South Fayette golfers ready to be tested at Oakmont

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, October 4, 2020 | 11:01 AM

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It is postseason time for boys and girls golf and girls tennis.

There is great excitement surrounding the WPIAL Class AAA girls golf championships as they are being held for the first time at the historic Oakmont Country Club on Oct. 8.

“I think it’s great that the girls get the opportunity to compete at Oakmont,” South Fayette girls golf coach Rocky Violi said. “The history of the course speaks for itself. It’ll be a fun and exciting test for all of the players.”

Of the field of 35 girls golfers, two are from South Fayette. Junior Caroline McConnell and sophomore Marissa Malosh are set to tee off for district gold.

“Marissa’s strengths include her ability to drive the ball,” Violi said. “She has spent a lot of time practicing her short game from 40 yards and in, which has improved immensely since her freshman year. Caroline’s strengths include her ball striking and accuracy off the tee. Her ability to chip and read greens has helped her gain strokes around a golf course.

“The girls have an innate ability to forget a bad hole, should that arise. They simply forget about it and move on to the next hole knowing that birdie is a possibility to get a stroke back that was lost on the previous hole.”

On the boys side, South Fayette junior James Cavrak was the only area boys golfer to qualify for the Class AAA semifinals. Cavrak shot a 74 to finish third in the Section 7-AAA qualifiers.

“Golf is a funny game. Things can go your way, but it’s what you do when it strays that makes you grind and succeed,” South Fayette boys coach Bobby Ruffolo said. “I know James has been a leader for our team. Kids on the team look up to him, and he always has a calm and confident demeanor. He is such a good kid.”

Cavrak shot an 84 in the district semifinals Sept. 29 and just missed qualifying for the WPIAL championships.

In girls tennis, six area players participated in sectionals to qualify for a spot in the WPIAL singles championship bracket. None was able to qualify.

In the Section 4-AAA qualifiers, South Fayette seniors ZZ Rose and Mia Belcufine both won their preliminary round matches as Rose defeated Chelsea Johns of Trinity, 10-6, while Belcufine knocked off Skylar Glawson of Trinity, 10-8.

Both Lions players lost in their first-round matches as Belcufine fell to No. 2-seed Kat Wang of Peters Township, 10-0, while Rose lost to eventual champion and top-seed Mia Gorman of Bethel Park, 10-0.

A pair of Chartiers Valley seniors also participated in the Section 4-AAA qualifiers.

Elle Mack lost to Lilly Bosch of Mt. Lebanon in the first round, 10-0, while Colts teammate Kelli O’Connell fell in round one to Lauren Mastellar of Mt. Lebanon, 10-0.

In the Section 5-AA qualifiers, two Carlynton juniors were eliminated in the opening round. Alysha Cutri of Carlynton lost to Julia Piatt of Keystone Oaks, 10-1. The Cougars’ Anessa Preteroti was knocked off by Kendall Smith of Hopewell, 10-2.

Tags: Carlynton, Chartiers Valley, South Fayette