LYNN — The St. Mary’s golf team was looking forward to defending another Division 3 state title this fall after winning the previous three championships, but the COVID-19 pandemic had other plans. With all MIAA-sponsored state tournaments canceled for the fall season, the most the Spartans can aim for as they begin a new season is a Catholic Central League title.
“Obviously it’s tough that we won’t have an opportunity to defend another state title this year because I think this year we might have the strongest team out of any we’ve had in recent years,” said St. Mary’s coach Jay Fiste, now in his 11th season. “We’ve got a bunch of great returners, a solid core and a bunch of younger guys who could be making an impact as well.
“We’re certainly thankful that we get an opportunity to even play this season,” Fiste added. “We’re going to try to make the most of it and try to bring home a league championship.”
The Spartans have a very strong core returning from last year’s state title team, spearheaded by junior star Aidan Emmerich. Fresh off of a summer where he qualified for his first-ever Massachusetts Amateur Championship, earned medalist honors at the Massachusetts Junior Amateur Championship and won his first-ever Kernwood Country Club men’s club championship victory, Emmerich headlines the group of returners. Luke Smith, Peter Pagliuca and Sean Mathers are also returning to the lineup after contributing to the state title team in 2019.
“That group of guys is definitely battle-tested and they’ve been through a lot of big matches together, so it’s great to have them at the top of the lineup,” said Fiste.
Also expected to make contributions this year are a number of underclassmen, including sophomores Brendan Zollo, Eric Bridges and Ryan Fila, freshman Andrew Potter and eighth graders Shea Newhall and Luke DiLisio. Sophomore Jackson Field and freshman Kyle Rush also showed promise during tryouts.
“We have a decent core of 10 guys and we’re excited to see how things go,” said Fiste. “We’re still a little top-heavy, but we have a lot of confidence in the younger guys to contribute this season as well.”
The Spartans held two days of tryouts and practices in the early part of the week, and Fiste — along with assistant coaches John Boland and Richie McDonald — will cut the roster down to 14 players for the season.
“We’re really just trying to get the guys out there, play some holes and figure out what we’ve got right now,” said Fiste. “We’re lucky that golf was one of the few activities that the kids could do over the summer, so a lot of guys have been practicing. Now, it’s about getting them to work together on the course and learn how to help each other in matches.”
St. Mary’s will hold one more practice before getting the season started next Wednesday, Sept. 30 on the road against Arlington Catholic at Winchester Country Club.
“We normally have a bit of a tough time there, it’s a tough course,” Fiste said of Winchester. “But we’re definitely excited to get back out there and compete again. After a lot of waiting, it’s nice to be able to say we’re preparing for a season again.”
