The cold and wind were no match for East Hampton’s boys tennis team, which won its first home competition against Riverhead, 6-1, on March 23. Even the match Bonac lost was a close one.
“At doubles four, Evan [Schaefer] and Justin [Arias] lost in a very close super tiebreak, but it was their first time playing doubles together — and their first match — so they did very well,” Pablo Montesi, the head coach, said. “The rest of the matches were solid wins across the board, which was great to see. It was a great start to the season. We had a couple of very close matches, and coming through in those moments is a great boost of confidence for the team.”
At second doubles, Joseph Martinez-Garces and Lucas Centalonza, both seniors, split sets and pulled out a 12–10 win in the super tiebreak.
Alex Valentine, who is in middle school, stepped up to play third singles and secured a strong win, taking the second set in a tiebreak, 8–6. Chase Bohnsack, a freshman, won his match 6-2, 6-0.
Henry Cooper, a senior, dominated his match, winning 6-0, 6-0. “We were the better team here, but at the same time this is the first team we’ve played so we have to play more teams to get an accurate reading of where we’re at,” Cooper said. “I’m feeling pretty good. It’s always rough the first few weeks. It’s always 30 degrees and windy, but it only gets better, so I’m looking forward to later in the season when it starts to get really nice out and everyone is having fun.”
Griffin Beckmann, a senior, and his doubles partner, Harry Schultz, a freshman, won their match 6-1, 6-1. “This match definitely brought our spirits up. We’re off to a really positive start. The team is looking really unified this year. We’re definitely getting close, figuring things out and we look forward to a lot of future matches that end just like this one,” Beckmann said.
The wind was whipping during the first matches, but Beckmann said the Bonackers are used to it by now. “The wind is definitely the standout feature of our home courts. It takes a while to adapt to, but I think our playing styles have evolved to work around that. It’s sort of advantageous when we go to other courts and maybe they have a windy day. We’re sort of used to it already so it kind of plays to our favor.”
With a strong opening day and confidence in their growing team chemistry, the Bonac boys look forward to carrying their early momentum through the rest of the season. Their next home matches are against Eastport-South Manor on April 14.
