WAJ Sports Update

Eddie Moran
PUBLICATION: Windham Journal (NY)
DATE: May 27, 2015
SECTION: WAJ Sports Eddie

In the past four years, varsity tennis coach Jon Spear has accomplished just about everything that
one could hope for in the Delaware League. Spear’s Warriors’ have been Delaware League
Champions for the past four years, and have had the deepest roster in the league during that span.
When then-freshmen Joe Pelham, Malcolm Seamans and myself joined the tennis squad in 2012,
and Luke Rasmussen followed suit one year later, Spear correctly predicted that the team would
one day win a Section IV Class C-D title when no other Windham team had ever achieved that.
Indeed, thanks to great coaching, dedication and patience, Windham won the Section IV title in
2014, even sending the doubles tandem of Luke Rasmussen/David Saunders to the State
Qualifiers. While these accomplishments shouldn’t be minimized, Spear’s ultimate goal that he
set out in 2012 to get one of his four seniors this year (Pelham, Rasmussen, Seamans and myself)
to the State Tournament remained elusive.

The trio of Pelham, Rasmussen and Seamans saw their quest to the State Tournament begin at
the Section IV C-D Crossover last Tuesday at the Binghamton Tennis Center in Binghamton. In
his first and last time at crossovers, Seamans hardly played like a newcomer, as he stormed to the
final after defeating Lansing’s Nick Parkes, 7-5, 6-0. Seamans met Zoli Csaki, another Lansing
freshman, in the final. With his spot in the State Qualifiers already secure, the Seamans/Csaki
match came down to determining which school was to be crowned Section IV Class C-D
Champions.

In one of the most classic high school tennis matches in Windham history, Seamans came back
from a set down against Csaki, Lansing’s #1 singles player, to complete the 5-7, 6-4, 7-5
comeback in a grueling two-and-a-half hour slugfest. Windham’s #1 doubles team of
Pelham/Rasmussen also saw great success that Tuesday, beating Lansing’s Ryan/Ethan
Buchanan in straight sets en route to another straight sets victory over the Greene doubles team
of Mike Anderson/Karl Zaengle to join Seamans at the State Qualifiers that very Friday. The
three Windham players’ wins at crossovers also helped lead the Warriors to the 2015 Class C-D
Section IV title for the 2nd straight year under Spear.
Three days after Windham’s dominance at crossovers, the remaining Windham players traveled
back to the Binghamton Tennis Center that Friday to vie for a spot at the State Tournament,
which is held in Flushing Meadows, the site of the U.S. Open. In the first round, Seamans drew a
tough opponent in Ithaca’s Justin Milner, the 33rd ranked player in the state and a future DII
player at Daemon College in Buffalo. Despite moments of solid back-and-forth rallies, the
aggressiveness of Milner’s spin on his shots and tactics overwhelmed Seamans, 6-1, 6-1.

In the singles back draw, Seamans again drew another top 100 athlete in Maine-Endwell’s
Freddy Purporo, a ninth grader ranked 79th in the state. Although one could argue Seamans had
the better all-around game with his deep hitting groundstrokes, smooth volleys and consistent
serving, Purporo’s defensive skills limited any opportunities for Seamans to be offensive and
pressuring. One of the most frustrating aspects in a tennis match is hitting the ball hard only for
your opponent to lob it back, reducing velocity and the chance at coming to the net. Purporo
stuck to the baseline and played defensively throughout the match and even though it may be
seen as unexciting tennis, it nonetheless led him to victory, as he eliminated Seamans from the
State Qualifier, 6-0, 6-2.

Windham’s last hope at State Tournament participants rested on the broad shoulders of
Pelham/Rasmussen. They too received an unkind draw in the State Qualifier, as they faced off
against another batch of talented Ithaca players, Aidan Mackenzie/Michael Zhao, in the opening
round. As the #1 seed in the Section IV Class A Tournament that got them to the State
Qualifiers, Mackenzie/Zhao highlighted the pure depth and talent of Ithaca’s tennis program, and
they couldn’t be stopped against Windham, downing Pelham/Rasmussen, 6-2, 6-1.
In the doubles back draw, Pelham/Rasmussen then went up against Horseheads, another Class A
school, and the doubles team of Dustin McCullough/Kolby Reasons. Unfortunately, the much
larger Horseheads, with its deeper talent pool, dispatched Pelham/Rasmussen, 6-0, 6-1.

Since 2013, the varsity baseball team has gone into Sectionals, and won its opening round
matchup, only to then fall in the following round. With the same nucleus of players from those
early exits still on the team, their development will determine whether or not they can get over
that hump and contend for a section title. After drawing a first-round bye as the #2 seed in the
tournament, the Warriors drew #7 Franklin in their opening round game last Thursday.
Junior Anthony Savasta took the mound for Windham and showed that there’s merit in his still-
undefeated record, giving up just three runs on five hits and a walk while also striking out a
gaudy 10 batters. Savasta also lit up the Frankin pitchers offensively, going a perfect 3 for 3 with
two runs, a double, a triple and 3 RBIs. Fellow classmates Skyler Schoonmaker (4 for 4, two
runs and an RBI), Devin Drum (2 for 3, two runs, one triple, and an RBI) and Mikey Lennon (1
for 2, three runs and a double) also contributed at the plate for the Warriors, who started
Sectional play on the right note by beating Franklin 14-3. Senior Zach Meyer also had an
effective offensive day, going 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs.

Congratulations to these track team members on their performances last Thursday at the Patroon
Conference Championships:
1. Chris Carl (1st place title, 800 meters, school record time of 2:04 seconds, good enough for an
automatic qualifying time at the Section IV Championships in June. 2nd place title, 400 meter
hurdles, time of 57.8 seconds).
2. Gus Shuster (1st place title, Pentathlon, finished with 2,643 points, also enough for automatic
qualifying time at the Section IV Championships).
3. Chris Weiman (2nd place title, steeplechase, school record time of 11:01 seconds, good
enough for provisional qualification at Section IV Championships)
4. Kevin Malen (2nd place, 3200 meters, school record time of 10:11 seconds, also good enough
for provisional qualifications at Section IV Championships).
5. Chris Carl, Tristen Jaeger, Anthony Younes, and Anthony Holmok (6th place, 400 meter
relay, 47 seconds).
6. Abby Terrill (5th place,100 meter hurdles and 6th place in the high jump).

The varsity tennis team finished off its undefeated 2014-2015 season Delaware League
champions for a 4th consecutive year and Section IV Class C-D champs for a 2nd consecutive
year with seniors Malcolm Seamans, Joe Pelham, Luke Rasmussen and myself leading the way
for one final year.

The varsity baseball team (14-0) lives to fight another day, as it faces off against the winner of
Deposit/Afton on Tuesday, May 26 at home.

The varsity softball team’s season came to an end last week after its 24-1 loss at Roxbury in the
opening round of Sectional play. Special recognition to seniors Susannah Simpfenderfer, Keily
Linger and Jangmu Sherpa, who each played their last sporting event as WAJ athletes.

The varsity track team competes this week at the Section IV Class D meet in Marathon on
Wednesday.

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