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At Camp Lejeune, he’s saluted as Lt. Commander Douglass Weiss, M.D., but home in Franklin County he’s still Doug, known for his smile and remembered for his hockey prowess.

The former Dartmouth captain is on TAD — temporary assigned duty — in Germany where he’s responsible for the health and well being of the Under-18 hockey team in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships.

“We’re in Landshut,” wrote Weiss, “The City of Three Helmets. It was founded in 1204 and has beautiful Gothic architecture. The city and the people have been wonderful.”

The tournament is composed of eight teams in two divisions. The U.S., Canada, Germany and the Czech Republic are competing in Landshut and Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Latvia are playing in Kaufbaren. “Russia and Belarus were expelled from the tournament, rightfully so,” said Weiss.

This is his seventh Under-18 tournament since 2012. “We’ve had a great start, beating Canada 8-3, the Czech Republic, 6-2, and Germany 10-2,” wrote Weiss. At this writing, Wisconsin native Isaac Howard (Minnesota-Duluth) led the team with five goals and an assist, Pittsburgh’s Logan Cooley has two goals and three assists and Gopher State native Cruz Lucius has a goal and four assists. Both are University of Minnesota commits.

The team has a definite western bent, Michigan native Adam Nightingale is the head coach and Grand Forks resident Nick Fohr is his assistant.

The U.S. will play the Czechs in the semifinals Saturday, and the Gold Medal game is Sunday. “Sweden and Finland are tough in the other division. We have a great group of players who play well together. I think we’ve got a great chance.”

Several players have committed to Hockey East schools but not to UMass. “None since I’ve been here,” said UMass coach Greg Carvel, who worked with Weiss at the World Championships in 2015. “We tried to get Ryan Leonard but he chose another school.”

The Amherst native and brother of former UMass skater John Leonard is skating a regular shift in Germany. He netted a hat trick in the team’s quarterfinal win over Latvia on Thursday.

“Over time, we’ll commit a few as our reputation grows and we keep sending players to the NHL and making the NCAA tournament,” said Carvel.

Weiss has been off base since the beginning of April. “The U.S. Navy’s been extremely supportive of my involvement with USA Hockey,” he said, mentioning his CO, Capt. Reginald Ewing, and the Commandant of Marine Corps Medicine, Rear Admiral James Hancock. “It’s a privilege to represent the United States Navy while working with USA Hockey.”

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Take your pick of what to watch at UMass this weekend. The Atlantic 10 Women’s Lacrosse championship is Sunday at noon at Garber Field and UMass is favored to defend its title. Coach Angela McMahon-Serpone’s team is 15-2 and ranked 17th of 118 teams in Division I.

The Minutewomen are 9-0 in the A-10, have outscored their opponents 152-57, and every other shot on goal has tweaked the twine. Their only close call was a week ago when they rebounded from an 8-5 halftime deficit to beat Davidson, 13-11.

The team’s only blemishes were to ACC and Big East opponents, top-ranked BC, 22-5, on February 16, and 13th-ranked UConn, 17-14, on March 5.

Keep an eye on No. 21 Kendra Harbinger. The 23-year-old native of Clifton Park, N.Y., has scored 44 goals, one ahead of No. 20 Kelly Marra of Sayville, N.Y. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under (no senior discounts).

Meanwhile there’s lots happening Saturday. At 11 a.m. the men’s and women’s track and field teams host UNH, UVM, UMass Lowell and Dartmouth, at noon the spring football game kicks off at McGuirk Stadium, and at 1 p.m. the UMass baseball team hosts George Mason at Lorden Field.

Fans will need to wait until next week to watch first year coach Danielle Henderson’s softball team. Henderson was all-everything at UMass and a national player of the year. At this writing she had guided the Minutewomen to records of 18-25 overall and 11-7 in the A-10. They have won six of their last eight games.

Last weekend, they took two of three from St. Joseph’s in the House that Elaine Sortino Built. There was no admission on Saturday and fans could park right next to the field. UMass Dining Services served cheeseburgers and veggie burgers ($6), hot dogs ($5) and coffee and hot chocolate ($3). Bananas cost a buck.

The field was mowed and the baselines, batter’s box and pitcher’s mound were meticulously chalked. Before the game, Darius Rucker’s “Rock me mama like a wagon wheel…” wafted throughout the little bandbox. The PA announcer gave the starting lineups, everyone stood for the national anthem and plate umpire Brad Tittrington signaled for pitcher Jessie DiPasquale to play ball.

UMass took a 1-0 lead in the third inning when Emily Whelan scored on a two out single by Amy Smith. Two innings later, DiPasquale got out of a two out, two-on jam by striking out Taylor Marinelli, and Kristina Day cranked her team-leading fifth home run in the bottom of the inning.

UMass won, 2-0, but lost the nightcap, 5-4, in nine innings.

The Minutewomen are on a five-game road trip to Dayton and Stony Brook but return next weekend to play three games against the first place GWU Colonials.

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The rumor mill’s reporting that Tom Brady’s looking to buy property in Ashfield which makes sense because his son Jack has been accepted to Deerfield Academy. Last spring, a jet black helicopter flew over West Deerfield and landed on the Lower Level near the football field. Out stepped the famous quarterback and his son, who was given a tour of the campus by the school’s quarterback. According to the N.Y. Post, 14-year-old Jack attends the Saint David’s School in New York City, which goes from pre-K through 8th grade.

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MLB Checkups: Hunter Renfroe made 12 outfield errors for the Red Sox last season but has no errors in 16 games for the Brewers. … Joey Gallo hit his first home run in his 50th at bat for the Yankees on Tuesday. … Kevin Gausman has faced 91 batters without issuing a walk. … The bottom four hitters in the Red Sox lineup on Wednesday — Kike Hernandez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Bobby Dalbec and Kevin Plawecki — were all batting under .200.

SQUIBBERS: Josh Maurer, the one-time voice of UMass football and basketball, is the radio voice of the Milwaukee Brewers on WTMJ. His first home run call was a blast to left-center field by Willy Adames. … Rick Greene reports that Mike Currie’s hung up the golf clubs after injuring his ankle — playing pickleball of all things. …. The first 4½ innings of Monday’s Red Sox-Blue Jays took 57 minutes. “Are there dinner plans? Are we going to a concert?” asked Jays radio voice Ben Wagner. … Kudos to the UMass women’s tennis team which was undefeated at home 8-0 and 15-4 overall this season. … Race fans will hear Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” before next week’s Kentucky Derby. In nearby Bardstown, where the major industry is bourbon whiskey, the song plays around the clock. … After he learned his hometown in the Dominican Republic didn’t have a fire truck, Yankees reliever Miguel Castro stepped up and bought one. … Miguel Cabrera’s 3,000th base hit off Rockies pitcher Austin Gomber was the 997th pitcher he’d worked for a hit. …. Bobby Trivigno has one goal and three assists for the Hartford Wolf Pack. … The NY Rangers are charging $394 for a first round playoff ticket. … Fox analyst Greg Gutfeld on the aggravation of autocorrect: “If I want to spell ducking, I will spell ducking.”

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for four decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com

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