To reach the win column for the first time in 2012, the Cazenovia boys tennis team needed some late heroics on the doubles side.
Sure enough, James Duffy and Joe Romagnoli delivered in the clutch, and it made the difference for the Lakers in last Monday’s 3-2 victory over Homer.
Over in singles play, Lee Cudney had already put away Jorge Martinez 6-1, 6-1, while Sam Concilla earned a 6-0, 6-4 win over Bob Chambrone.
But John Lyga lost to Patrick Kiernen 6-3, 6-3, and the doubles team of Eli Lagorga and Brandon Swartz had fallen to Ian Heath and Matt Schrader 7-5, 6-1, evening the match.
So it was up to Duffy and Romagnoli, who lost the first set to Chia Hao Chang and Allen Perry and were pushed to a second-set tie-breaker. On the brink of defeat, the Cazenovia pair won that tie-breaker and saw that momentum carry over into the third set of a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory.
None of that drama was required on Friday, against Westhill, where the Lakers put together a 4-1 victory over the Warriors.
Cudney, beating Dan Haynes 6-1, 6-2, started the singles effort as Concilla toppled Sean DeKay 6-2, 6-4 and Noah Zinsmeister stepped up to beat Jake Kinsella 7-6, 6-4.
Lyga, teaming with Pat Marris in doubles, got a 7-5, 6-4 win over Dan Chang and Brian McMullen. Duffy and Romagnoli led early, but could not hold on to it, falling to Fletcher Chapin and Ryan O’Connell 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.
This sets up a big week for the Lakers, bookended by key league matches against top contenders Skaneateles and CBA, with Marcellus in between.
