BELLINGHAM, Mass. ---- Freshman Mike Cappadona (Foxboro) shot an 82 (+10) on the second day of the Region XXI Championship to become the first-ever Massasoit Community College student-athlete to qualify for the NJCAA Golf Nationals.
Cappadona finished with a two-day tournament score of 163 (81-82=163) to take fourth place overall for the Warriors at the New England Country Club.
CCRI claimed the team regional crown as Cappadona will join the Knights and four other Region XXI golfers at the NJCAA Golf Championship held in Chautauqua, N.Y. from June 2-5.
"Capps just crushed it out there today for us," head coach Chris Ballerini said. "He had a really interesting round. He struggled on the front nine, but really turned it on the back nine. We are really excited to compete at Nationals and represent Massasoit."
Day two saw much more favorable weather conditions at the New England Country Club as three of the four Warrior golfers produced lower scores on Wednesday.
"All the guys played pretty well today," Ballerini said. "Yesterday was tough playing in rain for most of the round. Today it was really nice out and the course played great."
Cappadona shot a 45 on the front nine, but rallied to fire a 37 on the final nine holes of the day to finish with an 82. His fourth place finish tied for his best of the season.
Mike Thibeault (Halifax) tied Cappadona for team-low honors, carding an 82 on Wednesday, finishing the two-day tournament in 11th place with a 172 (90-82=172). Thibeault's 82 marked his low round of the season.
In addition, Cam Cox recorded a 201 (100-101=201) for the tournament, followed by a Mike Barry (Abington) with a 231 (121-110=231).
NJCAA Regionals
1. G. McCreary, Dean College (74-76=150)
2. A. Greenwood, CCRI (77-81=158)
3. S. Letterle, CCRI (77-81=158)
4. M. Cappadona, Massasoit (81-82=163)
5. J. Holt, Holyoke (85-80=165)
6. M. Kurson, MassBay (84-81=165)
7. C. Lynch, MassBay (81-84=165)
8. M. Goncalves, Springfield Tech (85-81=166)
9. R. Tinney, Dean College (84-84=168)
10. M. Burke, CCRI (86-83=169)
11. M. Thibeault, Massasoit (90-82=172)
12. E. Sablak, Springfield Tech (88-84=172)
13. M. Cammarano, MassBay (94-84=178)
14. M. Higgans, CCRI (91-90=181)
15. C. Deluca, Dean College (101-87=188)
16. A. Gabriella, Dean College (91-98=189)
17. C. Cox, Massasoit (100-101=201)
18. J. Lawlor, Dean College (104-109=213)
19. M. Barry, Massasoit (121-110=231)
20. D. Whelan, Springfield Tech (116-117=233)
