By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
For Tom Monfiletto and Brian Dudeck, the transition from assistant coach to head coach was a smoother one than most., Both new head baseball coaches have been solidly entrenched in their programs., Monfiletto takes over as the new head coach at The Hun School, replacing veteran Bill McQuade who led the Raiders’ program for 46 years. A 2004 Hun graduate, Monfiletto has been as assistant in the program for the last four years after having played for the Raiders., Dudeck takes over as the head coach at Princeton Day School after spending the last seven seasons as an assistant coach to Ray O’Brien., Monfiletto knew early into last season that he would be taking over this year for his former coach., “It was announced last year to the team in April, so the kids knew and that was when I started to kind of devise how I wanted to take over,” Monfiletto said. “It was cool to have that kind of a grace period. And then to finish last season the way we did, winning four straight in the double elimination states after losing our first game to send Coach out on a perfect note. It was great.”, Monfiletto knows the model McQuade put together for nearly five decades at Hun works. So he isn’t looking to reinvent the wheel as he takes over at his alma mater., “We held a meeting before we left for the summer and went over the expectations and the direction we wanted to take the program,” said Monfiletto, whose team was scheduled to open the season against Lawrenceville on Thursday. “I remember one of the things I stressed was I wanted them to really care about one another and about the whole program. We do a lot of activities with the varsity and JV together. It has worked for 46 years. Coach McQuade laid an incredible foundation. It’s not a situation where I have to clean up a messy room., “The biggest impact the program had on me was the friendships I made while playing. Coach McQuade allowed these friendships and bonds to take place and we continue to emphasize that with our camp in the summer with alumni from different generations.”, Monfiletto will rely on many of the same staff members that helped McQuade enjoy success at Hun., “Coach (Pat) Jones has been here 15 years,” Monfiletto said. “Coach (Rich) Volz has been the JV coach for a number of years. Everyone provides input and contributes. Ryan Stokes is a Hun alum and so is Steve Garrison, who is our pitching coach and defensive coordinator. He has been amazing.”, At PDS, Dudeck steps up from the JV ranks to take over as the head coach. He knows the roster well and is excited about the opportunity., “I coached with Ray for seven years,” Dudeck said. “A lot of the kids I have I coached, whether in travel or as far back as Nottingham Little League. So I am pretty familiar with the kids I have., “It is a lot of fun to be in charge and do everything you want to do as far as the things I want to see in the program. One thing I want to do is make sure we are more of a program than separate teams. I want us to develop the kids on the lower levels at both the JV and the middle school.”, To do that, Dudeck has the Panthers working together in practice quite a bit so the whole program is on the same page., “In practices we had all the kids do everything,” Dudeck said. “We want the lower level kids to do the same things the varsity kids are doing so they know when they get to the varsity level the drills and different things we are trying to do.”, Dudeck brings a wealth of coaching experience to the program. He’s coached several sports, including a stint as the varsity soccer coach at Ewing, where Dudeck is a teacher. He plans to lean on that experience this season with the Panthers., “Baseball wise, a big part is being more of a program and implementing certain drills,” Dudeck said. “Everything down to the signs at all three levels so the kids have a good idea as they come to the varsity. We want them to know the bunt coverages and pickoffs and first and third situations so it is an easy transition.”, PDS has enjoyed success in the past and Dudeck hopes that continues., “We have had some good ones come through here,” he said. “This year I wanted to make sure I had an opportunity to coach these kids. A lot of these kids are kids that I have coached pretty much their whole life. I’ve coaches some in Little League. It’s nice that they have some continuity this year., “We had five scrimmages down in Florida and we won four. Some of the teams were very good. Our pitching has been good. Our hitting is a little behind right now. But that is pretty much normal in preseason.”, The Panthers opened their season on Thursday with a 6-5 win over Conwell Egan. Luke Franzoni had two hits and drove in three runs, while Paul Franzoni had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
