SALEM — After starting the season off with two losses in a row, the Swampscott golf team has rebounded in a big way. The Big Blue took down Northeastern Conference foe Salem on the road Thursday afternoon, winning 39.5-32.5 at Olde Salem Greens to notch their ninth consecutive win.
“We don’t want to take away from our first two opponents, but those first two matches were not indicative of how well we played during tryouts and practices early this season,” said Swampscott coach Jason Knowles. “Over the past few weeks, our guys have really started to mesh together, communicate well and play some great golf.”
Swampscott got wins on the day from Lou Spellios (5-4), Nate Stern (5.5-3.5), Brendan Sheehan (6.5-2.5), Nate Maercklein (5.5-3.5) and Timmy Hayes (6.5-2.5).
For Salem, Ethan Doyle led the way after making nine straight pars to shoot even-par on the day and win his match 5-4 against Danny DiLisio in the No. 1 spot. Despite the loss, DiLisio shot 1-over in the match.
“He’s been playing well for us all year, and it was great to see him put together a solid round like that and go toe-to-toe with a great player from Swampscott,” Salem coach Tom Doyle said of his son Ethan. “He played some really solid golf (Thursday) to pull out that win.”
Also winning matches for the Witches Thursday were Bobby Jellison (6-3) and Jon Wasserman (5.5-3.5).
Despite dropping matches at the top two spots in the lineup, Swampscott was able to get by on its depth of talent to simply outlast Salem and earn the victory. Golfers like Sheehan, Maercklein and Hayes were instrumental in picking up the win.
“We brought up a couple of the younger guys to see how they’d stack up against varsity competition and they were very impressive,” said Knowles. “I think it shows a lot of promise for our younger guys, and it clearly shows that our JV coach Tim Richmond is doing a great job with those guys. They really manage the course well, and that helped us (Thursday).”
Despite Thursday’s loss, Salem is wrapping up a strong week that saw it notch its first two wins of the season. As the Witches come up on the final week of their season, Doyle hopes that the team can continue to build momentum as it moves into the offseason.
“It’s been a great week for us, being able to pick up two wins and really get some momentum,” said Doyle. “We’ve gotten a lot better over the season and we’re showing some real progress. We’re just hoping to have another great week next week.”
Salem (2-6) takes on Beverly Tuesday (3:30) at Beverly Golf and Tennis Club.
But for Swampscott, the season has come to a close unless the Big Blue can schedule a last-minutes match next week — which seems unlikely. But regardless, Knowles is proud of his team and the way his players approached this strange, shortened season.
“I’ve been doing this for seven years now, and this group is for sure the most dedicated team I’ve coached,” said Knowles. “I have to give a huge shout out to the senior captains, who even when things were uncertain for the season were planning driving range sessions and keeping the team focused. Guys stayed late after practice every day we held it.
“We have a great group of talented players, and it’s a little unfortunate that there isn’t a state tournament this year because I think these guys could have really gone a long way,” Knowles continued. “But even so, these guys made the best of a bad situation and got the most out of it they could, and for that I’m incredibly proud.”
Swampscott closes the season at 9-2.