THE INDIAN RANCH SPRING ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
is left-handed pitcher

Nick LeMay 

from Oxford High School

LEMAY HAS BEEN PERFECT ON THE MOUND THIS YEAR FOR THE PIRATES AS HE IS YET TO GIVE UP A RUN IN 2012. HE HAS PITCHED 35 SCORELESS INNINGS THUS FAR. HIS LAST OUTING WAS A 6-0 VICTORY OVER LEICESTER GIVING UP 3 HITS, WALKING 2, AND STRIKING OUT 10. THAT HAS BEEN A TYPICAL LEMAY OUTING ALL YEAR. MONEY IN THE BANK WHEN LEMAY STANDS ON THE BUMP FOR OXFORD. LEMAY HAS A 5-0 RECORD THIS SPRING.THE SOUTHPAW GETS MY NOMINATION FOR THE MASSACHUSETTS GATORADE HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR AND WE CONGRATULATE HIM ON A TERRIFIC SEASON THUS FAR.

Robert G. "Rocky" Miller passed away last week at the age of 81. Rocky was an outstanding athlete at Bartlett High School and a tremendous family man. He lived life clean and with enthusiasm. Rock was inducted into the Bartlett High School Hall of Fame in 2006 and served his country in the Korean War. He was a proud Marine. Rocky coached football at Bartlett in the 70’s and later on devoted many years to the area’s Pop Warner teams. He was also an assistant football coach at St. Peter’s and Tantasqua.He coached golf at Bartlett. Rocky loved to compete and he wasn’t afraid to tell you about the New York Yankees and their great tradition. He was the first manager for the House of Champions softball team in 1972 and went on to manage the "House" to its first five championships in Webster. He was assisted by Chet Starzec. Rocky was a personal friend of Theodore "Teddy Ballgame" Williams of Red Sox fame even though Rocky rooted for the pinstripes. Rocky really battled his way through life the last 5 years because of health complications and the people who were close to him saw and admired his courage. The "Rock" will be missed.

Carl Beane, the public address announcer for the Red Sox at Fenway Park, died in a tragic accident last week.Beane was 59 years old and most recently was the guest speaker at the Bartlett Hall of Fame in 2011. I had the opportunity to work with Beane at WESO-AM 970 in Southbridge for 10 years in the 80s and 90s. Along with Matt Morway, Beane taught Morway and me the ins and outs of radio broadcasting. Beane was a true professional behind the microphone. God gave him a voice that wouldn’t quit. Beane rose to fame over the last 9 years when he won the Red Sox job. He loved the Sox dearly, but his favorite sports team of all time was the Montreal Canadiens.

The Bartlett "Sweat and Desire" summer basketball camp will be held from June 26 to June 29 this year.The cost is $175 for ages 8-17. Veteran Bartlett Head Basketball coach Tony Paranto heads up the camp in his 13th year. The camp has been a huge success and stresses fundamentals and fun. The camp will be held at Bartlett High School with the best of facilities indoors and on the outside courts. For more information on the camp, please contact Paranto at Bartlett High School.

Finally, please email me at pcoyle@oxford insurance for all nominations for the INDIAN RANCH SPRING ATHLETE OF THE WEEK.

Because last week we ran a tribute to Bay Path football coach Al Dhembe and his induction into the Massachusetts High School Football Hall of Fame, this week we highlight

Two Indian Ranch Spring Athletes of the Week:

Bartlett's Lindsay Bond and Oxford's Nick Cardoni.

(Last week's highlight was a tribute to Bay Path football coach Al Dhembe and his induction into the Massachusetts High School Football Hall of Fame.)

Bond is a three sport athlete for Bartlett and has started in soccer, basketball, and softball since 8th grade. Her leadership skills have been outstanding all year. She has been an example to her younger teammates at Bartlett and remains determined as she ends a great career for the Indians in a few weeks.

Cardoni of Oxford beat Thanksgiving Day rival Auburn, 8-2, on the Pirate baseball diamond last week by throwing a 4 hitter at the visiting Rockets.

Congratulations to both Bond and Cardoni.

Ron Springer Sr.

