It’s always tough to say goodbye to coaches with tenure.
But come next school year, Pentucket will be excited to welcome in two “new kids” to the block.
The major change will start during the fall season, as the school recently announced that Rachel Thornton will be taking over the field hockey program. Then during the winter, the Panthers will welcome Tim Kelly to the sidelines as the new varsity boys basketball coach.
It will be a true changing of the guard.
Of course, Thornton will be replacing a legendary figure in Ruth Beaton, who led the program for 31 sucessful seasons. A beloved Psychology teacher at the school, Beaton’s hard work has transformed Pentucket field hockey into both a perennial league and statewide contender. She took over a struggling program in the mid-90s that only won one game over her first four seasons at the helm. But now at the end of the run, she leaves with a 212-260-99 record, which includes going 78-50-18 with the program’s first ever CAL Kinney title (2021) over the last eight years.
After that 2021 season, when Pentucket went 19-2-1 and made it to the Division 3 state semifinals, Beaton was named the United States Coach of the Year by the popular field hockey website: TopOfTheCircle.com. Later that year, she was also inducted into the New Agenda-Northeast Hall of Fame, which honors women who have committed themselves to girls and women in sports across the six New England states.
At the conclusion of this past 2024 fall season, Beaton announced that it was her last coaching Pentucket field hockey.
“I would like to thank Coach Beaton for her amazing 30-plus-year coaching career of the field hockey team,” said Pentucket athletic director Jon Amico. “She exemplified sportsmanship and integrity, and was a tremendous role model for every young female athlete that she coached.
You don’t necessarily “replace” a coach like Beaton.
But the school is excited to have Thornton take over and lead the next great crop of Pentucket field hockey players. Thornton was Beaton’s top varsity assistant coach over the past two seasons, and prior to that was the head coach at Elms College for three years. And this has all followed Thornton’s own Division I collegiate playing career at Holy Cross, where she was a team captain her senior year.
Pentucket said goodbye to a talented senior class this past season, which included three Daily News All-Stars. But Thornton will still have plenty of returning athletes to make it a seamless transition, with names like goalie Hannah Bub, and midfielders/attacks Morgan Gallant, Elle Pierce, Cassidy Roche and Haylie Gagnon all set to return.
“Rachel is more than ready to be the next head coach,” said Amico. “She brings a high IQ and great energy to the sidelines. Ruth gave a full endorsement of support to hand the torch over to Rachel, and I know she’ll do a great job continuing the great tradition of Pentucket field hockey.”
Meanwhile, when the winter finally arrives, Kelly will be replacing another longtime coach in Ed Hickey. A math teacher and department head at Pentucket, Hickey led the boys basketball program for 12 seasons and finished with a 125-134 record. He was named the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches Association’s Coach of the Year following the 2014-15 season, when he led Pentucket to the Division 3 state semifinals at TD Garden. That remains the farthest any Pentucket boys hoop team has gone in the state tournament, and that squad was led by none other than current Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth — then just a freshman.
For Kelly, his last three seasons have been spent as a varsity assistant coach in both the Cape Ann League and Middlesex League. He is also an AAU coach for Rivals Elite Basketball, and prior to his coaching career he served five years in the Army. The Panthers lose their top-3 scorers from this past year to graduation, but Kelly will have some returning talent to work with between Gavin Jalbert (4.5 ppg), Chase Dowling (3.6 ppg), Michael Torrisi (3.3 ppg, 7 3s), Nate Stys and Tedy Cloutier.
“Tim will bring passion, discipline and constant dedication to the boys basketball program,” said Amico. “I would also like to thank Coach Ed Hickey for his 10-plus years coaching the program, and wish him success in his next chapter.”