Expect big things from the Franklin Tech golf team this season. The Eagles won a share of their league championship the past two seasons and finished tied for third at the Western Mass. tournament in last year’s postseason.
Franklin Tech has the numbers, with 14 players on the varsity roster. 23 players in all tried out for the team.
“We have 14 solid players,” Franklin Tech coach Michael Duclos said. “We have four players who could break 40 on any given day.”
Braeden Talbot is the lone senior on the roster and brings considerable skill to the links. Jack Day is another returning with a lot of talent. Both players had an excellent round (74) at the PVIAC two-ball last season.
The goal is to get back to the postseason with an expanded roster and use the depth on the team to play the longer courses that come with postseason play.
“The mentality is that we could have won it last year,” Duclos said. “We just needed to grind out the back nine.”
Brady Wood is a new player on the team who has considerable skill as a freshman. Franklin Tech’s roster has seven sophomores. The MIAA Western Mass. Division 3 championship takes place on October 20 at Ludlow Country Club.
Here is a closer look at the rest of the teams.
Athol
Coach: Brian Patria
League/Division: Bi-County East/3
Last Year’s Record: 10-8
Roster: Junior — Blake Nelson; Sophomore — Tyler Kaczmarczyk; Freshmen — Owen Stoddard, Brayden Choquette, Sofia Fredette. Sixth grade — Colton Cox.
Outlook: Brian Patria enters his fourth season for the Athol program. The experienced players on Athol’s roster all have the ability to drop a very low score on an opponent. Owen Stoddard and Tyler Kaczmarczyk have all the tools to card low numbers for the Bears. Athol needs to find some development and improvement from the rest of the roster.
Franklin Tech
Coach: Michael Duclos
League/Division: Bi-County East/3
Last Year’s Record: 14-3
Roster: Senior — Braeden Talbot; Juniors — Jack Day, Grady Day, Everett Eichorn, Wayde Bardwell; Sophomores — Colton Kingsbury, Andrew Eichorn, Corbin Pease, Logan Batiste, Carter Bardwell, Dean Bardwell; Freshman — Brady Wood.
Frontier
Coach: Dave Blanchette
League/Division: Suburban/2
Last Year’s Record: 9-9
Roster: Seniors — Addy Wood, Braiden Dion; Sophomore — Cam Johnson; Freshmen — Christian Powell, Teddy McCarthy, James McCarthy, Jacob Tomlinson; Seventh grade — Jacoby Houle, Zander Griswold, Reed Kelley.
Outlook: Frontier moves forward with a young roster and a difficult Suburban League schedule. Wood and Dion are the top pairing for the Redhawks. Some of the younger players on the roster showed a lot of promise during practice rounds but time will tell if that can translate to match play as the season progresses. Powell played a solid round in the team’s opener against Hampshire Regional.
Mohawk Trail
Coach: Mike Kuchieski
League/Division: Bi-County East/3
Last Year’s Record: 0-17
Roster: Senior — SadieMae Mizula; Junior: Chayton Massa; Sophomore — Conner Bergeron; Freshmen — Jacob Richardson, Joe Labelle; Eighth grade — Mason Gilbert, Wyatt Graves, Preston Charboneau; Seventh grade — Bennett Reid, Jason Philstetler.
Outlook: Kuchieski takes his coaching talents from the gridiron to the links for the Warriors. Mohawk has a young roster eager to start the season. The Warriors will look to Mizula, Massa and Bergeron for low scores.
Pioneer Valley Regional
Coach: Roy Emerson
League/Division: Bi-County East/3
Last Year’s Record: 4-14
Roster: Juniors — Carter Gerry, Weston Jones; Freshmen: Kai Thompson, Liam Bassett, Noah Foote, Parker Gerry; Eighth grade — Brayden Parody; Seventh grade — Brantley Godfret, Christopher Baker; Collin Winslow.
Outlook: The Panthers have a roster full of juniors and freshman who have made remarkable improvements last season. Pioneer took 41 strokes off their opening day score from last year in their season opener against Westfield Tech. Carter Gerry is a golfer to watch for the Panthers. Both Carter Gerry and Jones are working with the younger golfers on the roster. Liam Bassett is capable of carding a low score for Pioneer.
Turners Falls
Coach: Bill Fitzpatrick
League/Division: Bi-County East/3
Last Year’s Record: 3-13
Roster: Senior — Julian Kaiser; Juniors — Jameson Betters, Trevor Lyons; Sophomores — Cam Cogswell, Liam Kerivan; Eighth grade —Rowan Deery, Brenna Guilbault, William Tyler.
Outlook: Fitzpatrick takes over the Thunders in his seventh year overall of coaching. The stregnth of the team should be the upperclassmen as the younger players develop with playing varsity matches. Kaiser, Betters and Lyons are all capable of shooting a low round for Turners Falls.