Gentleman Ron Springer Sr. of Webster died last week after a courageous battle with cancer over the last five years. Springer arrived in Webster in 1970 by way of accepting the Head Football coaching position at Bartlett High School. Springer succeeded Joe Lucido and remained the Indians’ head coach for five years before handing the reins over to Jim Healey in 1975. He then came back as an Indian assistant football coach in the early 80s and humbly coached the line for the Indians and then coached the line at Oxford High School when his son Ron was the Pirate head coach.

"Big" Ron was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL as a lineman after a great career at Albion College in Michigan. Springer was the "gentle giant" in these parts for over four decades and touched a lot of us with his unique spirit. "Big" Ron ate you up when he greeted you with that huge handshake of his and his smile that went on forever. He was a favorite of everybody who knew him. Ron was a real, genuine human being who will be missed. Godspeed, my friend.

41st Webster Summer Basketball League

Bartlett basketball coach Tony Paranto has announced that signups for the 41st Webster Summer Basketball League will be held at the Bartlett High School gymnasium this Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to noon. Eligible players are those entering the 3rd grade next fall through the 12th grade. The fee for the entire summer is $75. This is the 16th year that Paranto will be the director of the league. All games are played at Bartlett High School on Lake Parkway. The league once played their games on the upper athletic field court at Memorial field on Ray Street, and then the league moved to the Memorial Beach court before moving to Bartlett High School. If memory serves me correctly, a league was sponsored at the old Sacred Heart outdoor court back in the late 60s. I remember being on a team that John Lefebvre was the captain. Bob Gould, Roberto Alvarez, Bob David, Larry Morin, Kenny Goulet, Randy Daggett, Ron Magnant, Bruce Smith, and John Macuga were a few names that played on the Sacred Heart court.

As Al Dhembe walked across Lantana’s Restaurant floor to humbly accept his induction to the Massachusetts High School Hall of Fame this past Sunday evening, almost 50 years of his life flashed before him. Starting with his freshman year at Tantasqua in 1964, Al Dhembe has been the EXAMPLE to everyone he came in contact with. Dhembe was born with the heart of a warrior and a soul of compassion and humility.

Yes, Al Dhembe is human, but to his family, friends, and opponents, Al Dhembe always leaves you with encouragement. Dhembe has totaled 40 years as a mentor to young individuals who wanted to be part of the "Dhembe Philosophy." At the end of a practice or season, Dhembe’s main goal was to make sure that the group he just spent one day or 3 months with were going to be "good men, good husbands, and good fathers." Character was the virtue that Dhembe wanted instilled in his program at Bay Path.

Please do not forget that Bay Path was and still is in an awkward position when it comes to athletics. Students go to Bay Path to succeed in learning a trade that they can use later in life to support their families. The Bay Path athlete is not into AAU or attending summer camps to refining his or her athletic skills. That’s what makes Dhembe’s mark on Bay Path so unique.

I remember when Bay Path opened their doors in the 70s.They were part of the then Border Conference and were thrown to the athletic wolves. They were playing the "iron" week in and week out. Their maiden voyage in sports was a very painful experience. The student population came from a radius of 30 miles and the students did not see the benefit of athletics at the time. They had jobs after school that were consistent with the trade they were learning during school hours.

During the late 60s and early 70s Dhembe cut his coaching teeth at schools that included WPI, Tantasqua, and Shepherd Hill. He was an original assistant coach at Shepherd Hill when they began their program in the mid 70’s. Dhembe’s coaching goal was to be a head coach after landing a teaching job at Bay Path,as they say "the rest is history."

At Bay Path the "Dhembe Philosophy" began. Fundamentals were improvised in a way that Dhembe incorporated blocking and tackling in such a repetitive way that his teams began to take on the reputation as being "well coached." Acknowledging that a program is well coached is the highest compliment in the coaching arena .Bay Path blocked and tackled better than their opponents.The practice schedule was crystal clear every day, and not a second was wasted. Practices were crisp and the coaches were teachers and the players were students .Hard work turned into winning, and winning meant a lot of fun.

Bay Path’s numbers grew for their football roster and the Mugget Hill was affected in a way that noboby ever imagined. Coaches in other sports at Bay Path observed from afar and they took hold of the "Dhembe Philosophy." Along came pride for wearing the purple and gold and as you can see from Dhembe’s records, and pride had to be backed up every year for the last 20 years. To sum up Dhembe’s coaching belief, the Bay Path football player was never put in a situation that he wasn’t prepared for in a game. Dhembe and his loyal assistants made it a rule to do so.

