H.S. GOLF: Schuylkill Haven looks for more after Schuylkill League title
· Yahoo Sports
Late last month, the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes claimed their second Schuylkill League championship in the last four seasons, defeating Blue Mountain on a playoff hole with Alan Evans sinking the winning shot.
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For the Hurricanes, it was the latest accomplishment in what has been an exciting last few years for coaches Ed Andrescavage and Aaron Schock, and their program.
“We knew that this year was going to be something special,” Schock said. “We talked about it a lot with the kids: ‘This is our year. This is our chance. We’ve got an opportunity to really go above and beyond.’ Winning the Schuylkill League is a goal, but to actually go out and do it, that definitely makes you feel good.”
Leading the way for the Hurricanes all season was senior Alan Evans. A three-sport athlete, Evans has been an integral part of Schuylkill Haven’s golf, boys basketball and baseball teams throughout his high school career.
“His reputation precedes him,” Schock said of Evans. “He’s been phenomenal for us for the last four years. He plays in a lot of highly competitive tournaments over the summer, a lot of two-day events, and I think that helps him with the pressure situations. He’s used to being in those high-pressure situations, and with that team championship, he was able to come through for us in that playoff hole. He did it last year in the district championship. He’s clutch. He comes up big in those big moments.”
But for Evans to make the match-winning putt, the rest of the Hurricanes had to come through throughout the day including Eli Barton.
While Barton didn’t take the playoff hole for Schuylkill Haven, he led the Hurricanes for the day with an even-par 72 at Hidden Valley Golf Course, and the best score of the day for any golfer by eight strokes.
“When it comes to Eli Barton, he is a really special golfer,” Schock said. “He puts the work in, and you can really see it. It’s really starting to pay off for him. He’s the type of kid who would be on the golf course 24 hours a day if he could. When you think about it from the team championship, if he doesn’t go out there and shoot even par, we don’t even make that playoff.”
To have one true No. 1 golfer on a team is an advantage, to have two? That’s what dreams are made of for high school golf coaches.
“Any time you have an Alan and an Eli, those are two kids that are a number one on any team in the Schuylkill League,” Schock said. “Alan and Eli are always gunning for that top spot, so it’s nice that they can kind of push each other.”
Also part of Schuylkill Haven’s title winning team was Giuliana Hughes, Ethan Tracy, Lucas Bender, and Chase Maley.
“They’re just a great core group,” Schock said. “One of the things that I really enjoyed about coaching these kids is their resiliency. They don’t back down. They don’t give up. They play the game with honesty, integrity, and intensity, and I think that says a lot about who they are.”
During the league team championships, Maley had to withdraw due to medical reasons but returned for the District 11 qualifying round, earning his spot in Tuesday’s championship.
“We’re really glad that he’s back and he’ll be in our top four for us for the (District 11) team championships,” Schock said.
Giuliana Hughes faced adversity of her own throughout the league championship match but rebounded over the final six holes of the day to finish strong.
“For a lot of golfers, that’s a time when you can hang your head and call it quits, and she didn’t do that,” Schock said about Hughes. “This young lady is all about grit and determination. She struggled through the middle six holes, and then her last six she was plus-two. She just didn’t give up.”
The Hurricanes now enter the postseason sitting at the top of the District 11 Class AA power rankings and will have four golfers among the 14 Schuylkill League athletes who will be participating in Tuesday’s District 11 golf championships at Steel Club in Bethlehem.
After Alan Evans, Eli Barton, and Giuliana Hughes earned automatic qualifying spots, Chase Maley last week earned his spot with a quality round during the qualifying round at the Shawnee Inn & Golf Resort in Shawnee on Delaware.
Evans automatically qualified for the District 11 championships after being a state qualifier last season. Barton earned his qualification after finishing top five at the Schuylkill League Golf Championships and Hughes earned a spot after shooting under 100 in the league championship as well.
Also automatically qualifying out of the area was Blue Mountain’s Dylan Knittle, Minersville’s Garrett Sukeena and Emma Troutman, and Tamaqua’s Sam Vinc.
Tamaqua’s Brody Boyle, Mahanoy Area’s Connor Bowman, Marian’s Carter Grant, Blue Mountain’s Logan Valentine and Owen Crossen, and Nativity’s Stephen Karinch all qualified last week.
Evans will look to capture his second straight District 11 Class AA championship after shooting a 78 last year, defeating Saucon Valley’s Anthony Albano in a playoff.
Also making a return appearance is Tamaqua’s Sam Vinc, who finished fifth last year with an 83. Mahanoy Area’s Connor Bowman will look to improve upon a 10th place finish while Stephen Karinch looks to take a step up from finishing 12th last year. Eli Barton returns after a 17th place finish.
It’s return trips for both Emma Troutman and Giuliana Hughes as well. Troutman finished tied for fourth last fall while Hughes finished seventh.
After this week’s individual championships, next week’s District 11 team championships will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 14.
“I think we have a legitimate shot at it this year,” Schock said. “If we’re ever going to do it, I feel like this is the year that we have the team built to do it.”
“We have high expectations, and we’re really hopeful that we can go out there and make some noise,” he continued. “We know that if we go out there and do what we can do, and just focus on everything that we’ve been focusing on all year, we have a legitimate shot of walking away with the championship.”