SPORTS

Hawks ready to defend title

Posted 5/25/22

By ALEX SPONSELLER

The defending state champion Bishop Hendricken golf team is getting ready to defend its state championship at next week’s match at Cranston Country Club.

The results …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in
SPORTS

Hawks ready to defend title

Posted

By ALEX SPONSELLER

The defending state champion Bishop Hendricken golf team is getting ready to defend its state championship at next week’s match at Cranston Country Club.

The results have been a mixed bag for the Hawks this spring, who are recovering from the loss of guys like Ricky Angeli and Harry Grimes while also fighting the injury bug early on.

Senior captain Sonny Massotti is back after missing the first few weeks early in the year, while junior Brady Williams is returning after a breakout year last spring. Sophomore Andrew Chadwick has also returned after an impressive freshman year in 2021.

“We’re leaning on (Massotti) heavily to lead the way and carry the load. We need to play more consistently, and we’re hoping as the weather gets better that some of these guys will hit their stride and find that consistency,” said Hendricken coach Rick Angeli. “Then (Brady Williams), he’s got great ability and we’re hoping that he plays well like he did last year because he was a big part of our run. Andrew Chadwick continues to evolve as a golfer. It’s a different role for these guys this year, last year they could just go out and play but now they have to learn how to be team leaders. They’re growing into their leadership roles and he has played very well.”

As always, the state tournament will be a dog fight with some familiar faces. Although the Hawks have not rolled the way that they had hoped for, they are still confident in where they stand overall.

“La Salle is probably the favorite and Moses Brown is a perennial contender. There’s also East Greenwich. Right now, we’re a big work in progress. Do we have the ability? We have the potential, but right now we’re a ways off. Last year we put it together at the end of the year and it could be the same this year, but we’ve got some work to do,” said Angeli.

Williams and Chadwick have also embraced their new roles, stepping into the top-3 on the scorecards behind Massotti.

“This is a big year for them, putting some polish on their games. They’ve played a lot of golf, they’ve competed, it’s a matter of them just cleaning up some things. You can’t have even one big hole, it takes you out of things. They don’t lack anything in ability, they just need to continue to work on their approach and how they work around the golf course. They have a lot of ability,” Angeli said.

In order for the Hawks to take that next step and defend their title, Angeli believes it will be up to the youngsters in the back of the roster to make an impact. Sophomore Gianni Fontenault has logged some solid scores on the back end as well as Michael Pezzullo.

“We’re set 1-3, but we are still building 4-6. The goal is to minimize our first scorer and our fourth scorer. If we have depth in our lineup, (we can do that). Just build depth in the lineup and make sure there is not a huge gap from top to bottom,” Angeli said. “We did that last year, 1 through 5 we had guys that were similar. That’s our goal, continue to clean up some things and work on the things that will make us better.”

Hendricken, golf

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here