WINCHENDON, Mass. -- Since John Toffey arrived at Winchendon School in 2019, he has built the prep program into a college development system. Since 2019, nearly 85 players have gone to the next level. That does not include the 13 current team members who are committed this year.
They include 2027s Sladen Johnson (Northeastern), Ryan Wirtz (Quinnipiac), Antonio Rivera (Fordham), Hunter Schultz (Merrimack), Lucas Tanous (Dayton), Cole Miceli (St. Anselm), Tommy Lane (Franklin Pierce), Andrew Reid (Tufts), Arthur Smithwick (Babson), Grady Ventura (Salve Regina), Jack Brown (Curry), and John Wallingford (Gettysburg). Junior Beau Olivieri is committed to St. John's.
"Helping kids get to the next level is what I enjoy most,'' said Toffey. "I am very passionate about that. The wins and championships we have had are great, but what I enjoy is helping our kids get to the college level and hopefully finding success.
"We look back on that initial season in 2019 when we won the New England Small School championship, and that team had 10 kids who went on to play collegiately," Toffey continued. "One of them (Nate Espelin) was a draft pick by the New York Yankees but opted to play collegiately. We had another two (Jake Gigliotti and Will Fosberg) who had successful careers at Northeastern. That definitely got things rolling for us.''
