Stevenson, Hersey’s Sheldon shine at Pitchford

Max Sheldon would brighten up what was otherwise a dark, gloomy Saturday afternoon in Arlington Heights with a scintillating performance to take the No. 1 singles crown at the prestigious Tom Pitchford boys tennis invite.

The Hersey senior would round out his amazing two-day effort with an outright win over Stevenson senior Eric Perkowski to win the first of four majors the 2019 runner-up hopes to claim, with the best seed in next month’s state tournament all but assured after this important victory.

“ Since my freshman year, when I played for my friends and classmates who came to cheer for me here at Pitchford, one of the first goals I set for myself was to win the Pitchford and then say, so with this win today I’m halfway there to hit those goals, ” said Sheldon, who survived a few short rain delays to beat Perkowski 6-4 and 6-3.

Sheldon, who will play at Michigan State next fall, would overcome a few short rain delays on Saturday in his final, helping his club reach fourth place with 33 points, while reigning North Suburban Conference champion Stevenson lifted the team. trophy with 42 points, 2 points ahead of Fremd and New Trier.

Colin Fox-John Rogers’ Trevians team outlasted Blake Roegner-Daanyal Saeed (Naperville Central) in a thrilling and well-played two-set final to win the No. 1 doubles match.

New Trier would enter the final as Roegner-Saeed ripped past Barrington’s top seed (Amar Wazir-Ethan Paik) in three sets, before sending a high-quality Chicago Latin squad (Akshay and Karan Pasielak) in straight sets.

Once in the final, the Trevians went out to a 4-0 lead in the first set, before the Redhawks roared to advance 6-5, before falling into the tiebreaker (7-2).

“We were a bit tight at the start of our final,” agreed both Roegner and Saeed, who were in second place in 2019.

“Once we figured out how (New Trier) was going to play we got back into the game, but on my side I got a little sloppy later in the game and they got some great returns to win big points,” he added. Saeed adds. .

“We got back into the game by playing as we know we can, but they were a really good team and hopefully we get a chance to play them again,” said Roegner.

“(They) got back in after our great start, so we had to dig in and do our best to win the title,” said Fox, whose booming service and big forehand caused problems throughout the game.

Lake Forest defeated top seed Stevenson (Ervin Perkowski-Gabe Visotsky) in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 to win at No. 2 in doubles, while freshman Andrew Spurck (Fremd) earned his first major title of his young career. with his 6-4, 6-2 decision over Jacobs sophomore Kyle McNally in a match between the two best seeds on the run.

“Andrew is strong physically and mentally. He has the firepower, discipline and self-motivation to compete at a high level,” said Fremd assistant coach Scott Newmark, himself a former star player at Stevenson at the start of the decade.

McNally (25-1) makes an impressive one-two with teammate Thomas Nelson for Jacobs coach Jon Betts, who is excited about the progress his two top players have already shown this season.

“Since his freshman year when he qualified for the state, Thomas has done a good job clearing out parts of his game, especially with his service being as good as anyone in the state,” said Betts. “McNally plays an incredibly aggressive tennis style when you consider how clean and efficient his games have been.”

Nelson would eventually finish fifth.

At Palatine: In the first Palatine Pirate Team Dual Tournament, Metea Valley would come away with the highest honor after the 4-0 defeat of Vernon Hills.

The Mustangs would have it easy over the two days, with only three games in total, while pushing the second cougars into their semi-final, which was 4-2 in their favor over Conant.

“We lost some tight matches in doubles and had three tiebreakers in singles, but the guys played hard all weekend, embraced the team format and saw a great competition, so I’m proud of our strong finish and excited to join the team. playing some of our best tennis players entered the final weeks of the season, ”said Conant freshman coach Matt Marks.