I could go on forever on the great career of Al Dhembe at Bay Path.There is not another program that ever accomplished in 20 years what Dhembe and his assistant coaches and most of all his players achieved up there on Mugget Hill in Charlton. Not Brockton or St.John’s or the New England Patriots have ever had the consistency over 20 years that Al Dhembe and Bay Path own.

AL DHEMBE’S 30 YEARS AT BAY PATH

17 Colonial Athletic League Championships

10 Divisional Championships

3 State Vocational Super Bowl Appearances/2 Victories

10 Central Mass Super Bowl Appearances

3 Super Bowl Victories: 2000, 2001, and 2011

30 Years Head Coach at Bay Path

4 Undefeated Seasons at Bay Path: 1989, 1990, 1991, and 1993

Central Mass Referees Sportsmanship Award in 1991 MIAA Sportsmanship Award: 1996 and 2005

Shriner’s All Star Football game assistant coach in 1990

Joe Mewhiney Central Mass All Star National Football and Hall of Fame football Head coach in 1991

Joe Mewhiney chapter National Football abd Hall of Fame contribution to football award 2009

Who’s who Among American Teachers in 1996

AL DHEMBE AT TANTASQUA AND BOSTON COLLEGE

Earned 7 letters at Tantasqua: 4/football,3/baseball

Delwin Ginn award (football student athlete award)

First ever Norman "Bumpy" Howlett memorial award for baseball

Central Mass football scoring record in 1967, 106 ponts in 8 game schedule.

High School All American

Border Conference baseball all star

Captain in football and baseball at Tantasqua

Earned 3 letters at Boston College in football

Was an All East /All New England at linebacker while at Boston College

Bay Path football coaches 1976-1981, 1988-2011

Varsity and Freshmen

Bob Beaudry, Keith Bigness, Brandon Blom, Fran Bouley, Roger Busha, Gary Chumsae, John Chumsae, Tom Connor, Mark Constanzi, Tim Cushing, Fran Deary, Dave Doyen, Steve Duff, Bill Emrich, Mike Eszes, Bill Feraco, Mark French, Craig Gajewski, Mike Garon, Dave George, Clay Giroux, Al Grenough, Paul Hefner, Ed Jarosz, Adam Jenkins, Mike Kingsley, Mitch Krouner, Tom Lambert, John Lango, Mike Lataille, Mike Lavin, Jim Lazo, Dave Matte, Dick Mattei, Ryan Minns, Paul Newsham, Wayne Nystrom, Rusty Oleszewski, Dean Packard, Jim Pedone, Scott Phipps, Bob Reidy, Dennis Richards, Rudy Sabatinelli, Mike Salvaggio, Tony Salvaggio, Mark Sansoucy, Brian Schofield, John Selen, Fran Sepuka, Bill Sullivan, Steve "Rocky" Thompson, Steve Tromblay, Jim White, and Dave Wood.

The Indian Ranch Spring Athlete of the Week:
Bay Path's baseball player and pitcher, junior

Josh St. Laurent

Congratulations!

Josh St.Laurent, a junior, led Bay Path to the Upper Cape Cod Rotary Classic during school vacation week. Bay Path beat Upper Cape Cod Tech 7-3. St.Laurent struck out seven in the game as Bay Path improved their record to 4-1. Bay Path Coach Mark Sansoucy said the overnight trip was a great experience for the kids and the Bay Path Baseball program. "The kids responded on the field and that was great," said an elated Sansoucy. "The most beneficial aspect of the trip was the program represented Bay Path in a first class way. The Bay Path players and the Bay Path fans who attended the games conducted themselves on Cape Cod in the true spirit of what we are teaching at Bay Path. I was proud of the team and their actions off the field. The trip was a win–win for the entire Bay Path community," said Sansoucy. Bay Path received outstanding performances from junior catcher Andrew Richards, senior outfielder Anthony Casella, and freshman pitcher Tyler Simons, who beat South Shore Tech in the opening round. Bay Path sits pretty good at 4-1 and their eye is on making the post season tournament again under Sansoucy.

