Melrose surprises Rockets, 38-34, in 2025 opener
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High golf team has already kicked off their 2025 fall campaign, opening their season before school even began with an impressive 38-34 win over Reading at home at a sunny Mt Hood Golf Course in Melrose on August 26. Starting the season off 1-0 is the perfect way for Melrose begin their fall campaign.
“It was an impressive win and we had a lead early on,” reports longtime coach Rick McDermod. “We were down a couple spots and had to make last minute substitutes and realignments, but it worked out and all our players stepped up.”
Melrose returns with a good number of starters, including their senior captains Brendan Sestito, Ben Kavanaugh, Damien Wittebol, Aiden Ryan and Tanner Kovacs. “Most of these players have been with me since freshman and sophomore year and they were deserving of these leadership positions,” says the coach.
Against Reading, Melrose saw victory from their top 4 players, Justin Santoriello (5-4 win) Colin Cote (6.5-2.5 win) Aiden Ryan (6-3 win) and Cooper Kovacs (5-4 win). Aiden Thompson also took a 4.5 tie against his Rocket competitor. Look for players like Ryan Arens, Ray Willis IV, Michael Martin, Jake Connor, Cole Matthews and Mason McLean to see time and earn wins this season for Melrose, who aims to regain a Freedom League title that they had ownership of for the good part of 2019-2023. Look for Austin Prep transfer Jack Burnham to challenge Melrose’s top players as he is currently slated in the top 3 slots.
“I’ve seen such great improvement from players like Cooper (Kovacs), Justin (Santoriello) and Colin (Cote) who has a real future in this game,” says the coach of his early season observations. “And Justin has realy come back strong.”
It’s a busy but condensed season for Melrose who will wrap up play before Oct. 9 and will take part in the annual Middlesex League Shoot out on Sept. 25 at Bear Hill.
Starting off with a win over Reading while down a few sports is a good indicator that Melrose may be on a track for a winning season and a chance to grab a league title once more. But there is a lot of season ahead and the competition will vary.
Just this week, Stoneham beat a historically competitive Burlington team while Belmont fell to Woburn. It may be one of those unpredictable seasons. Says McDermod, “We have to see what the competition is out there, but we will be better than last season. Some of these boys were out there all summer training, and I see good talent on this roster.”
Melrose will travel to Wakefield (Thompson Country Club) on Monday and Watertown on Sept. 9 before their next home match at Bellevue on Sept. 11 against Lexington.