The best boys tennis team Kevin McConville’s overseen since he began coaching at East Hampton High School five years ago is about to enter the postseason this weekend in the conference individual tournament, with the county team tournament to follow next week.
Thanks to a recent 4-3 nonleague win here over perennially-strong Half Hollow Hills East, McConville said Monday that he expected the Bonackers will be seeded third in the county team tourney, with Commack and Ward Melville vying for the top seed, though the seeding meeting had yet to be held. Harborfields, he said, probably would be the fifth seed.
It was owing to Kiefer Mitchell’s strong showing at third singles that East Hampton was able to prevail over Hills East here on May 1, presumably giving the team a big leg up in the county team tournament seeding. A flat-hitting baseliner who can move well, the East Hampton sophomore, with all eyes on him, prevailed 7-5 in a three-set thriller over Hills East’s Lohit Madisetty, coming back from 4-5, 15-40.
Later in the week, during a practice session, Mitchell said he didn’t remember who had been serving in the 10th game. Suffice it to say that he won it, after which he reeled off two more games for the exciting victory.
McConville said there was no one he’d rather see in that kind of situation than Mitchell, who, he said, was “unflappable . . . he’s very good under pressure.” When Mitchell asked him after losing the second set if his was the deciding match, McConville, who “wouldn’t say that to most of my other kids,” said that it was.
Mitchell is not a cat-and-mouse player. He hits with pace from both sides, though he tries not to overdo. The match with Madisetty, he said, had almost been like playing himself, though he added that his opponent appeared to be more nervous than he.
Other winners for East Hampton that day were Nick Cooper at second singles, Henry Cooper at fourth singles, and the second doubles team of Armando Rangel and Miguel Garcia. Max Astilean lost at first singles, Jagger Cohen and Cameron Mitchell lost at first doubles, and Chris Pilarski and Jesse Cohen lost at third doubles.
As of Monday, East Hampton was undefeated in its league, with a regular-season-ending match yet to play at Center Moriches Tuesday.
In an email last Thursday, McConville said, “It looks like Max will again be the fourth seed in the county individual tournament, as he was last year. . . . Nick finished undefeated at first and second singles, and the sensational freshman duo of Jagger and Henry finished unbeaten in doubles. I love their chances in the individual tournaments.”
In other East Hampton High sports action, the softball team improved its playoff chances by defeating Eastport-South Manor 12-7 here last Thursday, a game in which Colleen McKee, a ninth grader, went 4-for-5, one of her hits being a triple, and scored two runs. Caroline DiSunno, who started
on the mound, went 2-for-2 at the plate, as did her younger sister, Susie DiSunno, the catcher, and Katie Kuneth, who pitched the final four innings, went 3-for-3 with four runs scored.
The girls lacrosse team won its third game of the season, defeating Port Jefferson 10-8 here on May 3. Melina Sarlo, who is to play at Hofstra in the fall, following in the footsteps of Jenna Budd and Amanda Seekamp, scored four goals and had an assist. Ava Tintle scored three goals and had one assist. Emma McGrory dominated the draws, and Sadie Campsey, the goalie, was credited with three saves.
Sarlo, who has received a lot of attention from opposing defenders, often being double-teamed, was reportedly as of Monday the county’s 13th leading scorer, with 38 goals, and was ranked 18th countywide in total points, with 53. Tintle, a sophomore, had as of Monday scored 22 goals and had 15 assists, the same number as Sarlo, her teammate on the West Babylon-based club team, the Long Island Top Guns.