The area buzz this week is Al Dhembe’s induction into the Massachusetts High School Football Hall Of Fame. Dhembe, of Bay Path, will be honored on Saturday night at Lantana’s in Randolph. Dinner is at 6 p.m. followed by the induction ceremony at 7p.m. Dhembe’s loyal assistant coaches over the years are heading up to Randolph and past players and the administrators from Bay Path will be on hand as well. It will be a great night for Dhembe and Bay Path. Eastern Mass. will finally hear and see the truth about the best kept high school football secret in the Commonwealth over the past two decades.

Oxford is looking for a new football coach again. It seems the shelf life for that position cannot make it over five years. Oxford isn’t the only school whose head coaching life in football is short. The remedy and answer is not as easy as it looks. Young coaches today are looking to climb the coaching ladder fast and quick. The MIAA has been part of the problem with schools that can’t get over the hump. The MIAA dictates the schedule and schools like Oxford and Bartlett are at the mercy of the schedule. When you put in a rival like Auburn who has been breaking state records for victories, things get more depressing. It is tough to play on Thanksgiving Day without a shot at winning. Sure, Oxford has made it interesting over the years, but in the end, it is a loss that starts the long off season. The weight room can be a lonesome place in the off season when the chips are down. The Oxford kid is a tough kid and I really believe somebody can make believers out of the current Pirates.They have been to Super Bowls in the 90s with Coach Ron Springer Jr. and the late Paul "Bear" Brissette built the program in the 70s on toughness and Mike Fields followed with the same attitude. Auburn is on a long cycle of greatness right now, but eventually they will come down to some type of normality. The future for Oxford football is about a 5 year business plan and a commitment from the entire community. For what it is worth, there are fifty two 13 and 14 year olds in Oxford playing baseball this spring and there is a waiting list of a handful. Can the next football coach please meet and greet these 52-plus kids? It would be a great place to start the building process for Oxford football. I see 15 lineman and another 15 who can run down there at Greenbriar and Horgan field. This is just a thought.

The INDIAN RANCH Athlete of the Week is Shepherd Hill senior softball pitcher Molly Covil for her efforts against SWCL rival Oxford last Friday.

Covill pitched a four hitter against the Pirates in a home contest in Dudley. She struck out the side in the fourth inning and had eight strikeouts in a complete game as she led the Rams to a 5-1 victory. Congratulations to Molly and her Ram teammates who head into vacation week at 2-1. 
The undefeated 4-0 Oxford Pirate baseball team was also on the Ram campus last Friday, but the Division one Shepherd Hill Rams knocked the Pirates from the unbeaten ranks by a 11-7 score. Oxford fell to 4-1 while Shepherd Hill heads into vacation week at 2-1. Shepherd Hill pitcher Adam Darling showed a lot of guts on the mound and battled his way to a win for the Rams. Shepherd Hill scored 8 runs in the second inning as their bats came alive for numerous extra base hits. 

For Shepherd Hill, it was a good tune-up for the vacation week tournament in Hudson where the Rams will face Division 3 West Boylston in the opening round.

Speaking of Tournaments, Bay Path is on the Cape for an overnight vacation week tournament. The Minutemen have raised their own funds to travel and pay for the accomadations for their overnight stay on Cape Cod. They face South Shore Tech in the opening round.

Finally, and more to come on this next week, Bay Path football coach Al Dhembe will finally be inducted into the Massachusetts High School Hall of Fame on April 29. The ceremony will be in Randolph and the details will be in this space next week. Dhembe amassed 209 wins at Bay Path and his teams participated in nine Super Bowls. You can add a boat load of conference championships, and his teams could have won every sportsmanship award every year that Dhembe coached. I am not amazed at Dhembe’s coaching resume because he built the program at Bay Path with such a solid foundation. Work ethic, determination, pride, humility are the intangibles that are laid at the players’ feet before they hit the field. Once they get on the field, it’s fundamentals. Blocking and tackling and repetition until the players can do everything in their sleep.

 
Congrats Al, you deserve the kitchen sink on April 29.

