Seabury tennis upends Lions

Lawrence High junior Thomas Irick smacks a forehand against Bishop Seabury on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at LHS.

Lawrence High freshman Elliott Abromeit returns a shot during a doubles match on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at LHS.

Bishop Seabury's Joe Simpson eyes a shot in a doubles match on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at Lawrence High.

Bishop Seabury senior Austin Sweeney makes a return against LHS on Thursday, March 28, 2013, at Lawrence High.

Bishop Seabury Academy’s boys tennis team capitalized on a chance to knock off one of the city’s large-class public schools Thursday afternoon at Lawrence High, where the Class 2A Seahawks won a dual, 5-4, against the 6A Lions.

“It’s very exciting,” Seabury coach John Richey said. “I think the strength of our group is, we have really great depth. Lawrence High has some really strong players at the top of their lineup, and we are probably closer to each other’s ability all the way through the top six (in singles).”

LHS junior Thomas Irick, the Lions’ No. 1 singles player, defeated Joe Simpson, 6-0, but Seabury won four of the other five singles matches. Austin Sweeney, Martin Sicilian, Thomas Bach and Noah Yoshida all beat out their Lawrence counterparts. Freshman Elliott Abromeit, No. 6 in singles, was the only Lion other than Irick to win.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got a lot of new players playing varsity,” LHS coach Chris Marshall said, noting Irick is the only tested varsity member. “For a lot of them, this is a completely new experience, and unfortunately we have not had much time on the courts.”

Lawrence’s other two victories in the dual came in doubles. Irick and Abromeit disposed of Sicilian and Jared Lange, 8-1, at No. 1 doubles. And at No. 2 doubles, Christoph Brandt and Kley Bolivar won, 8-4, against Sweeney and Simpson. Seahawks Bach and Yoshida won the other doubles match.

A sophomore who lost in No. 3 singles and won in No. 2 doubles, Bolivar said there were a lot of ups and downs in the dual.

“We’ve got to keep working on our strokes,” Bolivar said, “and make sure our angles are correct.”

Weather issues of late, Marshall said, have left the young LHS team with little time to talk strategy.

“It’s just a matter of taking this experience,” he said, “and learning from it. I think we could’ve played a lot better.”

Bishop Seabury 5, Lawrence 4

Singles

No. 1 — Thomas Irick, LHS, def. Joe Simpson, BSA, 6-0

No. 2 — Austin Sweeney, BSA, def. Christoph Brandt, LHS, 8-6

No. 3 — Martin Sicilian, BSA, def. Kley Bolivar, LHS, 6-3

No. 4 — Thomas Bach, BSA, def. Tim Thongone, LHS, 6-2

No. 5 — Noah Yoshida, BSA, def. Adam Eudaly, LHS, 6-1

No. 6 — Elliott Abromeit, LHS, def. Jared Lange, BSA, 6-1

Doubles

No. 1 — Irick-Abromeit, LHS, def. Sicilian-Lange, BSA, 8-1

No. 2 — Brandt-Bolivar, LHS, def. Sweeney-Simpson, BSA, 8-4

No. 3 — Bach-Yoshida, BSA, def. Thongone-Eudaly, LHS, 8-1

Lawrence JV 9, Seabury 3

Singles

No. 1 — Panyin Boye-Doe, LHS, def. Thomas Silverstri, BSA, 6-4

No. 2 — Johnathon Kinder, LHS, def. Daniel Amieva, BSA, 6-5 (7-3)

No. 3 — Carter Claxton, BSA, def. Nate Tracy, LHS, 6-4

No. 4 — Austin Butell, LHS, def. Justin Zhang, BSA, 6-4

No. 5 — James Sang, LHS, def. Austin Dominguez, BSA, 6-3

No. 6 — Kai Blosser, LHS, def. Glen Lemmon, BSA, 6-2

No. 7 — Steven Rel, LHS, def. Lemmon, BSA, 6-4

No. 8 — Morgan Sisson, LHS, def. Sadra Gerami, BSA, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1 — Silverstri-Amieva, BSA, def. Boye-Doe-Tracy, LHS, 8-2

No. 2 — Kinder-Butell, LHS, def. Jamin Yoon-Zhang, BSA, 8-1

No. 3 — Dominguez-Michel Kressing, BSA, def. Andrew Dominguez-Alex Moriarty, LHS, 8-1

No. 4 — Kade Bassett-Caleb Downs, LHS, def. Claxton-Harry Dumesich, BSA, 8-7