Twelve months ago, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys golf season ended quietly with plenty of defeats stacked up and a last-place finish in the Section III Class A fall tournament.
Fast-forward to Wednesday afternoon at Radisson Greens, and the Red Rams are smiling as they pick up sectional championship patches – and all this after a perfect regular season.
J-D had not lost any of its 13 regular-season matches. Now the Rams put together a team score of 403 that beat runner-up Cortland by 10 shots for sectional honors.
Senior Max Schulman said that the entire team stepped up its practice schedule and time on the course (the Rams have its home matches at Drumlins West) throughout the summer. That, plus the addition of freshman Punn Chitttaratlert, turned J-D into a force.
In fact, it was Chittaratlert and sophomore Peter Hatton leading the way at Radisson, each of them shooting seven-over-par 79. Close behind them, Schulman and sophomore Tanner Burns each posted 81 as senior Turner Pomeroy had an 84 and senior Jake Ellithorpe had an 88.
East Syracuse Minoa shot 419 to finish fourth, one shot behind Oswego (418) in third place, with Ian Rivers leading the way for the Spartans as he shot a 77, joining Chitarratlert, Hatton, Schulman and Burns in advancing to the spring sectional state qualifier at Seven Oaks.
Also for the Spartans, David Griffith posted an 83, one ahead of the 84 from Joe Pacheco. Nate Powell had an 87, with Dan Sitnik adding an 88 and Luke Garlick earning an 89.
Meanwhile, in the Class AA sectional tournament, Fayetteville-Manlius got to the brink of the title, but were denied by defending champion West Genesee as the Hornets shot 390 to the Wildcats’ 386.
Even though F-M won the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division regular-season title and beat West Genesee twice during the regular season, the Wildcats qualified 11 golfers for the sectional tournament, four more than the Hornets, and that proved a major factor.
Adam Butch led F-M, his 72 third among individuals behind Baldwinsville’s Max Dec (70) and WG’s Nick Bove (71), while freshman Velton Perry put up a 76 and Mike Millimaci had a 78.
Just behind them, Andrew Heyman had an 80, with Sean Arthur and Matt LaCombe each posting 84 in front of Jordan Krouse, who shot 89.
Helping out Bove on WG’s side, Tim Dipaola had a 75, while Joe Artini and Peyton Mullane both posted 79 and two others, Lucius Allen and Kevin McDermott, both shot 82.
Christian Brothers Academy was supposed to have its sectional Class B/C/D fall tournament on Tuesday at Camillus Hills Golf Club, but heavy rains forced a postponement until Oct. 9.
