He had little to say about the honor.
When Lou Verrochi received the call three months ago that he was being inducted into the USA Lacrosse Massachusetts Hall of Fame, the Franklin High boys coach had no idea such an honor was coming.
“I was shocked, to tell you the truth,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
The founder of both of Franklin’s varsity programs in 1998 attended the Hall of Fame ceremony at Springfield College on Jan. 20. Other inductees included four Heffernan brothers from Needham (Roy, Mike, Steve and Brian) as well as the ‘94 Springfield College national championship team.
Verrochi has amassed 322 wins in his 26 seasons with the Panthers, including 14 league championships.
“It was pretty special,” he said of the ceremony. “There were a lot of quality people that got inducted and it was nice to be put in with that class.”
The humble coach listed the town’s youth program and the many area outfits – including Laxachusetts, Piatelli Lacrosse, Bryant College and Lacrosse 495 – as a key reason for Franklin’s sustained success.
“There’s just been a number of programs in and around the Franklin area that the kids have been able to go to and their improvement has just skyrocketed,” he said.
While Verrochi’s words were few concerning the honor, two of his former players had plenty to say – in separate texts – about their former coach.
The athletes who were named the Daily News Most Valuable Players for spring 2023.
Luke Davis and Jayden Consigli both graduated from Franklin High in 2023 and are two of the top three scorers – despite both missing their freshman seasons due to COVID-19 - in program history as well as All-Americans. Davis, No. 2 in career points with 384, began his Boston University career by starting at defensive midfield on Tuesday in a 14-10 win over St. Joseph’s, picking up four ground balls.
Davis said he “loved every minute” of the three years he played under Verrochi.
“Coach treated anyone with a Franklin jersey like family and we felt the same about him,” he said. “He made such a positive impact on my career and I am grateful to have been a part of Franklin lacrosse.”
Consigli, whose 328 points rank him third for Franklin, starts his college career at UMass-Lowell on Saturday against Holy Cross and said Verrochi was more than a coach to him.
“He was always very detailed and helpful when it came to lacrosse advice,” Consigli said. “He wasn’t only looking out for me as a player, but as family too. He was the type of guy I could always come to and be genuine with.”
Verrochi started lacrosse career at Dean College
Verrochi graduated from Walpole High and picked up lacrosse at Dean College. The sport was a course as part of his major (physical education) and he later joined the Dean team when members of the varsity, thinking he quickly adapted, asked him to try out.
When Dean scrimmaged Boston State College (now UMass-Boston), the opposing coach asked Verrochi if he was interested in playing for him. Verrochi not only played lacrosse and soccer at Boston State, he was on the wrestling team for a year as well.
He coached wrestling and soccer in addition to lacrosse. His first stint as soccer coach was at Tri-County Regional Vocational High and he later served as head coach at Bryant, Dean and Bridgewater State. He coached lacrosse at Bryant and Dean for 12 years before starting both the girls’ and boys’ programs at Franklin High.
Franklin's coaching veterans include Verrochi, Bositis, Trovato and Geysen
Verrochi is among many longtime coaches at Franklin. Fran Bositis has coached the boys’ soccer program for more than 50 years and the late Tom Geysen spent 55 years coaching multiple sports for the Panthers.Paul Trovato has coached track and cross country since 1984.
What makes Franklin and longevity a strong pair?
“Part of it is the love for the program and the sport and the shared love of the athletes,” Verrochi said. “The kids that played for Franny that loved him, you see them when they come back after they’ve been away from the program for 15, 20 years. Tommy was the same way with the girls’ program. I’ve had tremendous luck with my kids as well. I still keep in contact with a lot of them. They call me, I call them. It’s a two-way street. It’s been very enjoyable.”
His former players agree. When signing off on his text, Davis included this appropriate tag line:
‘Hall of Fame Legend!”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