INDIAN RANCH ATHLETE OF THE WEEK.
1. Bartlett’s Luis Caro.
2. Shepherd Hill’s Molly Covill.

The first ever INDIAN RANCH 
Athlete of the Week went to a Bartlett Indian.

Baseball player Louis Caro of Bartlett had two singles and an RBI to lead the hometown Indians to a 9-4 victory over Grafton last Friday in a home game.

Justin Bemma added two hits for Bartlett as first year Bartlett coach Jonathan Way got his coaching career off to a great start with a win. Way, a 2004 Bartlett alum, has brought a lot of enthusiasm and is stressing fundamentals to a program that is rich in tradition. The Bartlett baseball team has been down the last few years and is looking to rebound this year. The word out of Lake Parkway is that the Indians have a good nucleus of senior leadership and there are some good pitching prospects who need varsity innings. This project is an interesting one because of Bartlett’s baseball tradition and Webster kids are tough competitors. However, this baseball program has lacked consistency the last few years. The Webster kids are not playing baseball in the summer and that void has been showing up on Bartlett’s baseball record in the spring. Webster does not have a representative team in the age category of 15-18 year olds in District 5 this summer. There is baseball talent in the corridors at Bartlett. Maybe this senior group and the coaching change can bring back the pride at Bartlett. The Indians hosted Millbury on Monday.They host a tough Oxford team tomorrow and then it’s vacation week and the Rocket Classic where the Indians play host Auburn in a first round game at Drury Square in Auburn. Bartlett plays an 18 game schedule this season that is very challenging. Coach Way is up to the challenge and his youth will keep the program enthused and spirited. The kids have to have fun as they work on being fundamentally sound and see progress. Look for the Indians to improve this season. Maybe a second place finish in their conference gets them into the tournament in June.

A few thoughts… Looks like the Oxford Pirates are the team to beat in the area… The Pirates have some pitching depth headlined by veteran Nick Lemay… Lemay struck out 16 out of 21 batters in last week’s 4-0 win over Quaboag… He gave up 3 hits, two singles and a double, in a complete game performance… The Pirates shut out Southbridge in their other game last week 8-0… The Division one Shepherd Hill baseball team is 1-1 with a victory over Quaboag and a loss to Marlboro… Bay Path begins their season this week… Can you believe the Red Sox were 0-3 as of this writing and Daniel Bard did not appear in any of the 3 losses? What you saw in the Detroit series is what you are going to see all season from the Red Sox. They can’t pitch it after 5 innings and they need a glove at shortstop…

Please email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your nominations for the INDIAN RANCH athlete of the week during this 2012 spring season.An updated list of these athlete’s can be seen on the Oxford Insurance website at oxfordinsurance.com.

Let me tell you how my March Madness is going so far. I had Missouri going all the way to the championship game and I had Harvard beating Vanderbilt in the first round. I also had Duke advancing to the sweet sixteen. Even Duke’s coach, Saint Andrew Bobola, had no answer for that mighty Lehigh team that plays in the same conference as O’ Holy Cross. Talk about having no clue. Yours truly would get eaten alive in Las Vegas. I hope your brackets weren’t busted the same way mine were. By the way, what are we teaching these college kids anyway? If you don’t make the trip to the Final Four, there is the National Invitational Tournament or the best of the rest. If you don’t make the N.I.T. then there is the College Insider Tournament. I am not kidding. Everybody gets their little A.A.U. trophy so there are no hard feelings. When does the season end? Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden must be rolling over with all these alternative tournaments. How about the amount of INK on the basketball players’ bodies this generation? I thought the New Jersey Nets were the most read team until the road to the Final Four started. The INK/tattoos look like a painful process to me, but it sure beats the eyebrow piercing fad they had a few years ago. What are these college players going to do if they make the NBA? There won’t be any room left on their bodies to INK up. I don’t think the "Big Guy" wanted all that ink on us or He would have done it Himself. Am I getting that old that I don’t understand what stylin’ means?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but is the 2011-12 edition of winter sports in Central Mass. as bad as their showing at the DCU center this past St. Patrick’s Day? Not one team from Central Mass. qualified to play for the coveted state championship. I cannot remember when C-Mass didn’t have at least one team on the boys’ or girls’ side battling for the state crown. We were shutout. Please don’t count Tyngsboro as a C-Mass team. It is very disheartening that Western Mass. swept all three boys’ teams and all three girls’ teams in three divisions. I have been hearing so much about the AAU traveling teams and their successes with teams across the country that I thought C-Mass. teams could compete with teams in their own state. C-Mass. was eliminated from advancing to the state finals which, are you ready? Was played at the DCU Center in C-Mass.Imagine being the hostess with the leastess? Do we get a good host award for providing the DCU Center for all the State final games in basketball? I think all of us, including me, need a dose of reality. I like when the locals do well on any level and any sport. Maybe it was an off year for us folks in the heart of Massachusetts. The big question is: Are we advancing our student-athletes to the college level or are the kids burnt out from getting too many trophies on their journey from the midget league to the Clark Tournament? Less is more. Less games and trophies and more fundamentals. The games have to be fun. I am not sure if the kids are having fun anymore--

