The Cranston West golf team won its league opener on Monday afternoon when it topped Pilgrim and Coventry at Cranston Country Club. West finished with a team score of 160 while Pilgrim shot 174 and Coventry 175.

Jack Marques led the Falcons with a team-low 36 while Shawn Cadieux shot 40. Joe Corso finished at 42 as well as Peter Vachon to round out the top four. Michael DeCesare shot a 46 and Eric Whitlock a 52.

The Falcons have been rebuilding the past two seasons and look poised to be a contender this spring in the Division I race. Between returning much of last year’s lineup and putting a larger focus on competing in preseason tournaments, West has already made an impression on the rest of the league as it has gone toe to toe with East Greenwich and Bishop Hendricken in scrimmages to go along with the opening day win.

“Most of them play recreationally but the problem with that is that you don’t get that tournament pressure, so I’ve tried to push them in that direction and it seems to be working a bit. We were pretty successful in our exhibitions and I want these kids to believe, we aren’t backing down to these other teams any more,” said West coach Steve Hallas.

Corso returns and brings a veteran presence to the lineup while Cadieux is also looking poised for a breakout spring. Perhaps the team’s top golfer to this point has been Marques, who as a freshman, has been consistently atop the leaderboards including shooting a 38 against EG.

“(Corso) is improving every day. We’re loaded with talent. Joe has been one of our best players the last three years and he’s probably the longest hitter we’ve seen. Him and Shawn, they probably have the best raw talent I’ve seen since coaching here. Our freshman Jack has also been great,” said Hallas.

The Falcons won their scrimmage against EG which proved to be a confidence boost for the players as they tee off the league year. With a big meeting with Hendricken on tap this Thursday, Hallas hopes his team makes a statement in the coming days.

“That was a big step forward and I started to see a change. They started changing the way they practiced and they’re starting to see that if we put the work in, then we’re going to do it. They know they’re right there,” said Hallas. “Historically, they’ve gone into these big matches and have lost. They have a chip now. They realize that we have gotten better and we can be one of the better teams in the division.”