Crawfordsville boys tennis now has county bragging rights as the Athenians claimed the 2022 county tennis title with a 5-0 sweep of North Montgomery on Monday. CHS edged out fellow county rival Southmont back on September 1 3-2 and had no problems dismissing the Chargers for the county title.
“I’m obviously super proud of the guys and they deserve this,” Crawfordsville coach Craig Brainard said of the county title. “We’ve had our struggles against South for the last few years and haven’t been able to win county since I’ve been here. The guys don’t want to take anything for granted and were able to come in and took care of business.”
James Murphy defeated Owen Utterback 6-0, 6-0 at one singles while Wyatt Motz also picked up a 6-0, 6-0 win at two singles over Hayden Turner. Rowan Gambrel notched a a 6-1, 6-2 win against Alex Chapman at three singles.
At one doubles Jude Coursey and Jude Hutchison defeated Brookes Walters and Beckett Martin 6-2, 6-3 and Thomas Bowling and Nolan Watt rounded out the wins for CHS with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at two doubles over Haze Kashon and Nate McCoy.
After dropping their first four matches of the season, CHS has now rallied to rally off some impressive victories and is really beginning to find it’s rhythm.
“We would’ve liked to have some of those earlier matches back,” Brainard said. “But playing those tough opponents are really beginning to pay dividends. These guys are persevering and showing a ton of grit. We’ve had a really busy schedule this month, but they continue to play at their highest level.”
North Montgomery over the last several weeks has begun to play better tennis and even though the score said 5-0 in favor of the Athenians, coach Dane Baldwin likes the progress he’s seeing with his team.
“We’ve been beginning to really play better and the results are starting to show out on the court,” he said. “Last week we had some really good matches. Crawfordsville’s a really good team and have improved a ton since last year. Playing them is always tough. The scores don’t show I think how competitive we played.”
The win for CHS was not only a county win but also a Sagamore Conference victory as well. The Athenians are knocking on the door of a SAC title as they are still perfect with a 4-0 record. On Tuesday they play Danville and wrap of SAC play next Thursday as they host Frankfort. Two more wins would give the Athenians their first SAC title since 2015.
“There’s still that big goal out there for us and that’s what we’re focused on,” Brainard said. “We’ll definitely celebrate this county championship and continue to work hard.”
