With the resumption of school, now each of the area’s high school boys tennis teams would play in a series of matches against each other, determining the hierarchy of the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division.
And it was Baldwinsville getting the jump on its neighbors, starting with last Monday’s match against Cicero-North Syracuse where the Bees defeated the Northstars 6-1.
Even though C-NS was 2-0 going into the match, B’ville gained control when, in first singles, Antonio Marsallo pulled out a 7-5, 6-4 decision over James Corl.
Wyatt Dupell got the Northstars on the board, beating Leonardo Vona 6-3, 6-2, but the Bees countered with Eric Smith defeating Ryan Hill 6-3, 6-0.
All four doubles matches went in B’ville’s favor, including Max Funicello and Nick Licciardello beating Jonanthan Corl and Brandon Millias 6-3, 7-6 as Colin Savage and Clayton Speach turned those scores around, winning 7-6, 6-3 over Ethan Dupell and Will Janusz.
Phil Fiorentino and Connor Tutor put together a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Ryan Gallagher and Edwin Hirsh, with Hunter Dukat and Christian Treichler handling Josh Matyasik and Holden Sarosy 6-2, 6-0.
Two days later, it was B’ville facing Liverpool, who was off to its own 4-0 start, but the Bees ended the Warriors’ win streak, prevailing again by a 6-1 margin.
Were it not for Eli Barbour outlasting Vona 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, it may have turned into a shutout. In the other singles matches, Marsallo blanked Aaron Alejo 6-0, 6-0, with Smith topping Ben White 6-1, 6-0.
Amid a doubles shutout, Funicello and Licciardello got past Aiden Barbour and Adam Ritter 6-1, 7-5, with Fiorentino and Tutor earning a 6-0, 6-3 win over Brayden Cabrey and Jon Kline.
Savage and Speach paired up for a tough 6-4, 7-5 win over Owen Dann and Matt Kane, while Dukat and Treichler roared past Caleb Arnold and Shobhit Sharma 6-2, 6-1.
C-NS took on West Gensee that same day and lost, 5-2, to the Wildcats, with Wyatt Dupell, one game from defeat, rallying in singles to beat Noah Ruston 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 as James Corl fought past James Plunkett 7-6, 7-5.
But WG won all four doubles matches, only one of them going to three sets as Millias and Jonathan Corl had a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 loss to Stefan Atanasov and Ryan Joyce. Janusz and Ethan Dupell lost two sets to Dan Good and Jonathan Welles by equal 7-5 margins.
Liverpool had defeated Syracuse East 6-1 last Tuesday for its fourth win in a row. Alejo and Aiden Barbour both claimed 6-0, 6-2 singles decisions over, respectively, Hanh Duong and Devin Kha, with White blanking Matt Houck 6-0, 6-0.
Moving to doubles, Ritter and Eli Barbour lost in straight sets, but the teams of Cabrey-Kline, Arnold-Sharma and Dann-Kane each won in two sets.
