Housy gets its game on — a spring preview

FALLS VILLAGE — The athletes of Housatonic Valley Regional High School are ready to get back outside and on the fields for spring sports. The baseball, softball, lacrosse, track and field and tennis teams will have their first competitions in early April. The golfers will have their first game on April 25.

Mountaineer coaches shared a preview of their spring teams.

Baseball

After the baseball team qualified for the state tournament last year, coach Pat Richardson said he hopes to lead his team to a league title in his second year. The team has lost a star, Nick Dignacco, but is balancing out this loss with a well-rounded team of solid players.

While many of the returning team members were young last year, Richardson said that they are “a maturing squad who showed that they can compete with the strongest teams in the league.”

Quentin Kindred, Brandon Coe, Mark Dignacco, Joe Napolitano, Will Perotti, Donyell Williams, Steven Wingard, Jacob Foley, Ray Mohring, A.J. Watt and Wilson Terrall return this year.

Willie Yahn is a promising newcomer to the team this year.

“Yahn adds depth to an emerging offense while the team hopes to build upon and improve its defense at key positions,” Richardson said.

The first baseball game was at home on Wednesday, April 6, against Lewis Mills.

Softball

Spring 2011 will be a “rebuilding year” for the Housy girls softball team, according to coach Darlene Membrino. With a core group of four seniors leading the team, the rest of the players are younger girls. Membrino said she hopes she can mold them into a winning team, whether it’s this year or in the future.

“We have many talented new players to work into the lineup,” Membrino said.

Improving won’t just be a focus in practice — the games will also be a place to learn and improve. Membrino’s ultimate goal for her softball team is to qualify for the state tournament.

Returning seniors are Emma Olownia, catcher/infielder; Rebecca Rybczyk, pitcher/outfielder; and Katie Bartomioli, outfielder. Returning juniors are Liz Morehouse, second base/shortstop; Felicia Plain, outfielder; Amanda Stanton, first base; and Jaime Conklin, shortstop. The single returning sophomore will be Lindsey Olownia at third base.

Membrino said she looks forward to working with senior newcomer Bailey Phelps.

The first softball game was away on Wednesday, April 6, at Lewis Mills.

Boys lacrosse

Coming out of a 6-10 record season last spring, the boys lacrosse team looks to improve their record and qualify for the state tournament this year. Because there are only two high schools in the Berkshire League with lacrosse teams, the Housy team is not affiliated with any league at all. This means that the state tournament is the only chance the team has to win a title.

Mark Goulding, who has coached Housy boys lacrosse for eight years, believes his three senior captains will lead the team strongly. He advises fans to keep their eyes on the trifecta of Andrew Hoffman, Tanner Brissett and Jacob Paviol, and notes that all three are currently set to play collegiate lacrosse.

Hoffman is the leading scorer of all time, and Brissett is the second leading scorer of all time, making them a dangerous combination.

Other returning players are senior Evan Kalogiannis, midfield; junior Tyler Dean, defense; and sophomore Justin Forstmann, attack/midfield.

Goulding said he hopes that the loss of four players, Zach Williams, Eric Avery, Nick Dzenutis and Ryan King, will not set the team back too far.

“The team is very small this year, and many of the players other than the senior captains are inexperienced. They’ll need to learn fast and step up for the team to succeed and make the state tournament,” Goulding said. “I feel that they’re up to it, though. All of the inexperienced players are good athletes.”

Goulding said most of all he hopes that the team’s promise isn’t derailed by any major injuries.

The first boys lacrosse game is at home on Thursday, April 7, at 4:30 p.m. against Masuk.

Look for more team previews in next week’s Lakeville Journal.

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