After disappointing finish last year, Hawks going back to work

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 4/16/15

The Bishop Hendricken golf team put together an unblemished season last spring, going 14-0 in the Central Division. 

But when the state championship came around, the Hawks fell short of …

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After disappointing finish last year, Hawks going back to work

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The Bishop Hendricken golf team put together an unblemished season last spring, going 14-0 in the Central Division. 

But when the state championship came around, the Hawks fell short of their high expectations, taking an unfulfilling fourth place. 

This year, Hendricken is determined to play its best golf at the end of the season, with the hopes of contending for a state championship. 

“Our expectation is to peak at the end of May, around the state championship,” Hendricken head coach Rick Angeli said. “The (state championship) is what we prepare for, from now until Memorial Day.”

Preparing for the season this time around hasn’t been easy. The start of the season got pushed back by about a month, with teams getting little practice in due to poor course conditions. That can’t be an excuse going forward, though, as everyone else is in the same boat.” 

“The season got off to a late start – we haven’t been able to put a tee in the ground at this point,” Angeli said. “Here we are on April 13, and some of these guys are teeing it up for the first time.”

Despite the delay, the Hawks are off to a good start – defeating Warwick Vets and Pilgrim on Monday, before edging West Warwick and Cranston West on Tuesday en route to a 4-0 start.

Hendricken lost a key player in All-Stater Justin Matrone following last season, but it’s hoping that it won’t miss a beat in his absence. Matrone finished in the top-10 at the state championship last spring. 

Looking to fill those big shoes will be sophomores Joe Tucker and Sean Irons.

Tucker was a First Team All-State selection as a freshman and will look to lead the charge for the Hawks. 

“We’re looking for those guys to really carry the load for us,” Angeli said of Tucker and Irons. 

The Hawks won’t have to rely on just Tucker and Irons, as they will have plenty of depth this season. 

Tucker will be the team’s No. 1 player, but after that, Hendricken has a number of different ways that it can go. 

Angeli noted that the difference in ability between his top player and bottom player isn’t that significant. He’s hoping that the good mix of young and experienced golfers will equate to better results when the state championship rolls around. 

Two of the experienced golfers that Angeli has are seniors Pat Flanagan and Sal Savastano. Savastano only golfed for half of the season last year after transferring over from Prout. He’ll look to have a bigger impact in his first full season in green and gold. 

After a 4-0 start to their season, the Hawks will look to run the table again leading up to the state championship.

“We haven’t lost a match in the league in two years,” Angeli said. “We’re looking to keep that going.” 

However, there’s no question that the Hawks have a bigger goal in mind –winning a state title. 

“Our finish at the state championship last year didn’t sit well with anybody,” Angeli said. “We played about as poor as we could’ve played over those two days. We’re going to continue to work and battle-test these guys, so that when we get in that environment we’ll be ready for it.” 

Pats hoping to make playoff push

After registering a 4-10 record last spring, things are looking up for the Pilgrim golf team heading into this season.

The Pats will return several experienced golfers this spring – veterans who faired well last season. 

“We’re definitely looking to improve from last season,” Pilgrim head coach Owen Paquet said. “I think it will be an achievable goal and an outcome that will definitely be pursuable.” 

The Pats are on the right track, earning their first win in their first tournament of the year on Monday, defeating Warwick Vets, while losing to Bishop Hendricken to start out at 1-1. 

It’s still early to say, but Paquet feels that his top three players will be a trio of juniors – Liam Strain, Dan Pietrantonio and newcomer Anthony Marchetti. 

Senior Jaycene Chattelle will play as the No. 4 golfer for the Pats this spring, while freshman Dan Goudis will slot in as the No. 5 player as of right now. 

“It’s early, so it’s tough to have high expectations for everybody,” Paquet said. “But I do put high standards on everybody. It’s a team sport, but it’s an individual game, so I’d like to see them improve on their own and not be negative. We’re trying to focus on confidence and hitting fairways.”

Paquet is happy with where his team is at early on, as they’ve been able to practice over the last two weeks thanks to Valley Country Club – an advantage over the other Warwick schools. 

After missing the playoffs last spring, Paquet will be looking for his squad to contend for a spot this year. 

There are five subdivisions and the top three from each make the postseason, with the third, fourth and fifth-place teams playing a tournament to see who makes the playoffs in that third slot. 

The Pats are shooting to make it into that playoff, then hopefully pull out a win. 

“We want to be able to be in the hunt for that last playoff spot,” Paquet said. “Hopefully the weather will stay nice and we can get some decent rounds in.”

’Canes will lean on experienced players 

The Warwick Vets golf team struggled last season, compiling just one victory en route to a 1-13 overall record. 

The ’Canes will enter this season with some question marks, as well, but first-year head coach, Darren Cipriano, is hoping that his squad can earn some more victories than they did a year ago. 

“Our goal is to make it to the three, four and five play-in tournament,” Cipriano said. “I think if we’re able to do that, it would be a very successful year. A lot will depend on the play of the freshmen to see how it develops.” 

Vets enters the season with a largely inexperienced roster, but two seniors – Oliver Pinheiro and Zack Levenson – will lead the way for the ’Canes and are showing everyone the ropes early on, including Cipriano. 

Pinheiro and Levenson will serve as Vets’ top two players, while freshman Kam Catucci is slotted as a solid No. 3. 

At this point, another pair of freshmen – Noah Kane and Collin Csoszor – are slotted into the No. 4 and 5 positions for Vets early in the season. 

But obviously it’s early and a lot can change over the course of the season. Cipriano has been impressed with Catucci and believes that he can potentially move up as the season progresses. 

The ’Canes fell to Hendricken and Pilgrim in their first tournament of the season on Monday to fall to 0-2, but Vets knows that it’s a long season and it will be looking to improve from start to finish. 

“We’ll take it one golf swing at a time and see how the kids come out,” Cipriano said.

Titans looking to make it back to state tournament

The Toll Gate golf team put together a respectable 6-8 season last year, earning a spot in the third, fourth and fifth-place play-in match. 

Although the Titans won’t possess a true No. 1 player this spring, they’ll return a roster that has a great deal of experience. 

Toll Gate may lack the depth of some of the top teams in the subdivision, but it will be able to roll out a solid top four golfers.  

“We don’t have a true No. 1 golfer, but our top four golfers will shoot in the mid or upper 40’s,” Toll Gate head coach Bill Russo said. “If they were able to that, I’d be happy with that.” 

The Titans haven’t been able to prepare for the season as they normally would, getting a late start due to poor course conditions. 

As a result, Russo just finished making cuts on Tuesday. 

All things considered, the Titans are off to a good start, earning a 1-1 record in their first tournament on Monday, defeating Cranston East and falling to West Warwick. 

With his final roster finally in place, Russo is excited to get to work. 

“We’re going to get our first real day of practice in today and move forward,” Russo said. 

Russo’s top three players will be slotted as to how they’re playing from tournament to tournament, but those three golfers will be Toll Gate’s lone senior, Andrew Rocchio and juniors Nicole Krause and Kevin Browning. 

Another junior, Brent Loring, is expected to slot in as Toll Gate’s No. 4 player. 

From there, the No. 5 and 6 spots will be up for grabs. 

Morgan Candon, Jake Dickinson, Hannah McNulty, Connor Cabral and Connor Brennan will battle it out for those two spots. 

The Titans will be looking to take the next step and make it into the state tournament after narrowly missing it a season ago. 

“We want to challenge for a spot in the state tournament,” Russo said. “If we could get back to the state tournament, that would be great. It has been a few years since we’ve made it there.”

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