Notebook: Reddy rises to occasion for Hilliard Bradley Jaguars boys tennis team

Junior Neil Reddy broke through to become the Hilliard Bradley boys tennis team’s first Division I district qualifier since 2017.

Reddy lost to Upper Arlington’s Ethan Samora 6-0, 6-1 in his first-round match May 19 at Olentangy. Samora went on to lose the title match to defending state champion Brandon Carpico of Gahanna.

Five years ago, 2017 graduate Mitchell Thai finished third at state. Thai went on to play at Denison.

“It’s a big accomplishment because I’m the first player in five years to do that for Bradley,” Reddy said. “So it’s pretty big for me and it’s pretty big for my team.”

Coach Colleen Baker said Reddy made great strides this season.

“I think Neil had a lot of growth from last year to this year,” said Baker, whose team finished 7-7. “He has grown into a master tennis player. His decision-making and shot selection have allowed him to play with the heavy hitters that made it to state. He was happy to be at district, but he still has his eye on the prize of making it to state next year.”

Reddy went 3-1 to finish third at sectional May 11 and 14 at Pickerington Central.

“I still have to work on some certain skill points for the main part,” he said. “I think my fitness needs to go up a little more because I got tired pretty fast.

“I plan on playing in the summer a bit more. We have the district championships in June and some other tournaments in the area as well.”

Sophomores Craig Dixon and Charlie Gill both went 0-1 in singles at sectional. In doubles, the teams of senior Jack Whetstone and sophomore Adarsh Chitti and senior Ben Honeck and junior Shayan Manoharan both went 0-1.

•Shannon Murlin capped her second season as Davidson boys tennis coach by guiding a doubles team in the district tournament.

Senior Clay Hess and freshman Jinu Kim lost to St. Charles’ Brady Pema and Victor Roscoe 6-1, 6-0 in the opening round.

“One of our goals was to qualify someone for district,” Murlin said. “Being the second year, the team has really grown. Beyond our three seniors, we’re young. We went from 19 players last season to 31 this year. We’re getting kids motivated to come out.”

Hess and Kim earned the district berth by finishing fourth at sectional.

Senior Clay Houseworth played first singles, sophomore Dylan Murlin, the coach’s son, was at second singles and sophomore Matthew Crawford played third singles.

Senior Jonathan Goshima and sophomore Matthew Crawford played second doubles.

“We are continuing to build the program,” said coach Murlin, whose team finished 7-10. “I am impressed with these boys and their willingness to learn and give 100 percent.”

—Frank DiRenna

•The Bradley baseball team took a step forward in its second season under coach Xander Uxley.

The Jaguars finished 10-14-1 overall and 4-10-1 in the OCC-Central after going 10-18 in 2021.

“I think our guys did a lot better job jelling and having each other’s back than last year,” Uxley said. “We had good chemistry. We really weren’t connected last year, possibly from the COVID protocols of working out in small groups.

“The guys developed a lot of good relationships in the offseason. We worked hard and pushed ourselves and we made each other accountable.”

Senior Max Vosters (honorable mention all-district, first-team all-league) led Bradley on the mound. The Muskingum recruit was 3-5 with a 2.56 ERA, 50 strikeouts and 16 walks in 57 1/3 innings.

Senior Blake Ewing (1B/P; honorable mention all-league) batted .309 with one homer run, 10 RBI and 14 runs, and senior Mason Koons (INF/P; second-team all-league; Cuyahoga Community College recruit) batted a team-high .314 with seven RBI and 19 runs. Senior Joey Lopez (OF/P; Mount Vernon Nazarene recruit) batted .243 with one homer, 10 RBI and 19 runs and was 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA, 32 strikeouts and 16 walks in 24 1/3 innings.

Junior Carter Hanson (INF/P; special mention all-league) batted .256 but led the Jaguars in homers (3) and RBI (20) and scored 18 runs. He also was 1-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 20 innings.

Sophomore Alex Koons (OF/P) batted .313 with two homers, 18 RBI and 10 runs, and sophomore Evan Rygalski (INF/P) hit .283 with 11 RBI and 19 runs. Junior Cam Collins (C) batted .233 with one homer, 10 RBI and seven runs.

Junior Ethan Williams (1-2, 25 1/3 innings, 2.49 ERA) and sophomore Diego Contreras (2-3, 20 1/3 innings, 4.85 ERA) are the top pitchers expected to return.

“This year changed a lot for the future because of our offseason conditioning and lifting without restrictions,” Uxley said. “I think that helped us a lot.”

—Scott Hennen

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BRADLEY BASEBALL

•Record: 10-14-1 overall

•OCC-Central standings: Olentangy Liberty (11-4), Olentangy Orange (10-5), Davidson (9-6), Upper Arlington (7-8), Bradley (4-10-1), Dublin Coffman (3-11-1) 

•Seniors lost: Beau Bennett, Nick Caruso, Blake Ewing, Hunter Houser, Mason Koons, Joey Lopez, Robbie Ritch and Max Vosters

•Key returnees: Cam Collins, Diego Contreras, Carter Hanson, Alex Koons, Evan Rygalski and Ethan Williams

•Postseason: Def. Franklin Heights 14-4 (5 innings); lost to Grove City 10-0 (5 innings) in second round of Division I district tournament

BRADLEY BOYS TENNIS

•Record: 7-7 overall

•OCC-Central standings: Orange (5-0), Liberty (4-1), Coffman (3-2), UA (2-3), Bradley (1-4), Davidson (0-5)

•Seniors lost: Adam Haikal, Ben Honeck, Matthew McCrae, Matthew Penaherrera, Andrew Watkins, Jack Whetstone and Samuel Whitesell

•Key returnees: Adarsh Chitti, Craig Dixon, Charlie Gill, Shayan Manoharan and Neil Reddy

DAVIDSON BOYS TENNIS 

•Record: 7-10 overall

•Seniors lost: Jonathan Goshima, Clay Hess and Hayes Houseworth 

•Key returnees: Mason Danze, Jinu Kim and Dylan Murlin 

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Reddy rises to occasion for Hilliard Bradley boys tennis team