by Peter Coyle

The Spring Season for High School Sports begins in 5 days on March 19th. Physicals must be in to your athletic office prior to trying out for a team. Tryouts? This means that spring sports in all schools will have a tryout time period during the first week. OK, what is the "fair" amount of time that should be given to an athlete who is trying out for a spring sport? One week, one day? This is a tough question to answer, especially if a coach is having a tryout for an outdoor sport? Where do you go? This is New England and on March 19th the weather conditions do not allow baseball, softball, and tennis to be played outdoors. Lacrosse and Track might be able to handle the elements, but the fields are not ready yet. How about empty parking lots? This is why the Red Sox go to Florida. So what is a "fair" tryout for a young athlete who is trying to impress his coach? I have done this spring tryout for 27 years and it is not easy. There are a few considerations that can be taken when picking a program. Being "fair" is the priority and setting standards is the key. Every coach wants good kids who can follow rules. Being academically eligible is the first serious commitment of the athlete. There can be up to 60 baseball players in a program that consists of 3 teams: a Varsity, Junior Varsity, and a Freshman team. Servicing 60 players means a lot of heart and soul and one rule, be accountable to the mission of the program.

Now let’s get back to the hard stuff---the tryouts. Consider yourself a junior in high school trying out for the varsity baseball team. You played JV for two years and had some success, but there are only 5 slots open for the varsity and you are not a pitcher, catcher, or shortstop. You know the tryouts are Monday and Tuesday. If you are lucky, maybe even Wednesday. That’s 3 days to show what you can do. What is your plan to make the Varsity? Be confident and hustle. There is no substitute for hustling. Go through the tryouts like you belong on the team and have a good attitude. Make a mistake, don’t let your body language show it. Be enthused, help a fellow teammate. Coaches like great talent, but good coaches love athletes who are resilient. The first 3 days of next week are the norm for tryouts and then it is on to opening day on April 1st. Are you kidding me? Eleven days to prepare for an outdoor game. I hope March goes out like a lamb this year and every year for the sake of high school athletes.

The Shepherd Hill Lady Rams basketball team are the Queens of the south county for winter sports and join the Kings of the fall season, the Bay Path football team. Both these programs went further than any south county team during their respective seasons. Bay Path is still overall king as they won their last game and a Super Bowl. Who will be the top team in the spring in the south county? The next 12 weeks should be exciting and interesting, especially with the good weather coming in. Good Luck to all the spring athletes.

It’s hard to believe that the spring high school season will begin on March 19th. That is 12 days away if you care to count. But, before we get into the 2012 spring season, how about some reflection on the exciting local winter high school season? South County’s top player goes to Bartlett’s Nick Kobel who scored 427 points this season and his 1,000th point this season for the Indians and ended his illustrious basketball career with an amazing performance against St.Bernard’s in an opening round district game in Webster last week. Kobel and his Indians were down by 19 as they headed into the final period when lightning struck Lake Parkway. Kobel and his teammates threw the kitchen sink at St. Bernard’s and cut the lead to one point before they ran out of gas and eventually lost the game. Kobel had 5 three pointers in the comeback and 25 points in the final period to finish with a game high of 39 points. Kobel was the ultimate Indian over his career and deserves any accolades that go his way. The kid over-achieves no matter what the sport or situation is put in front of him. Bartlett finished at a very respectable 13-10 this season with a Clark Tournament semi final appearance and a host game in the districts. The Indians’ biggest win was over Division 1 Shepherd Hill.

