ON THE COURT, PANTHERS’ STRUGGLES CONTINUE, HUDSON EARNS FIRST WIN

Greg Dedrick
ccSCOOP Sports Editor

04-21-09 - The Chatham Panthers boys’ tennis team’s struggles on the court this season continued last week during the annual high school spring break. The Panthers traveled to Catskill on Wednesday before hosting winless Hudson on Thursday. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they fell 5-2 on the road to the Cats before falling 4-3 to Hudson, giving the Bluehawks their first win of the year.

Against Catskill, the Panthers were only able to pull out two wins, one singles match and one doubles. Their number two singles player, Kevin Meyers, won a hard-fought match over Mike Martone 6-4, 6-0. Chatham’s number two doubles team of Andrew Willett and Steve Darling knocked off James Maloney and Logan Weiss 6-4, 6-0.

The Panthers nearly took another victory in a thrilling three-set battle in the fourth-rated singles match. Chatham’s Kevin Pratt took the opening set against Levi Fiske 6-4 but Fiske took the final two sets 6-2, 6-2 to earn the victory.

Against Hudson, the Panthers swept the top two singles matches and again earned a win with the second doubles match but watched as Hudson took the final three-seeded singles matches and also the top doubles to earn the win. Chatham’s Connor Cockroft beat Krystov Fout in a tightly contested matchup 6-4, 6-2, while Meyers again earned a win for the Panthers by knocking off Ryan Martin 6-1, 6-2.

After those two Chatham wins, the Bluehawks swept the back end of the singles matches. In the third-seeded singles match, Hudson’s Hector Chavez topped Ethan Grossman 6-4, 6-3. David Wrigley then notched another win for Hudson as he beat Chase Smith in another close contest, 6-4, 6-3. In the fifth-seeded singles match, Mark D’Onofrio beat Macpherson Kilmer 6-0, 6-1.

In the top doubles match, Hudson’s Bret Dauski and Pat Ohlerich knocked off Vincent Oram and Austin Klein 6-2, 7-5. In the second-seeded doubles contest, Chatham’s Andrew Willet and Steve Darling picked up their second win in as many matches as they beat Brandon Mabb and Joey Mabb 6-1, 6-2.

Chatham returns to action this week with four games in just five days. On Monday they travel to Cairo-Durham before hosting Maple Hill on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, the Panthers will make the trek to Taconic Hills and Greenville.

The Bluehawks look to keep their momentum going after earning their first win when they travel to Catskill on Monday. On Tuesday, Hudson travels to Coxsackie-Athens before hosting Cairo-Durham on Wednesday and then heading to Maple Hill on Thursday.