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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs Wednesday night, helping the surging Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 7-6 for their second three-game sweep of the World Series champions this season.

WAREHAM — The Gatemen set the table on Wednesday night, but didn't eat, and once again Wareham went to bed hungry for a win.

MIDDLEBORO — The situation called for letting it all hang out, and that's exactly what Tom Cole did.

A lot of thoughts raced through my mind as I stood in line, waiting to say good-bye to Dan Pires. I didn't know exactly what I'd say or how I'd say it, but when I finally stood in front of the casket, it was easy.

WIMBLEDON, England — Lest anyone forget that Roger Federer has, indeed, lost at Wimbledon, the BBC filled time during a rain delay Wednesday by rolling tape of his 2002 first-round exit against Mario Ancic.

BOSTON — The Bruins re-signed forward Petteri Nokelainen on Wednesday to a reported two-year contract worth $1.7 million.

BOSTON — Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins underwent surgery on his left shoulder Wednesday to repair an injury that nagged him during the NBA finals and forced him to miss Game 5.

The fallout from Floyd Mayweather's unexpected (and second) retirement has Oscar De La Hoya and HBO still scrambling to fill the void.

BASEBALL

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Evan Longoria went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs last night, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 7-6 for their second three-game sweep of the World Series champions this season.

SOUTH YARMOUTH — The Chatham A's are out of the Cape Cod Baseball League Eastern Division cellar.

HARWICH — Mike Hamilton's RBI single in the sixth inning proved the difference as Dennis Post 488 bested Norwell Post 192 in American Legion baseball action, 8-7.

Stars and Stripers forever. Independence Day is here and we have so much to be grateful for. This week we're cold kicking it live with Betsy Ross, so let's celebrate.

BREWSTER — Jorge Marin scored off a through ball from Mike Amerault to give the Brewster Ice the only goal in yesterday's 1-0 Cape Cod Amateur Soccer League victory over the Falmouth Tide.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins moved to strengthen their mediocre offense late Tuesday.

By HARRY PLUMER

The doctor was in at Western New England College.

Carm "Doc" Bonavita pitched a no-hitter, fanning five and walking two for East Springfield in a 6-0 victory over Holyoke in an American Legion game last night at WNEC.

"This is Carm's third year in the league," East Springfield coach Brian Collins said. "He's a wily veteran."

Bonavita, who during the school year is a catcher at Elms College, kept Holyoke off balance "all day long" according to Collins.

"He was fooling them with the changeup," Collins said. "The changeup is his out pitch."

There were other standouts for East Springfield, including Matt O'Herron, who was 3 for 5 with an RBI and a double, and Juan Tavares, who broke the game open with a two-run double in the fourth inning.

But the night belonged to Bonavita.

"He does it all for us," Collins said. "He's our captain and I couldn't ask for a better leader. You can find his picture in the dictionary next to captain."

Wilbraham 10, Belchertown 3: Wilbraham used the long ball three times, including one each from the Fatse brothers, to down Belchertown.

T.J. Fatse got the fireworks started with a solo shot in the second and then, not to be outdone by his younger sibling, Andrew Fatse hit a three run blast in the fourth.

Mike Lavoie finished the long ball fiesta with a solo shot in the sixth for Wilbraham (9-6).

11-12 LITTLE LEAGUE

Westfield South 2, Agawam 1: Noah Parker pitched a complete game on his 13th birthday, striking out seven and walking one and had his team's only two hits, including a two-run walkoff homer to lead Westfield South over Agawam in a District Two Little League tournament game at Westfield.

After being one-hit for five innings by stingy Agawam pitching, Mike Santinello led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk before Parker came up and belted an 0-1 pitch over the center field fence for the victory.

West Springfield 10, Westfield 2: Tim Clark had three hits, three runs, and three RBIs for West Springfield, which rolled to a road victory.

Jeff Crawford homered and Josh Blair had three hits for Westfield (6-3).

Aldenville 7, Easthampton 3: Anthony Kmeczik was 2 for 4 with a triple, double and two RBIs as Aldenville took its show on the road with a victory at Easthampton.

