Boys tennis: Tam tops San Marin, advances to MCAL semifinals
No one, including perennial contender Tam High, is taking the San Marin boys tennis team for granted these days.
Although No. 5 Red-tailed Hawks visited the No. 4 Mustangs as the lower seed, Tam more than made up for an earlier loss to San Marin with a dominating 5-2 victory in the first round of the MCAL playoffs on Monday.
“We’re here and they’re seeded fourth because Tam and Branson and MC all figured they didn’t have to play everybody, and we got beat by them,” said Tam coach Russ Byrne. “They’re tough. They’ve got some good players.”
Tam (10-7) moves on to the semifinals, where they will play at top-seeded Redwood on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
The Mustangs (10-7) will continue their banner season in the North Coast Section tournament next month. Until this season, San Marin had not made the MCAL playoffs or NCS in 15 years,
“It’s incredible,” said San Marin athletic director Tyler Peterson. “It’s been a really fun year. The turnaround from this year compared to last year has been exciting to watch. It’s pretty cool.”
Tam got down to business immediately, clinching wins at No. 2 singles by Diego Castillo and No. 4 singles by Nate Schrauth in less than an hour. Castillo didn’t lose a game against Eli Hutchins and Schrauth actually wrapped up his match first with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Brayden Bowermaster.
With the Hawks ahead 3-1, they got the deciding victory at No. 3 doubles when freshmen Freddie Harris and Lorcan Keane pulled out a third-set tiebreaker to dispatch Alexander Christfort and Michael Reid 6-3, 3-6, 10-4.
Harris ripped a service winner for a 3-1 edge in the tiebreaker and Keane added two huge serves and angled off an overhead to push the Hawks ahead 8-3.
Byrne was very happy with the performance by his freshman duo and believes they could do some damage next week in the MCAL doubles tournament.
With the team result decided, all eyes shifted to the No. 1 singles match between Tam’s unbeaten senior Witt Bulger and the Mustangs’ Oliver Pool. The match served as a great warmup for Wednesday’s semifinals against Redwood as Bulger polished off Pool 6-0, 6-0.
Bulger was named the MCAL Most Valuable Player in 2023 as a sophomore but sat out last season due to a back injury. Headed to Colgate University, Bulger is expected to be the top seed for the MCAL singles tournament next week.
In a marquee showdown on Wednesday, Bulger will likely face Redwood’s Julian Zhang. Bulger beat Zhang twice this season.
“It’s been so much fun,” said Bulger of his return this season. “It’s been what I’d hoped for and more — on both the social side and the tennis side. I’ve played well in big matches, and also I’ve had so much fun being back out here with the guys on the team.”
Since Bulger sat out last season, he is particularly hyped to lead the Hawks against the Giants and the sophomore Zhang.
“I’m always excited to play Julian in that match,” said Bulger. “Getting exposed to players like that doesn’t come too often.”
The Mustangs’ wins under first-year co-coaches Birt Phejtraku and Glenn Almodova came at No. 1 doubles from Milo Reyes and Rowan Croft and No. 2 doubles by Tomas Prada and Paden Hou.
Around the county
Jack Millar and Milo Vidyarthi picked up wins at Nos. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, as No. 3 seed Marin Catholic advanced to the MCAL semifinals with a 6-1 win against Archie Williams.
Felix Adam and Toby Tobin also had wins for MC, which advances to face No. 2 seed Branson in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Stuart Pratt and Julian Scheidelman picked up the lone win for Archie Williams at No. 2 doubles.