RallyNorth.net

Tue, Jun 02, 2009 03:30 PM @ Pinkerton

Team	Final
Exeter	6
Pinkerton	3

Astros finally cool off, fall to Exeter

Wednesday, June, 03 By Kyle Andreoni
Correspondent

MANCHESTER, N.H. — “We were a hot team coming in and we played well.”

That was the reaction of Pinkerton head coach John Pelkey after the 12-5 Astros lost, 6-3, to undefeated Exeter yesterday in the Class  L finals for boys tennis.

“We did not lose today, they beat us,” said Pelkey.

The Astros only took one match in singles at No. 2 with co-captain Sam Eaton beating Tucker Plimpton, 8-4.

“I came out confident,” said Eaton. “My serve was on and I could control my forehand.”

However Eaton’s win wasn’t enough.

“They have lots of depth and just came to play,” said Eaton.

The match was over after Exeter took the other five singles matches. Both coaches then played their backups for the three doubles matches.

“We expect to do well,” said Plimpton, the Blue Hawks captain.

“It feels great to be a champion,” said game one winner Jeff Lazerowich. “It’s a lot of weight lifted off our shoulders. We put in a lot of effort and it paid off today.”

Pinkerton came in winning its last two matches.

The Astros beat No. 3 Salem and No. 7 Concord to get to the finals.

The team felt they had a shot at taking down the impressive Blue Hawks.

“I felt really good the past two matches,” said co-captain Mark Mangini, who lost the first game to Lazerowich.
After Mangini won the first set Lazerowich, nicknamed “Lazer,” took control.

“He’s beaten me twice,” said Mangini. “My backhand was off and I double-faulted a couple of times which hurt my confidence a bit.”

Pelkey said that the day before Mangini came up to him and told him he was feeling ill and his throat was hurting.

Pelkey said that he was a morning decision. 

“I wouldn’t use it as an excuse, but he showed a lot today,” said Pelkey. “He’s a grinder.”

One of the best matches came when the other five singles were done. The crowd made its way over to the sixth court where Exeter’s Dan Driscoll just edged out Pinkerton’s Matt Romano in a 9-7 game.

Pelkey said Romano was terrific in front of the crowd.

“He’s been struggling a bit. I told him after his match, ‘You played the best match of your life and you played as well as any one, two or three.’”

The Astros look ahead to next year with optimism.

“I am very pleased with the level of play today. We are losing our one and six, but we feel really good about next year,” said Pelkey. “Sam (Eaton) will likely be our number one next year. He has a lot of game still to come.”

The team has made improvements this year. After a 9-5 regular season record last season, the Astros improved to 10-4.

Pelkey believes there is enough parity in the league that any team has the potential to win in any given year.

“The past three years there hasn’t been a repeat in the finals,” said Pelkey. “It’s fun, anyone can win right now.”