By Christopher Tremblay

George Tolman was lacing up the hockey skates as soon as he could walk, and as far back as he can remember, he was playing wiffle ball in the back yard with his brother. As a senior at Norwood High School, he’s been playing both hockey and baseball, but don’t ask him to choose which is his favorite because he loves them both equally.

 It was around the age of nine when the Norwood native realized that he had a talent on the diamond. 

“When I made the All-Star team playing baseball in the summer for the Town of Norwood, I figured that I had a talent for the sport and was hoping that I could continue to play it on a higher level,” Tolman said.

Although he loved the sport, he soon found out that being left-handed would hinder the positions he was able to play.

“Being a lefty, I can’t really play the infield positions, so I gravitated toward the outfield, where I primarily play,” Tolman sad. “I also pitch once in a while.”

When Tolman arrived at Norwood High School, he found himself on the freshman baseball team during the spring of his first year and was hoping to get the chance to earn a spot on the varsity squad the following year. 

Unfortunately for Tolman and the rest of his teammates, there was no season the next year due to the Covid pandemic and the cancellations of athletic competitions. When the team finally was able to take to the baseball field once again, Tolman made the best of his tryout.

“Last year during the varsity tryouts I was really nervous seeing the older kids,” the Mustang outfielder said. “We hadn’t played baseball in a year and although I knew most of the older kids there, I had never actually played on a team with them. After the tryouts I knew that I could hang with most of them.”

Tolman found himself settled in centerfield for the majority of his junior campaign and remembers having a decent first year on the varsity team.

“We went 16-4 that year and eventually lost 11-7 to a very talented Franklin team in the third round of the tournament (Norwood had shutout both Marshfield and Brookline in the Division 1 Tournament before meeting up with the number one seed Panthers),” Tolman recalled. “I didn’t do anything spectacular during the tournament, but I do remember my first varsity homerun against Westwood. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”

Coming into his senior and final high school season, the Norwood centerfielder, who is also a captain on the team, is hoping to not only play well in the State Tournament but also encourage his teammates.

“This team has enough talent to make a serious run at the Championship,” Tolman said. “As a captain, I want to set a good example by working hard and taking extra reps so that the other players follow along and this will help us make that run.”

With the 2022 season halfway through at the time of this writing, Tolman is batting .500 and has already knocked two homeruns out of the park as the team’s leadoff hitter. While the senior was not at the top of Norwood’s batting lineup last year, he finds himself very comfortable in the role this season where he is looked upon to set the tone for the team by getting on base, anyway he can.

“George is a five-tool player who leads our team in average, homeruns, and runs scored,” Norwood Coach Kevin Igoe said. “He possess unreal athletic ability on defense and he also has the ability to pitch for us as well.”

The Norwood skipper also noted that Tolman is also a player that is tremendously liked by both his coaches and teammates on both the baseball and hockey team. 

“As great as he is athletically, he is an even better person,” Igoe said. “He’s the perfect role model for our program as well as the community.”

Tolman, who is headed to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to study Turf Management and one day become a superintendent of a golf course, was flattered by his coaches’ words.

“Being called a role model is an honor, especially coming from Coach Igoe as he’s someone that I look up to,” Tolman said. “He’s one of the best coaches I have ever had.”

When the Mustangs season comes to an end, hopefully with a championship, Tolman will continue to play baseball during the summer months with the Norwood Legion team because he loves the sport and being with his friends on the diamond.