go 10-9;

The Big Blue and Eagles also combined to push boys lacrosse to 8-8.

Swampscott's state title in girls basketball helped that sport finish 8-6, but it was otherwise a very disappointing winter on the North Shore. Boys hockey was especially bad, as four of six qualifiers faield to win a game and the sport was 3-6 overall in the playoffs.

Incidentally, girls lacrosse had the highest percentage of teams qualify — 8-of-10 — yet was also was tied for the worst combined record (3-8). Girls soccer and girls tennis were also 3-8, while field hockey (a sport in which no Salem News-area team has ever won a state title) was 3-7.

Posteason wins by a particular school showed Hamilton-Wenham the most dominant by far. The Generals were a combined 12-3 behind the remarkable runs of boys soccer and tennis.

The other schools at or above the .500 postseason mark were St. John's Prep (13-6), Swampscott (12-8), Masconomet (12-12) and North Shore Tech (4-4).

What's all this mean?

Not much, other than a few simple bragging rights about the local athletes.

Unless you're one of those types that always looking for more evidence of why soccer is indeed viable in the United States — feel free to use this as more ammunition in your argumentative arsenal.

Otherwise, join me in counting down the long eight weeks before the 2009-10 school sports season gets underway — and all these trends get turned on their head.

¢¢¢

Matt Williams is a staff writer at The Salem News. Contact him at MWilliams@salemnews.com or call 978-338-2669.

2008-09 area playoff winning percentages

SportRecordPercentage

Boys soccer17-9.654

Girls basketball8-6.571

Softball8-7.533

Boys tennis8-7.533

Baseball10-9.526

Boys lacrosse8-8.500

Boys basketball5-7.417

Girls hockey2-3.400

Boys hockey3-6.333

Field hockey3-7.300

Girls soccer3-8.272

Girls lacrosse3-8.272

Girls tennis3-8.272

SchoolRecordPercentage

Hamilton-Wenham12-3.800

St. John's Prep13-6.684

Swampscott12-8.600

Masconomet12-12.500

North Shore Tech4-4.500

Bishop Fenwick8-9.471

Ipswich5-7.417

Danvers5-8.385

Beverly4-8.333

Marblehead4-9.308

Peabody1-9.100

Salem0-7.000