LYNN — A beautiful fall day in Lynn calls for a good golf match. Tuesday evening at Gannon Municipal Golf Course, Lynn English (4-1) took down rival Lynn Classical (3-2) in a traditional rivalry match, 38-34.
“I had a baseball coach in high school. He said if you can’t get up for this one, then you don’t have a pulse. It’s Classical. It says it in itself,” said English coach Brett Molea, excited after his team’s victory.
Junior John Crowley led the way for English, winning his match 5.5-3.5.
“If you can go against their best guy and get it done, that says something about you,” Molea said.
Crowley started hot and it stayed that way. Molea said mid-round that the junior was “striking the ball really well,” including a birdie on hole two that started his day off with a bang.
The birdie got Crowley going, according to Molea.
“Any time you can get a birdie in the first couple of holes, it really gets the adrenaline going and carries you the rest of the round,” he said.
Riley Driscoll also stepped up for English, winning his matchup 6.5-2.5 in what Molea called “another huge win.”
Eighth graders Jacoby Como and Ben Rodriguez were also victorious, alongside Brian Boycen who managed a tie in his first-ever match as a Bulldog.
After the match, Molea was excited about the rivalry win and complimented his players.
“[This morning] I shot a text in the group chat and they all responded right away. You can tell they were ready to go,” he said. “Getting it done against your rivals is always a great feeling.”
Molea knows the importance of the matchup, especially when the opponent is helmed by coach Jack Morrison.
“It doesn’t matter who he has, he puts out a good product,” Molea said. “So, coming into it, we knew we had to play well and we got it done.”
Morrison kept a positive outlook on the remainder of the season, despite Tuesday’s defeat.
“When you lose those matches by four points, when 72 points are available, I just ask my guys to be smart and not make stupid mistakes because those can be costly,” Morrison said. “But we’re OK. We just have to beat them the next time.”
Mark Welch and Gavin Collins each earned four points, while Sam Morris snagged a win for Classical.
At times, however, Lynn cheers on Lynn. Morrison was glad to see Molea and English succeed, and gave Molea credit for turning his program into a legit competitor in the Greater Boston League.
“I’m happy for English,” Morrison said. “We are both Lynn guys, we’re both in the GBL, and we want the success to stay in the family…. Brett has done a really great job with the program… he’s got the kids in a really good spot.”
As for future matches, Morrison and Molea both understand what lies ahead.
“There’s only a few matches left, but they all mean something,” Morrison said.
“We’re putting ourselves in a great spot moving forward,” Molea said. “We’ve seen most of the GBL so far and we get to see them again, so we’ve just got to really bear down.”
