Coach’s battle cry of ‘every shot matters’ pays off for Independence golfers
by Dan Holland
Winning this year’s Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division title came down to one stroke for the Independence boys golf team, a theme that echoed back to the team’s first practices in early August
“We won by one stroke,” head golf coach Mike Marcinko said. “Ironically, that had been our mantra since the second practice of the season. From that day on, we harped on the idea that every shot matters, since you don’t know what your teammates are doing. Every single shot counts. The only thing you can control is your next shot.”
Independence edged Lutheran West in the conference tournament at Quail Hollow Country Club in Concord Township on Sept. 21, 387-388.
“Beating Lutheran West, which has an extremely good golf team with good players and good coaches, that was one of the highlights of the season,” Marcinko said.
Freshman Mark Pillar led the Blue Devils, shooting 88 for fifth-place. Sophomore A. J. Marcinko was sixth with a 91.
Pillar and Marcinko earned first-team all-conference honors. Sophomore Charlie DeCapua was second team all-conference, and senior Mark Tripodi and sophomore Joey Spacagna were honorable mention.
Pillar later qualified for the district tournament in Alliance with a fourth-place tie at the Division III sectional tournament at Pine Hills Golf Course in Hinckley by shooting 81.
In the regular season, Independence led the Metro Division with a 9-1 record and experienced only a few minor setbacks due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Fortunately for golf, we didn’t have many hiccups,” Marcinko said. “We started our practices on Aug. 1, and the first day to compete was Aug. 5. We were able to do that when we began the season at the Kenston tournament at Punderson [State Park Golf Course].”
With the exception of one preseason tournament being canceled, the season proceeded as scheduled.
“There were a couple of teams that had to reschedule because their school districts pushed them back, but basically, the calendar itself did not change,” Marcinko said. “We just had to be flexible and move some dates around to get all of our matches in.”
He credits his players’ dedication and “team first” attitude for much of the success.
“They’re all good golfers, but they’re also great guys. They’re just really good young men,” said the first-year head coach, who was named Metro Division Coach of the Year. “They genuinely push and cheer for each other. And I think they did a really good job from day one of rallying under the battle cry of ‘every shot matters.’”
Coach-player meetings were recently completed, and Marcinko is optimistic about building on the success of this year.
“We’re on the young side; Mark’s a freshman, and A.J. and Charlie are sophomores,” he said. “So, the core group of our program is young. We recently did interviews and sat down with each golfer and talked about the season and goals for next year. Our plan is for all of us to stick together and hopefully improve a little bit next year.”
Feature image photo caption: Freshman Mark Pillar led the Independence High School boys golf team member in the Chagrin Valley Conference Metro Division tournament, placing fifth overall.