Steve Lagasse picked up the win on the hill for Aldenville. Drew Dombkowski hit a two-run homer in the sixth for Easthampton (4-7).

BABE RUTH

Westfield 16, Amherst 0: Ryan Summers was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBIs for Westfield as it rolled to a 16-0 mercy rule (five innings) victory at Amherst to win the District Two Babe Ruth Championship.

Mike Welch picked up the win for Westfield, pitching four innings and allowing just two hits while striking out three.

By GARRY BROWN
gbrown@repub.com

HOLYOKE - Catcher Sean Killeen and outfielder Jim Wood are showing fans of the Holyoke Blue Sox that NCAA Division III players can do all right in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

Killeen of Greenfield and Wood of Windham, N.H., played for Trinity College of Hartford on a team which won the Division III World Series at Appleton, Wis., in May.

The Bantams finished their championship season with a 45-1 record.

"We're seeing that Division III players can make the adjustment to this level of baseball," said Barry Wadsworth, co-owner and general manager of the Blue Sox.

Killeen and Wood both are hitting over .300, giving Holyoke some much-needed punch.

Coach Darryl Morhardt's team, which has been playing well of late after a slow start, comes home tonight for a three-game stand at Mackenzie Stadium. The Blue Sox will host the Sanford Mainers tonight, the North Shore Navigators tomorrow and the Vermont Mountaineers Saturday. Each game starts at 6:30.

The Navigators have another Trinity player, first baseman Kent Graham of Longmeadow, who is back for his second season in the NECBL. He played in 2007 for the Holyoke Giants, a franchise which was transferred to Lynn during the offseason. That move led Wadsworth and his sister, Karen Wadsworth Rella, to relocate their Concord, N.H., franchise in Holyoke.

The Blue Sox pitching staff is led by Justin Albert, who carried a 4-0 record into his start last night at Lowell. He's a Hull, native who pitched for the University of Vermont in the spring.

Another New Englander - right-hander Brandon Josselyn - will start for the Blue Sox tonight against Maine. Josselyn comes to the Blue Sox from Hanson, by way of Yale University.

NOTES: The North Shore club is coached by Jason Falcon, a former ace pitcher, captain and Most Valuable Player at Western New England College. During the academic year, Falcon serves as head baseball coach at Clark University of Worcester . . . Holyoke does have three players from high-profile Division I programs - first baseman Grant Allgire of San Diego State, outfielder Alex Hilliard of Vanderbilt and infielder Corey Jones of Cal-Fullerton . . . Utilityman Peter Fatse of Hampden and the University of Connecticut, is on the North Shore roster. The Navigators also have pitchers Mike DiCato of the University of Massachusetts and Jimmy Lisowski of Springfield College . . . It will be Armed Forces Night at the Fourth of July game. To mark the occasion, Wadsworth has arranged a fly-over by a pilot of the 104th Fighter Wing out of Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield.

By RUSS HELD
rheld@repub.com

It's good to be back home.

Richy Werenski of South Hadley is home for the summer, and Monday he kicked it off by accomplishing one of his most important goals of the golf season.

Werenski, 15, qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, set for July 21-26 at Shoal Creek (Ala.)

Werenski carded rounds of 71 and 75 and at 6-over-par 146 was one stroke of medalist pace at Dedham Country & Polo Club.

He hit a wedge from 115 yards to within a foot of the hole to set up a birdie putt on the 36th hole, a finish that secured one of four available qualifying spots.

"This was my top goal for the summer," said Werenski, who plays out of Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley.

Werenski has returned to Western Massachusetts after spending the second semester of his sophomore year in high school at Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy on Hilton Head (S.C.) Island.

"It was a great semester, my ball striking is better, my short game is better . . . overall I'm a much better player," Werenski said.

The school of 161 includes students from 22 states nationwide and 23 countries from around the world. In-Kyung Kim, who finished third at the U.S. Women's Open Sunday, is a Haney alumna.

