When Spring 2010 rolls around at Norwood High, there will be plenty of change in the air with three head coaching spots to fill following the recent resignations of baseball coach Tony Fruci, softball coach Kathy Smelstor and girls lacrosse coach Shawn Famiglietti.
Fruci steps down after six years with a winning mark at 69-59 but no postseason wins in four trips to the postseason. The Mustangs went 10-10 in the regular season to return to the tournament after a two-year absence this spring but were eliminated in the preliminary round of the Division 1 South sectional tournament with a 2-0 loss to Walpole.
The 1977 Norwood graduate fell victim to the burden of having to follow legendary Massachusetts Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Famer Peter Wall, who Fruci played for and was an assistant to from 1995 until Wall’s retirement in 2003.
He was also met with high expectations with teams that had success had the youth level, but never quite carried over to the high school level.
“I’m happy to have been a part of it, I knew what I was getting into,” said Fruci. “I played for the town, I knew the reputation of the town as far as baseball. It’s always been a baseball town and people have high expectations and if you don’t meet those expectations, well, what can you do?”
Following a discussion over the state of the program with Norwood athletic director Brian McDonough that resulted in McDonough asking for his resignation, Fruci obliged.
“Brian asked me to step down and I willingly stepped down because it’s about what’s good for the program,” said Fruci. “It’s not about me.”
“He’s been a total professional. He is a class act,” said McDonough. “For the last (six) years he has just ratcheted up the program in regards to the whole level of commitment with the kids in the program and putting the best foot forward. He’s been a real pleasure to work with for the last (six) years.”
There certainly should not be a lack of interest in the coveted position. Fruci said he hopes someone from his staff, which includes assistant Jim Sweeney, junior varsity coach Steve Cline and freshman coach Kevin Igoe, throws their hat into the ring. Any list of potential top candidates from the area would have to start with Norwood school committee member and Norwood Post 70 manager Paul Samargedlis, Walpole High assistant and Walpole Post 104 coach Chris Costello and Westwood coach and Norwood High grad Brian Whelan.
A darkhorse may be the man Fruci replaced, Wall, who has stayed close to both the high school and American Legion programs since his retirement and has been fixture at the field that bears his name, sitting in his folding chair down the third base line in his trademark heavy blue coat.
“I’m sure whoever gets the job will do a good job and hopefully will have the support of the whole town,” said Fruci. “We’ve got a bright future ahead of us and we’re going to continue to work hard.”
Smelstor leaves her post after the most successful of her 16 seasons at the helm of the varsity as Norwood won its fourth Bay State Conference championship during her tenure, compiling a 20-2 mark and advancing to the Division 1 South final before losing to Braintree, the deepest tournament run in program history.
“I’ve been waiting for the right time, I’ve accomplished everything that I wanted to accomplish,” said Smelstor, a 1974 Norwood High grad and former Mustang standout herself. “This year was totally unexpected. I always said that if I was going to leave I wanted to leave on a high note and I couldn’t think of better group of seniors to go out with.”
“I think that anyone that grows up in a town and plays for a school is grateful for the opportunity to give back. It’s something that I always dreamed of doing,” added Smelstor.
With the Mustangs coming off such a historic campaign, Smelstor’s decision came as a shock to McDonough.
“I was very surprised, you could have blown me over with a feather,” said McDonough, a former Norwood High classmate of Smelstor’s. “At the same time I’m sure its something that she has thought a lot about and she is going out on top, hats off to her. She has been the foundation of Norwood softball for 20 years, she’s a Hall of Fame player in her own right and this team could be the same in 10 years. She should be proud.”
Smelstor won’t be far from the Balch as she runs a silkscreening and embroidering business, Teako Enterprise, in Norwood. She hopes to stay involved in the program and that some in-house candidates get a chance to continue the winning tradition she has established.
The new coach will inherit a team that loses six senior starters but should return a nucleus of all-stars in junior Natalie Metta and sophomores Lauren Duggan and Ali Maloof.
“I’m not just dropping off the edge of the earth, it’s just a good time for me,” said Smelstor. “I hate to kick myself in the rear I couple years down the road. The toughest part was telling the kids.”
Famiglietti, the only coach in the history of the program, also steps down following the team’s most successful season as they went 15-6-1 and had four 50-plus goal scorers. He cited a desire to spend more time with his young children, Nicholas, 5, and Megan, 3.
“The other day after my decision, my daughter came up to me and said, ‘Daddy, are you going to lacrosse?” said Famiglietti, who finishes his tenure with 117 wins. “I told her, ‘No more lacrosse, Megan.”
“She goes, ‘You’re always at lacrosse.’ Right then, I knew it was the right decision.”
He did say he would remain the offensive coordinator of the football team.
“He did a tremendous amount to promote the girls lacrosse program, bring it to one of the strongest in the area and many of his have gone on to play college lacrosse,” said McDonough.
Famiglietti said he hopes 2003 graduate Tanya Lowe, who played at Lynchburg College, and has assisted him for the past two years gets the opportunity to be the next coach.
(Keith Pearson is Staff Writer for the Daily News Transcript. He can be reached at (781) 433-8371 or kpearson@cnc.com.)
