By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
OCEAN CITY – Ocean City High School’s boys tennis team will “have to grow up quick,” according to coach Tim Kelley.
“We are very young and inexperienced,” the coach said, adding other teams are in the same boat because last spring’s season was canceled by COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The team has freshmen at first and third singles, sophomores at first doubles, a junior at second singles and a group of seniors in the mix at second doubles.
“It isn’t going to be easy, especially for the freshmen who are inexperienced and don’t have any tournament experience,” Kelley said. “We’ll see what happens. It will be trial by fire. We open at Mainland, a perennial powerhouse. We’ll see what the results are today and build upon it.”
The Red Raider boys felt what it was like going up agains the Mainland Mustangs last week, losing 5-0 in their season opener. However, they rebounded with 5-0 wins over Millville and Egg Harbor Township as the week went on.
Freshman Charles DiCicco is at first singles and only started playing tennis just over a year ago, according to his coach. “His sister played and he used to go out and play with her and he got the bug,” Kelley said. “He fell in love with (tennis). And he has really dedicated himself to it.”
At second singles is junior Kraig Redmond, who comes from a family of talented tennis players who have done well at OCHS in past years.
Third singles is freshman Jackson Barnes. “He fell in love with it, I guess as a seventh or eighth grader,” the coach said. “He’s been playing and training on his own and a couple of tournaments.
At first doubles are sophomores Sawyer Lomax and Charis Ganter. They started playing in seventh and eighth grades, enjoyed the sport, started taking lessons and fell in love with the game, Kelley said.
At second doubles are four guys who are tennis players and train outside of the season. They are Max Fisher, Evan Leeds, Nick Bell and Evan Cho.
Bell is a bit of a wild card, according to Kelley, because he came out late for tennis after finishing up his wrestling season. The three-sport athlete also plays football.
Kelley said he feels the team is fortunate because it has a lot of young players.
“We expect a lot going forward. Hopefully they finish the year strong regardless of the start and we keep building one match at a time,” he said.
After losing to Mainland Tuesday, April 20, the Red Raiders (2-1) posted the following wins:
Ocean City 5
Millville 0
1st Singles: Charles DiCicco, Ocean City, def. Jacob Lewis 6-2, 6-0
2nd Singles: Kraig Redmond, Ocean City, def. Andrew Crain 6-3, 6-4
3rd Singles: Jackson Barnes, Ocean City, def. Nicolas Meehan 6-1, 6-1
1st Doubles: Chris Ganter and Sawyer Lomax, Ocean City, def. Matt Sooy and Russell Corson 6-3, 6-3
2nd Doubles: Evan Leeds and Max Fisher, Ocean City, def. Ethan Hyson and Sebastien Blough, 6-0,-6-0
Ocean City 5
Egg Harbor Township 0
1st Singles: Charles DiCicco, Ocean City, def. Donovan Sullivan 6-2, 6-4
2nd Singles: Kraig Redmond, Ocean City, def. Joshua Guimapang 6-4, 6-2
3rd Singles: Jackson Barnes, Ocean City, def. Luis Geda 6-2, 6-2
1st Doubles: Chris Ganter and Sawyer Lomax, Ocean City, def. Benjamin Zhang and Eric Chen 6-3, 6-3
2nd Doubles: Max Fisher and Evan Leeds, Ocean City, def. Brian Zheng and James White 6-0, 6-0