Tolland Spring Sports Preview

Baseball

The Tolland boys’ high school baseball team is led by head coach Scott Czerwinski who is entering his 12^th season. Czerwinski is hoping that pitching will lead the Eagles to a strong campaign in 2012 starting with number one pitcher, Chris Byam. Last season Byam had pitched 34 innings with a 1.90 ERA.

The Eagles will return with some heavy hitters starting with catcher Ethan Sikoski. Sikoski hit .400 last year as a junior and is followed by fellow seniors Ryan Kokoszka, Brett Akerley, and Jamison Boucher who all hit over .300 last season.

Czerwinski said that he is hoping to get a lot of run support for his pitchers this season.

“I think if we score runs like we did last year, we can be very competitive,” said Czerwinski. “We are relying on some young arms on the mound and if they are successful, we can improve on last season. I like the attitude and effort that this group brings to the field every day.”

Softball

The girls’ softball team was very solid last year for Tolland High School after going 15-8. After only graduating two starters from last season, head coach Tom Drury is excited for this upcoming season.

The Eagles are very athletic on both offense and defense and have excellent speed that carried them deep into the state tournament last year. Top returning pitcher Jess Olson is back on the mound for her senior season. Last season, Olson posted a 9-1 record with a 1.91 ERA while being selected All-League and All-Area selections. Behind her is an excellent defensive squad that includes Alison Whitlock, Kelsey Kaplan, Samantha Olson, and Katie Akerley.

Haley Provost is the clutch hitter for Tolland after hitting .571 in the state tournament last year. Samantha Olson is also has a .400 career batting average and Akerley has a solid .300 career batting average.

Drury expects to come on strong while the season progresses and said that he expects his team to be tough to eliminate down the stretch.

Lacrosse

Head coach Victor Hurtuk is expecting a strong season for the Eagles lacrosse team this season that could end with a CCC East division championship. 

But in order to compete for the division this season, Tolland will rely on their returning defense led by senior captain Patrick McManaman. The defense and McManaman will be supported by juniors Hayden Luginbuhl, Steven Koss, Larry Middleton and Sean Gannon. While the Eagles will have to break in new starting goalie, junior Sam Mayer, Hurtuk expects the defensive core to be a strong point this season.

In the midfield, senior captains Matt Susca and Jimmy Harrison will lead the charge into the offensive end with seniors Sean Walker and Geoff Desmarais.  Senior Cooper Kelly and Cody Daigle will be relied on to lead the attack once in the offensive end and Hurtuk expects that to lead the offensive production.

Hurtuk said that the team chemistry will help the Eagles make a return in the Class S State Tournament this season.

“Team cohesion and unity will be strengths to win the close games,” said Hurtuk. “Our conference will see tough matches with Newington, Farmington, and RHAM while games against Ellington and Suffield are old rivalries.”

Girls Track

You can count on one hand how many times the Eagles have lost under head coach Corey Bernier’s direction in the past eight years. Two losses to be exact, and with 102 wins in that span the Eagles don’t plan on stopping now after going 9-0 last season.

Bernier said that his team’s strength is the experience and depth with a lot of returning athletes who can score in many events. When the current senior class were freshmen, they went all the way to the state championships while losing and finishing second. Bernier said that these seniors gained a lot of experience from that event and hopefully will rub off on a very large freshmen class this year.

Tolland is led by seniors Kristin Carr, Emily Howard, and Kristin Schatzlein.  Carr and Howard are second place All-New England performers in the 4x800m relay. They also are Class M state champions in the 4x400m relay and the 4x800m relay. Schatzlein scored in shot, disc, and javelin at the Class M state meet.

Bernier said he expects that his team is a team to beat along with Bloomfield, E.O. Smith, and RHAM this spring.

Boys Track

The boys’ track team also hopes to build on a strong 2011 campaign after going 10-4. Brandon Elliott has a career record of 74-7 in only five seasons as head coach of Tolland. Despite losing several seniors last year, the Eagles return with a lot of athletes that will make Tolland hard to beat.

Tolland is led by the senior class which features Matt Mensher, Adam Boucher, Adam Medina, Ryan Possardt, Josh Reinert and Austin Shelton. Shelton already holds a couple school records while Boucher and Mensher were already past state champions. Medina, Possardt and Reinert were all state qualifiers in 2011.

Behind the senior class, Ray Tetreault, Colin Sauter and Connor Lafontaine were also state qualifiers and will expect to do much of the same this season.

Elliott said that the team is very well rounded and should score a lot of points in both the track and the field events.