On the girls’ side of sports, how about Shepherd Hill’s Meghan Fornaro’s 42 point performance against North Middlesex last Saturday night at Shepherd Hill in a quarter final game in Division one girls’ action. Talk about unstoppable. Fornaro and the Lady Rams head over to Clark University tomorrow night for a semi final match up against undefeated Holy Name. The Naps are 2-0 this year against Shepherd Hill, but beating a team 3 times in one season is tough to do. I like the Lady Rams to knock off Holy Name. The Lady Rams are the last local team standing and their tradition over the last 25 years has earned them bragging rights as the most consistent program in the area. That includes all sports, both boys and girls, on all levels, and all seasons. You can label the program as legendary because of the success it provides year in and year out. They know how to win once they are beyond the northern line of Route 20.

Finally, back to the boys’ side. The Oxford Pirates did it again. For the second straight season, Oxford advanced to a quarter final game. No other local boys’ team can claim this achievement. Bay Path advanced past the opening round, but did not get to the quarter final game. This year Oxford met up with Quabbin who won this year’s large school Clark Tournament. Quabbin proved to be too much for Oxford in the quarter final game in Barre. The Pirates beat arch rival Auburn in the opening round in overtime in a thriller. The Pirates were the best defensive team in the area and relied on the defense to slow teams down. March madness is approaching fast. Good Luck on your brackets.

The Bay Path Football Team was honored at a Super Bowl ring ceremony on February 13th at Bay Path Regional High School. This is just an incredible story and adds to the legacy of Bay Path football and their Head Coach Al Dhembe. I have always said that "Bay Path football and Al Dhembe are the best kept secret in the state." Dhembe is the administrator of a program that has produced over 200 victories and numerous league titles and Super Bowls.Let me use Dhembe’s philosophy for all you young and inexperienced athletic directors that building a program is different than coaching a team. Dhembe has a program and he and his staff have worked hard to build and maintain it. Any Monday morning quarterback can coach a team. For that matter, even some parents think they can coach a team. See where I am going with this? However, building a program in today’s age of AAU and All Star trophies is almost non existent. Imagine the upcoming spring high school coaches dreading the 3rd Monday in March because they have to get their team ready to play in two weeks. Coaches who have a program in place never worry about these start up dates. They have off season schedules that are compliant with the MIAA. The weight room, summer league basketball, etc. are when you build a program. By the way, checking the athletes’ academics year round is the first part of building the program. Eligibility. When was the last time a local kid played a sport in college? Programs have 3-5 kids playing in college per year. Teams are lucky if they have one high school athlete going on to play in college and that is by chance and talent. Coaching is a commitment if you are building a program. College coaches should have the head coach on their speed dial. On the flip side, being a seasonal coach is a dangerous way to treat kids. The kids lack enthusiasm and miss out on the structure that a program has.

The reason why Bay Path had a recent ring ceremony last week is that Bay Path has a football program, not a team. Al Dhembe is committed to a program and the Bay Path kids have been the benefactors of this philosophy over the years. There is a big difference in a team and a program. All the Bay Path players and coaches received Super Bowl rings for their efforts in 2011. The "ring" is a symbol of the highest achievement a program can attain. Bay Path certainly elevated to this mark in 2011. Dhembe was also presented a banner for being the Coach in the Bay Path program who achieved 200 wins over his long tenure at Bay Path. Congratulations to everyone who wore the purple and gold over the years. Bay Path Football has got to be the most successful program in the state over the last 25 years.

Kudos to another program in the name of the Bartlett Indians who advanced in the Clark Tournament with a victory over North Brookfield on Sunday night. Yes, Tony Paranto the Indians’ mentor, is running a program not a team. The Indians played Quaboag last night in the semi finals of the small school division. Another program that has had tremendous success over the years is the Shepherd Hill girls’ basketball team. The Lady Rams, under the eyes of coach Jim Hackenson, played in the Westboro tourney and got beat by Algonquin. The Westboro tournament is a selective tourney that invites only the best programs year in and year out. The makeup of the tourney is Division teams.