Seekonk Golf Team Got Better As Season Went On

SWANSEA - High school sports are about more than wins and losses. That’s why when Seekonk golf coach Mike Petrucci looks at his team’s 1-11 record, he doesn’t get down for a second.

“The scores don’t reflect the chemistry of the season, or the heart and soul of our team,” he said Wednesday afternoon after Seekonk dropped its regular-season finale, 118-66, to Case at Touisset Country Club. “I’m proud of each and every one of the players.”

Petrucci said the players improved quite a bit as the season went on but it wasn’t enough to compete wins-and-losses wise with the tough teams in the South Coast Conference, which features powerful programs like Dighton-Rehoboth, Old Rochester, Apponequet and Bourne with deep rosters of experienced players year in and year out.

“Golf is one of the toughest games to play if you don’t play it five days a week,” Petrucci said. “An optimal situation is to have the guys play every day during the summer. A lot of our guys work during the summer and that cuts into their time. It’s a short season, so by the time a lot of them are coming into their swings, it’s already late in the season.

“Looking at our wins and losses, some might see it differently, but I think it was a successful season,” Petrucci continued. “The players went out there and represented themselves and Seekonk High School professionally and admirably.”

REPORTERTODAY.COM MVP: Jacob Rolon was the medalist for the Warriors on Wednesday, carding a 44 for 22 points. “He’s got raw talent,” Petrucci said. “When he’s in the game, he’s one of the best players in the league.”

STRONG AT THE TOP: Gary Taraian and Jack Tortolani have held the top spots for the Warriors throughout the season with each contributing plenty of points day in and day out. Taraian carded a 50 for 12 points on Wednesday while Tortolani shot a 45 for 20 points. “Gary has been our best golfer this season. He’s brought in a lot of points,” Petrucci said. “Jack has been one of our most consistent players. Those two are the players who have kind of been carrying us. Jacob, Gary and Jack have really been the backbone of our team.”

HOCKEY TO GOLF: Charlie Lehourites carded a 58 for four points on Wednesday and has been a pleasant surprise for the Warriors this year. “Charlie’s a hockey player but he wanted to try golf,” Petrucci said. “It’s been a great experience having Charlie with us. He’s done really well throughout the season for us. I’m thankful Charlie came out this year.”

FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT: Petrucci was high on a pair of freshmen that he said have played well this season in Evan Fasteson and Marcus Nadeau, who carded a 57 and 58, respectively, on Wednesday. “We have some young players coming up,” coach said. “I’m really excited to be working with those two freshmen. They’ve come in and earned their places on the team.”

PLAYERS WANTED: Petrucci said he’s going to be reaching out and promoting the golf team at the middle school in an effort to get more players to come out and join the team next year. “We’re looking for anyone who wants to pick up a club and learn the game,” he said. Any Seekonk student who’s interested in joining the team can call the high school and ask for Petrucci or email him directly at petruccim@seekonkschools.org.

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: Petrucci had glowing things to say about two local golf courses that have been a big help to the Seekonk program over the years. Seekonk practices at Hazelton Golf Club in Rehoboth and has its home matches at Ledgemont Country Club in Seekonk. “Charlie Cassel at Hazelton and Troy Pare at Ledgemont have been so supportive of our program,” Petrucci said. “The courses are always in great shape and everyone’s so helpful.”

QUICK HITS: Aidan Culpan rounded out Seekonk’s round on Wednesday with a 58. … Caden Capaldo led the Cardinals with 22 points. He was followed in scoring by Ethan Kappas (18), Zack Brown (18), Luke Escobar (20), Ben Paquette (21) and Mike Cinquegrana (19). … Case improved to 7-8 and will face Apponequet on Thursday, weather permitting, in the regular-season finale. … Seekonk’s lone victory of the season came at home against GNB Voc-Tech, 71-68, last month.… The Cardinals won the first meeting of the season between the schools by seven points, 90-83, at Ledgemont in September … Both schools will join the rest of the conference at the SCC Championship tournament on Friday at Bay Pointe Country Club in Wareham. Each school will be represented by six golfers. Attending for Seekonk will be Rolon, Taraian, Tortolani, Fasteson, Lehourites and either Culpan or Nadeau. The tournament was already postponed to Friday from Oct. 11 because of weather last week. Hopefully Thursday’s expected storm won’t push it back further.