Playoff tennis for Baldwin

Baldwin closed the boys’ tennis regular season with four consecutive victories to earn a Conference 4A playoff spot, but after splitting matches with New Hyde Park the Bruins dropped the semifinal meeting, 6-1.

“We had a pretty good season,” coach Debbie Dalder said. “We were hoping for a little better in the playoffs. Win or lose, the kids displayed great sportsmanship and showed their Baldwin pride. So many of them are top students and involved in other school activities.”

Baldwin was on the playoff bubble with a record of 4-4 after losing for the second time to first-place Plainedge by the slimmest of margins. But down the stretch, the Bruins beat Freeport, Lawrence, Clarke, and New Hyde Park by identical 4-3 scores. “They just gutted it out,” Dalder said. “It was brutal weather for everyone all season. I don’t think we got a nice day until the final week.”

In the May 7 regular-season finale, sophomore David Zuckerman, Baldwin’s No. 2 singles player, won the decisive match in comeback fashion when he beat NHP’s Ryan Cariaso, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Zuckerman earned All-Division honors this spring, which requires wins in at least 75 percent of matches. “David hits pretty hard,” Dalder said. “He’s patient hitting from the baseline, but he goes to the net when he needs to. He rallied from a set down to win several times.”

Senior Austin Johnson, a four-year member of the varsity team, held down the No. 1 singles spot and improved a great deal, Dalder said. “He stayed healthy for the first time in three years,” she noted. “He’s a hard- working athlete who picked up a racket as a freshman and learned how to play.”

Junior Eduardo Grant made the jump from doubles to singles and played competitively and picked up a few wins in the No. 3 spot. “He’s come a long way in three years and has potential for a big senior season,” Dalder said.

Baldwin enjoyed an equal amount of success in doubles. Three of Dalder’s four tandems were comprised of a senior and a sophomore. At No. 1, senior Richard Henry, the school Salutatorian bound for Princeton, paired with sophomore Noah Gomez and earned All-Division honors. The second doubles team of senior Reggie Carrion and sophomore Kenneth Kleinhardt won 10 matches and also earned All-Division accolades. At fourth doubles, senior Viknam Vishwanath and sophomore Nick Barba heated up down the stretch, and sophomore Matt Bandel and freshman Ian Rieger did the same at third doubles.

Dalder said she’s looking forward to the reinstatement of the middle school tennis program, which competes in the fall. “This year was tough without JV and middle school teams,” she said.