Werenski was one of the top schoolboy players in Western Mass. while at South Hadley High, but he has taken an accelerated path toward his future in golf.

"I want to be involved in golf for a living, I wanted to be at a place where I could be at my best," Werenski said. "It was tough to leave home, I have a lot of good friends here . . . but college coaches can see how serious you are about golf, and it really helps (on a resume)."

Werenski said he has taken an interest in schools such as Vanderbilt, Arizona State and Virginia, but said his collegiate options are wide open.

He said he will not travel this summer as much as he has in past summers, playing next at a PGA Junior Series event at The Ranch GC in Southwick.

Werenski has full exempt status on the American Junior Golf Association, and he has finished ninth, 10th and 11th in three starts on the highly-ranked circuit.

"I go back to school August 18, so I'll spend some time with my family and brother," Werenski said of Mickey, who will be a high school freshman at South Hadley this fall.

FOARD DRIVEN: It took Jim Foard Jr. seven days - and a pair of stellar teammates - to win two of the biggest four-ball titles in the region.

Foard teamed up with guest Andy Fisk of East Longmeadow to win the men's invitational four-ball at Longmeadow Country Club last Saturday. The Longmeadow resident was coming off a win with Mike Janiszewski of Springfield at the Art House Four-Ball at Ludlow CC June 22.

"Winning tournaments like this in back to back weeks is pretty special, but it shows you what kind of partners I have," Foard said.

Foard and Fisk won for the second time in six years, this time under a nine-hole match, round robin format.

"We built a pretty good cushion after the first day (three matches), did OK, but came back to the pack a little on the second day," Foard said. "On the last day (Saturday), we were tied with the defending champions (Greg Fisk and Bill House), but we beat them and then got some help because Brian Fitzgerald and Brian Foley played well against the other teams close to us."

Foard and played with Janiszewski on a regular basis at Longmeadow CC, but a scheduling conflict in 2003 paired Foard with Fisk there.

"We won it that year, and we've played it every year since," Foard said. "Next year, Mike was supposed to play there with me, but now Andy and I have to defend. All three of us are good friends, we all went to school and grew up together in East Longmeadow.

"It was Mike's show last week at Ludlow, I was just there in case he needed a little help. And Andy is so darn consistent . . . I can just fire away at birdies."

Foard also currently owns a share of the Twin Hills CC four-ball championship division title, which he'll defend with Brice Craven later this month.

"I have three (at the same time), and won the Bontempo once," Foard said of Franconia GC's Labor Day four-ball. "I've been fortunate to have great teammates at these ("majors"), but I have never played at Springfield CC's (June Invitation). Maybe that will change."

JUNIOR NEWS: Kevin Wheeler of Agawam was a four-stroke winner at the Crumpin-Fox Junior Open in Bernardston last Thursday . . . Josh Doherty of The Ranch GC, Jake Bailly of Worthington GC and Richard Racz of Worthington GC qualified at Stockbridge GC for the Massachusetts Junior Championship. Conor Dunne and Liam Dunne of Springfield CC qualified there in the pre-junior division. Bob Malulli of Orchards GC was a pre-junior division qualifier at Milton-Hoosic Club in Canton. The state championship takes place July 28-30 at Brae Burn CC in West Newton . . . Angela Garvin of Feeding Hills won age 7 and under division Monday at the Massachusetts state qualifier for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship. Brian Seo was co-medalist in the boys 8 division and Matt Neumac of Wilbraham took third in the age 11 division.

LOCAL NOTES: Daril Pacinella will hold a free golf clinic Saturday at 9 a.m. at Longhi's Par 3 and Driving Range on Route 57 in Southwick . . . The Raimondi City Championship is set for July 12-13 at Springfield's municipal courses - Veterans and Franconia. Four divisions, including a senior division, highlight the weekend . . . Mill Valley Golf Links (323-4079) in Belchertown will host its annual clambake tournament July 12 . . . CC of Greenfield (773-7530) has its play-either-day Greenfield Open July 12-13.