Golfing brothers sink more sporting awards

Date: 12/7/2010

Dec. 6, 2010

By Chris Maza

Reminder Assistant Editor

EAST LONGMEADOW -- The DiFranco brothers continue to rack up athletic accolades.

Craig and Kyle DiFranco, both of whom attend Springfield College and play both golf and hockey for the Pride, were honored for their excellence on the golf course during the 2010 season.

Craig, a senior and captain of the team the past two seasons, capped his collegiate golfing career by being selected to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) All-Conference First Team and the All-New England First Team.

He finished 16th among Division 3 golfers at the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association Championships at the Captains Course in Brewster.

"The experience has been great," he said. "We had a great team and I've had a lot of success in the last four years."

Part of that experience was playing beside his brother Kyle, who as a sophomore first-year member of the golf team, earned All-Conference Rookie of the Year honors and also was a NECC First Team selection.

"The campus has a real family atmosphere and I actually have a member of my family right on campus, so it's great," Craig said. "It was good to have him on the golf team and I like to think that I recruited him because I told him he'd better come out for the team this year."

Craig said having his brother on the team was a real benefit both to him and the team.

"We had a good team. Kyle was the No. 2 and we did better than we have in the past couple of years," he said.

The DiFrancos have a long history of athletic achievement. The elder DiFranco was a three-year captain of the East Longmeadow High School golf team, earning All-Scholastic honors three straight seasons. In his senior season, the golf team finished third in the state tournament.

In baseball, as the team captain, he led the Spartans to the 2007 Western Massachusetts championship. In 2006, with his brother catching, he pitched a one-hitter to clinch East Long-meadow's first league baseball championship in 20 years. He was also captain of East Longmeadow's first ice hockey team to reach the Western Massachusetts finals his senior year.

Kyle was an All-Scholastic selection as the golf team's captain after his senior season at East Longmeadow. Along with that honor, he was a three-time All-Scholastic hockey player and also won the Bessone Trophy as a senior, awarded to the most valuable hockey player in Western Massachusetts.

He also was a two-time All-Scholastic baseball player who was part of four league championships. He was a part of teams that made it to the Western Massachusetts championship game twice.

Both brothers are studying applied exercise science at Springfield College.

According to Kyle, the decision to attend Springfield College after his graduation from East Longmeadow High School in 2009 was a no-brainer.

"My dad went to Springfield for his Masters and my brother went here," Kyle said. "We're the same major and play basically all the same sports. I love it here and I'm really happy with my choice."

While Craig plays two sports, Kyle is a three-sport athlete, also playing baseball. He did not golf during his freshman year because baseball tryouts also take place in the fall.

While playing two or three sports at a high level, the brothers admit it's a challenge balancing athletics and schoolwork.

"We're both in one of the toughest majors and it's tough," Kyle said. "It's all about time management."

When asked which was the better golfer, Craig replied, "I'm better, at least at golf. The rest of the sports, I don't know if I can say that, but I'm the better golfer."