BELCHERTOWN — Playing field hockey for Dina Brunetti may seem like a lot of work, but the second year Belchertown head coach has a method to the self-proclaimed madness she puts her players through.

It isn’t just about the sport itself. Brunetti wants her players to be better-suited for life after field hockey, whenever it may end.

She gives her players assignments to do outside of practices and games. They’ve written letters to businesses in the area to ask for donations or gift cards to help with fundraising, they’ve started building their resumes to have just in case they need it, and, perhaps the task that takes the cake, Brunetti had each one of her players learn their social security numbers.

A couple more rules: her players aren’t allowed to drink energy drinks unless they can get a doctor to tell them it’s OK (good luck), and they have to go on runs to keep their conditioning up.

Sure, that may seem like a lot, but the players seem to love playing for Brunetti. And coach plays by the rules, too.

“For as hard as I am, there’s this mutual respect that we have for each other,” Brunetti said. “I hold myself to the same standards. I know my social security number, I go on these runs with them, I don’t drink energy drinks. We laugh and joke all the time. But when it’s time to work, there’s no giggling. We get right to it.

“I’m a firefighter in the real world, so I’m huge on building them not just as athletes on the field and I hold them to these standards,” Brunetti added. “I don’t know, they might hate me outside of our time together, but I don’t really care, because now they all know their social security numbers. They seem to all buy in and enjoy it. They’re a ton of fun to be around.”

What also helps the fun is the fact that they are very good at field hockey.

The Orioles lost five seniors – all starters – from last year’s team, including midfielder Laura Cote who now coaches the Belchertown junior varsity team, but they return a sizable crop of talent that is likely to make up for the departures.

“We did lose five starting varsity players, but I do feel positive about what we have coming back, because I feel like a lot of these players did some winter work,” Brunetti said. “A lot of them also played over the summer, so I feel like we look pretty solid right now.”

Junior Edith Audette had 43 points entering this season and added four more (two goals, two assists) in Belchertown’s season-opening win over Hampshire earlier this week. Sophomore forward Lila Roy was great a year ago and notched a hat trick in the opener, freshman Kina Roy is filling Cote’s spot in the midfield along with juniors Mya Philpott and Molly Mazzaferro, and seniors Chloe Moss and Natalie Haluch are to hold down the back line.

Two years ago, Belchertown beat East Longmeadow in the Class B Western Mass. final. After losing five seniors from that team, the expectations were low for the Orioles in 2023 – Brunetti’s first year. But they tied for first in the County League and won 11 games, only one shy of the team that won the Class B title.

The standard has now been set.

“They set the bar for us last year,” Brunetti said. “Coming in last year, that was my first year, and I think everyone kind of agreed we had nowhere to go but up. We were building. Nobody had high hopes for us. It was like we were starting out fresh. So what we did last year, I was blown away that we tied for first in our league. Yes, we lost five seniors this year, but I’ve got someone filling every one of those spots. We don’t have a weak spot on the field right now.”

The only question mark coming into the season was the goalie position. Brooke Stelmokas played almost every game in the cage for the Orioles last year, but she graduated in the spring.

That question mark quickly went away when practice began, as sophomore Morgan Sambor made it clear she was more than capable of playing the position at a high level. She did record two shutouts in 2023, and added another against Hampshire to start this year. Having a veteran defense with Moss and Haluch in front of her also helps.

“She’s been working hard all summer, and Brooke, our goalie from last year, has helped her out as well,” Brunetti said of Sambor. “She’ll be ready to go.”

Elsewhere in Hampshire County

Northampton

The Blue Devils had a great regular season (10-6-3) a year ago, but they ran into Minnechaug in the opening round of both the Class A Western Mass. tournament and the MIAA Division 2 state tournament to end their year.

Charlotte Johnson-Mersack, the 2023 Gazette Player of the Year, is back in the cage for Northampton, and the majority of the roster contains midfielders who bring a balance of attack and defense. Offensively, Maya Berman-Lagier, Camilla Brewer and Haly Doucette-Kaplan are expected to be the consistent point scorers this season. Head coach Meshia Begin said Avery Koloszyc, Dreya Sawka and Jordan Sage should have an impact on the Blue Devils as well.

“A new wave of strong midfield shooters are making their way on the roster as they look to blend with the speed and agility of our starting forwards,” Begin said.  

On defense, Northampton is led by, of course, Johnson-Mersack – who will be looking for her 200th save as a junior. In front of her protecting the cage is senior captain Jenna Talbot, as she takes on center defensive midfield.

“This season we’re looking to build a smart, well-rounded team from a roster of varying varsity experience,” Begin said. “This team gets better each time they play together as they look to build on their passing strengths and find creative ways to connect.”

Hampshire

Most times, success in high school sports revolves around having strong senior leadership – a few of them at that – and a deep team top to bottom. It seems the Raiders may have that this season, and it starts with their trio of returning seniors.

Leading goal scorer Chloe Moynihan returns to the lineup to lead the forwards, Ryleigh Fennessy slides back into the midfield after a tremendous junior campaign, and defender Ava Senecal will once again captain the Hampshire defense on the back line. They have a veteran at each position. That will help the Raiders in most games this fall.

“We’re continuing to build our field hockey program as we are still quite new,” head coach Susannah Bastek said. “We are a young team led by three strong seniors this year. We plan on being competitive in our league and having a lot of fun.”

Frontier

The Redhawks are winners of the last two Class C Western Mass. championships and are eyeing a third consecutive title this season. They certainly have what it takes after losing only a pair of seniors.

Frontier has plenty of weapons to attack an opposing defense, and that was on display in its season-opening 5-0 win over Greenfield – where five different players found the back of the cage. All five seniors on this year’s team are key contributors with a ton of playing experience in big games.

Ashley Taylor, Macy DeMaio, Claire Kirkendall, Stella Heflin, Kate Walker, Rowan Reilly, goalie Kyra Richards – take your pick, they can all impact a game on any given night.

A three-peat is very much in the picture for the Redhawks and head coach Missy Mahar. 

Smith Academy

Head coach Judy Strong and her Falcons ended the year as one of the hottest teams in Hampshire County. They certainly could carry over that momentum into 2024.

Smith Academy went 4-1-2 over its last seven contests, its only loss to Westfield, and senior Alexa Jagodzinski and sophomore Isabella Gavron are both back looking for even bigger years than the ones they had last fall. Freshman goalie Madison Didonna-Renner has already accumulated 134 saves in her career and has plenty of varsity game experience.

The Falcons only lost two seniors from last season, so they may take another leap forward this year. They opened 2024 with a 3-0 win over Mahar earlier this week.

Amherst

The ‘Canes had a roster littered with underclassmen in 2023, the bulk of their players were either sophomores or middle schoolers. They are now a year older, have a full season of experience under their belts and are ready to help take Amherst to a new level this fall.

Senior Zoey Candito led the Hurricanes – which went 5-10-1 and missed out on both tournaments last year – in both goals and points last year, and should be a player to keep an eye on in 2024. Amherst handled Palmer 5-0 earlier this week, hopefully setting the tone for the season to come.

Holyoke

Four seniors may have moved on from last year’s Purple Knights roster, but the good news is that their three leading point scorers are all back for the 2024 season – and each of them are seniors.

Siobhan Armstrong notched 14 goals and 9 assists to lead the way last fall, Gracie Chesmore added 11 goals and five assists and Aiden McCarthy had six goals and six assists. The three of them are expected to shoulder the bulk of the load for Holyoke, a team that finished last season with a 6-12 record.