FRONT ROYAL — Handley High School golf benefited greatly from its depth on Tuesday, shooting a four-player scofre of 324 en route to a second-place finish during the Northwestern District Tournament at Shenandoah Valley Golf Club.
The tournament was played on the par-72 Titus Course and featured 12 teams.
While the Judges fell to first-place Meridian by nine strokes, they narrowly bested local rival Millbrook, which finished third with a 326. Additionally, Sherando placed 7th with a 345 and James Wood came in 10th with a 371.
With its strong performances, Meridian and fourth-place Kettle Run advanced to the Region 3B Tournament. Kettle Run defeated Fauquier 22-20 in a playoff to break a tie.
Pioneers’ junior Tyler Learn and Meridian’s Drew Fishel tied for the best individual score, each shooting an even-par 72.
Learn said he mostly avoided mistakes and said the team wanted to go out and perform up to its standards.
“There wasn’t really too much negative with me today … I think my favorite part was on hole 14. I walked in a putt from like 20 feet and I just felt pretty good,” Learn said. “[With the team], I think it’s just all the work that we put in before the season and during the summertime that really helped us more than anything [today].”
Learn’s teammate, junior Trenton Conley, also impressed by tying for third with a 74. However, these standout showings couldn’t lift Millbrook past the Judges, who saw their top four all shoot an 85 or lower.
Heading into Tuesday’s Region 4D North sub-region tournament at the same location, Handley coach Troy Mezzatesta said his team needs to “do what we did today” preparation-wise, but also score slightly better, to find postseason success.
“We can’t look ahead. We’ve got to play each shot individually,” Mezzatesta said. “So, staying in the present and just committing to what we’re doing. And I’ve got to think that we’ve got to be in that sub-320 land [to reach the region tournament]. We can’t leave anything out there.”
The sub-region tournament will see all seven Region 4D North teams compete for the right to keep playing. The top two teams will advance to the region tournament, while the top six individuals from non-qualifying teams will also move on. The competiton will start at 12:30 p.m.
Millbrook coach Tim Deegan’s outlook for Tuesday was similar to Mezzatesta’s, saying he expects his team to compete at a high level.
“I’ve been really happy with our performance. We haven’t really been in the mix the past few years,” Deegan said. “My goal is to be right there to take one of the two team slots. I talked about that before the season, so I’m really excited for Tuesday.”
The Pioneers will once again contend with Handley come Tuesday, and will need the bottom half of their lineup to step up to match the Judges’ depth. Handley sophomore Hudson Slaughter, who led his team with a 79 on Thursday, said he and his teammates are focused on winning together despite golf’s individual nature.
“You’ve got to come out here every single day and realize, no matter what, if you don’t put up a good score, you’ve got to come out and fight for your guys,” Slaughter said. “There’s seniors on the team. This could be the end for them. So it’s important for us young guys to make sure we’re not just playing for ourselves, but we’re playing for the team.”
In addition to Slaughter’s score, Handley’s counting performances also came from Hudson’s brother, senior Finn Slaughter (80), sophomore Jack Pearce-Gonzales (80) and senior Cooper Phillips (85).
Millbrook’s other two scorers were senior Anthony Gelormine (85) and sophomore Matt Alban (95).
Sherando was led by sophomore Daniel Hill (80), sophomore Ty Chunta (86) and sophomore Nick Sneddon (88). Senior Peyton Sullivan and junior Jay Sluss tied, each shooting a 91.
James Wood’s scorers were junior Drew Longo (85), senior Connor Causby (90), junior Peyton Blair (96) and freshman Abram Nail (100).
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
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