5 Photos
Hampton Bays student-athletes, from left, Tara Brochu (SUNY Geneseo-softball), Darwin Fernandez (Hartford-track and field) and Cassidy Moore (SUNY Oneonta-lacrosse).
Tara Brochu with her parents, Paul and Tara, signing her letter of intent to play softball at SUNY Geneseo on June 1.
Cassidy Moore, with her parents, Vinny and Dawn, signing her letter of intent to play lacrosse at SUNY Oneonta. DREW BUDD
From left, Vinny, Cassidy, Dawn and Jamie Moore. Cassidy Moore signed her letter of intent to play lacrosse at SUNY Oneonta on June 1. DREW BUDD
Darwin Fernandez, with his parents, Darwin and Cynthia Deras, after signing his letter of intent to run track at the University of Hartford. DREW BUDD
Athletic Director Drew Walker and the rest of the Hampton Bays School District celebrated three student-athletes: Tara Brochu, Darwin Fernandez and Cassidy Moore, who all signed their letters of intent to continue their athletic careers in college on June 1.
Brochu will be attending SUNY Geneseo, where she’ll be playing softball; Fernandez will compete on the men’s track and field team at Division I University of Hartford; and Moore will be playing lacrosse at SUNY Oneonta.
Hampton Bays head coach Rich Doulos called up Brochu as an eighth-grader for his team’s postseason run more than four years ago, and ever since then she’s been a stalwart in the Baymen lineup. Brochu had her best season in 2019 as a sophomore, when she earned Sixth Team All-State Class B honors along with being an All-County and All-Division player. She was also the team’s MVP that season.
Brochu was also an All-Division field hockey player and was that team’s MVP in 2019, but softball has been her main sport her entire life and she said she’s excited to continue her playing career.
“I feel like I’ve found a new home,” she said of Geneseo. “The town looks just like a mix of Hampton Bays and Southampton, and it’s just going to be a whole new home and I’m so excited.”
A Long Island Express travel softball player, Brochu has been playing all over the diamond this spring as a senior for the Baymen. “I just like to go where I’m needed,” she said, noting that, however, she’ll play catcher at Geneseo.
“It went really fast,” she said of her high school varsity career. “It was so great to be able to play softball with all of the different girls. As a freshman, I was very encouraged and supported. I was very nervous to play with all of the seniors. But, immediately, I was just so welcomed, and I’ve been trying to keep that my senior year, to make sure all of the underclassmen feel welcomed and supportive as well.”
It’s been a rebuilding season for Baymen softball, but Brochu said she’s been “trying to stay positive through this whole pandemic, too. I just think that’s the best way to get through this season.”
Based off of a recommendation by a teacher when he was in the seventh grade, Fernandez, who had only played soccer competitively up until that point, tried his hand at track and field. Six years later, Fernandez has landed himself a spot on Division I track and field program at Hartford.
Fernandez thanked the number of coaches in his time at Hampton Bays — from current varsity track head coach Andrew Arbocus, to former coaches Dave Goodman and Diane Devon, to assistant coaches Virgil Romer and Nick Berglin — for all helping him along the way.
“Amazing, to be honest,” he said of his thoughts about reaching Hartford. “I don’t think I would be where I’m at right now without any of my coaches because they always helped me every single day to improve. They would always talk to me before meets, after meets, so I think without the coaches — the whole school, to have this support system — I don’t think I’d be where I’m at. It just went by so fast, that’s the only bad thing.”
And it was the coaching staff at Hartford that sealed the deal for Fernandez in choosing to become a Hawk, he said. Having been in contact with the staff there since his sophomore season, Fernandez said coach Daniel Johnson always had little tips and tricks for him, and while there were a few other schools interested in him, it was the relationship built with the Hartford staff that made him feel comfortable going there.
“When it came to the decision, I think that closeness with the coaches and seeing the team and how its developed, I think it was a pretty easy choice for me,” he said. “I felt at home there and felt it was a good place for me to be at. The most important thing, if I’m going to spend four years at a DI college and have all of the time dedicated to the program, I think I would have to have that connection with the coach, and that’s what kind of gave them the leap over any other college, to be honest.
“I’m very excited to be there and take it to the next level.”
A three-sport athlete, having competed in both indoor and outdoor track during the winter and spring seasons, along with soccer in the fall, Fernandez had taken this past fall season off from soccer to focus on and prepare for his track seasons.
Fernandez was Small School Champion in the 400-meter dash and qualified for the New York State Championships back in 2019. He was also a part of the 4x100-meter relay team that season that set the current school record at 44.41 seconds.
With the spring postseason starting this week, Fernandez said his goal is to become All-County, if not county champion, in whatever events he ends up competing in, which he said could be the 100-, 200- or 400-meter dashes and long jump.
Arguably one one of the most talented female athletes to come through the district in some time, Moore was a four-sport varsity letter winner, having played volleyball, indoor track, soccer and lacrosse throughout her four years in high school. While the numbers are still being tallied, Moore leaves Hampton Bays as one of its best girls lacrosse players ever, being a prolific scorer on offense. Her athletic ability was on display this past March and April, when she decided to play soccer for the first time in years. She went ahead and led the team in goals and earned All-League honors.
Moore, who has been an All-County Honorable Mention the past three varsity lacrosse seasons, said she was sad she missed out on her junior year due to the pandemic, then she wasn’t able to finish her final season of lacrosse this spring after she injured a joint in one of her fingers while playing kickball during gym class a few weeks ago, which speaks to her competitiveness. But, overall, she’s been happy with how her high school career went.
“I definitely learned a lot about lacrosse,” she said. “I learned to check at a young age, playing against bigger, stronger people who some were already committed to college. But this season I got to play with my sister and I was teaching her and all of the my teammates all of the things I had learned. Playing on a travel team was definitely a good experience, too. I wish I could have played my senior game, but I’m really excited to play in college with a higher level of players who really want to be there and play lacrosse as their main sport before I have to get a job and grow up.”
