Mariners sweep Co-op
NARRAGANSETT — The rebuilding Shea/Tolman Co-op tennis team fell to undefeated Narragansett Wednesday afternoon, 7-0. Through the machinations of RIIL alignment formulas, the Mariners moved down to Division III, and so far they have only lost a single match.
“We dropped down a division,” Mariner head coach Gary Gorman said. “I believe we should still be in Division II, but for whatever reason, for logistics, they pushed us down, and we’ve been winning. We were holding our own last year in DII.”
“Everything is new,” Gorman added. “I don’t know anything about the teams; we just see them as we play them.”
At No. 1 singles, Mariner senior Andrew Kitson beat sophomore Alec Goldberg, 6-0, 6-1. At No. 2 singles, sophomore Benjamin Farman defeated sophomore Matt Silva, 6-0, 6-0. Senior Kieran Maynard won at the No. 3 singles, beating senior Edward DeBrito, 6-3, 6-0. Junior James Puppi beat sophomore Daoleung Thounsavath, 6-0, 6-0.
At No. 1 doubles, sophomores Flynn Sullivan and Owen McCadden won over seniors Maaz Hussain and Michael Silva, 6-1, 6-0. In the No. 2 doubles matchup, senior William Kisseberth and junior Evan Stephenson beat sophomores Jah'lil Duffin and Josiah Morris, 6-2, 6-0. Sophomore David Catanzaro and junior Jacob Lubic beat sophomores Lawrence Calamba and David Ofori, 6-0, 6-1.
Last time the Mariners were in DIII, they went 11-0 and were the division champions. In DII-Suburban B last season, they went 6-9.
Shea has struggled with tennis, and the last winning record they posted came with back-to-back 8-5 records in 2009 and 2010. Since then, they have won eight games in six seasons. The three wins last year was one more than their combined total over the previous two years when they went 1-10 in 2014 and 1-12 in 2015. Tolman went 1-14 in 2015 and 1-14 in 2016.
Shea/Tolman host its second home match at Slater Park on Monday at noon against Coventry (2-1 in DIIICentral B).