'Connected at the hip': Brockton's Grillone brothers cap lacrosse careers at St. Michael's

Goal-setting, goal-scoring and what's next for the St. Michael's College men's lacrosse team.

On their fishing trips throughout the Northeast, brothers Ralph and Rocky Grillone discuss it all.

But now, for the first time in eight years, the conversation surrounding the collegiate program's future will not include two Brockton natives and Cardinal Spellman High alums.

Only what could've been, had their careers coincided.

“I don’t know if I could deal with that many Grillone’s at once. It would’ve created some sort of rip in the space-time continuum," St. Michael's head coach Alex Smith said with a laugh. "I think only one at a time was allowed and I was very happy with that.”

Rocky Grillone entered the program as Ralph, now 26 years old, departed it after the pandemic cut his senior season short three games into the 2020 campaign. Ralph Grillone III, a 5-3 attacker, concluded his college career with 89 career points and Rocky, a 5-4 defender, graduates this weekend just two caused turnovers shy of the school record (78).

“We always talk about how it would feel to play on the same team," Rocky Grillone said.

Ralph Grillone III and his father built Cardinal Spellman's boys lacrosse program from the ground up when it hopped to the varsity level in Grillone III's sophomore season in 2014. The 2016 Spellman grad ended with 326 career points in three years. On he went to college, and Rocky Grillone was a freshman ready to grab the torch of the high school team.

The same thing happened years later at St. Michael's.

Ralph Grillone III came aboard in 2017, a "transitional" time for the program and the Knights secured just two wins in his freshman season.

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Smith was appointed head coach two years later and Grillone III had a career junior season -- 35 goals (good for ninth all-time in school history), three of which came on a short-handed rush (school record) and a total of seven hat tricks.

The team increased its win total every season until Rocky's senior year this spring when St. Michael's went 9-5, qualified for the postseason for the first time in over a decade and finished with a loss to Bentley in the NE10 championship game.

“For us to turn our program around, in large part to the Grillone’s and what they bring to the table, I think both can be very proud of the legacies they left here," Smith said.

Smith said the brothers' energy helped legitimatize the program's culture and establish an "expectation of success" in their eight combined seasons.

That spirit, Smith says, will carry over to future teams at St. Michael's after Rocky Grillone's 15-man senior class walks the stage at graduation. It will also live on during the Grillones' fishing trips to New York (Long Island), Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia and New Hampshire, though the Cape Cod Canal is one of their favorite local salt-water spots.

“We’re literally connected at the hip as soon as he gets back from school," Ralph Grillone III said. “If I catch a good fish, he’s got a little sour taste in his mouth and he doesn’t want to leave that night until he gets a good fish. And it’s the same with me.”

The brothers consider these trips to be competitive -- "We compete with ourselves," Ralph Grillone III said -- and they walk down memory lane of playing linebacker under former Cardinal Spellman football coach Ron St. George and donning the same jersey number in lacrosse (No. 1 at St. Michael's; No. 5 at Spellman).

“When I got to college, I picked No. 1 to keep that Grillone generation going," Rocky Grillone said. “Every time I’m playing, I always look down at my number and know that my brother was here before and now I’m here. Now, it’s my time.”

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Though Ralph Grillone III chuckled when admitting he forced his younger brother to wear his old number, it didn't take much convincing.

"He’s someone I always looked up to — for life, academics, lacrosse," Rocky Grillone said.

Smith noted the recruiting process for Rocky was particularly smooth, saying "he was basically already part of the team before he ever committed" because he would often commute to watch Ralph's games and spend time around the group.

If only he was allowed to suit up.

“I feel like it would’ve been electric," Rocky Grillone said of the idea. "We would’ve bonded even more. We would’ve been on different halves of the field in different roles.”

“They definitely have a ton of similarities in how they play the game," Smith said. "They were very hard-nosed, tough kids you’d want on your team.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Brockton's Grillone brothers graduate as St. Michael's lacrosse greats