Fitch Boys Soccer Ready To Play Hardball

Perception is often the reality in scholastic sports. Such is definitely the case with Fitch High baseball and boys' soccer.

The baseball team, with head coach Marc Peluso and assistant Jason Wolfradt in charge, expects to challenge for state and conference championships. They elicit respect, if not fear, from area opponents based on a track record of consistently, established by former coach Ed Harvey and continued by Peluso of reaching state quarterfinals and beyond.

The soccer team is usually viewed as a scrappy yet unskilled bunch that is rarely a factor in the ECC Large Division, usually finishing well below  the .500 mark.

Don't blame coaching. Wolfradt enters his second year as Fitch soccer coach, assisted by Peluso. They vow to change the general perception of the soccer team, starting with the Falcons' view of themselves and what it takes to win.

"You hear rumblings in school, "Oh, the soccer team is playing Woodstock or NFA, they have no chance to win," Wolfradt said. "We're trying to change the soccer culture here and it's a huge challenge. We want the kids to expect to win instead of already being defeated before we play."

After a 2-13-1 record in Wolfradt's first season, Fitch shows signs of turning around culture. Fitch (2-0) opened with a rare win over Stonington, 2-1, and followed with a 5-1 win over Killingly Monday. The seeds for early success were planted over summer.

In 2010, Fitch's soccer captains organized a summer conditioning program. Only six to seven participated regularly. This past summer, numbers tripled.

"It was frustrating the first summer," Wolfradt said. "But this summer, every day from June to August, there were 22 kids running and playing soccer. They were running right next to the football players doing their conditioning."

Fitch's fall boys' sports tradition's pecking order is football, football, football, cross country and soccer. Some would argue fall baseball deserves a ranking. Wolfradt, who played goalkeeper at Bristol Central and baseball at Eastern Connecticut State, believes there's room for two major fall team sports.

"There are enough boys at Fitch to share the spotlight with football," Wolfradt said. "This season, we have many more athletes involved in off-season and year-round leagues. We're not just running around using athletic ability. We have a clue out there."

Playing 30-plus games over summer in American Legion, fall ball and living in batting cages during winter helps prepare baseball players for their spring season. The soccer team is realizing futbol is not only a fall sport.

A baseball player, Jon Mewha, is one of Fitch's captains and a senior midfielder. Another captain is Frank Norosky, a speedy sophomore midfielder. He is one of the few Falcons in recent years to play premier soccer, competing for coach Joe Mendonca, Sr. on Connecticut Southeast Soccer Club's Under 16 team.

"I named him a co-captain because of his work-ethic," Wolfradt said. "He does a great job rounding up the troops. I had no hesitation naming him captain. He's a little bulldog who knows how to use his body. Sometimes he tries to do too much, but when he distributes the ball to the forwards, it eventually finds him and he can do damage."

Norosky scored his first career hat trick (3 goals) and added an assist against Killingly, which led 1-0 at halftime. Norosky assisted on a goal by Martin Alfaro, a transfer student from Chile. Freshman Dan Mewha scored late in the game.

In the win over Stonington, Jon Mewha and Mason Cummings scored,while Norosky added an assist.

Wolfradt is excited about the elevated skill level of his midfielders and forwards. Aside from Narosky (4 goals in 2010) and Mewha, forwards Alfaro and Tyler Urena also give Fitch more tactical skill than it has shown in many years.

"Martin brings a creative International style," Wolfradt said. "Tyler is 13 and about 89 pounds, but he's a year-round soccer player and really holds his own."

Wolfradt believes Fitch has a background for future success. He  credits the Groton Soccer Club and coach Matt Fort, an Englishman, for preparing young players for scholastic soccer.

"I love his style of play," Wolfradt said. "He's teaching the kids how to play in space."

And Wolfradt and Peluso are teaching the soccer team how to prepare to win. Fitch plays Ledyard Wednesday in a solid test before stepping up in class to meet ECC power NFA Friday. The Falcons' 2-0 record marks the first time they've been two games over .500 since a pair of winning seasons in the late '90s.

"The team is buying in," Wolfradt said, "and believing."