Notebook: Upper Arlington Golden Bears’ Samora savors first trip to state tennis tourney

Dave Purpura, ThisWeek
·5 min read
Upper Arlington junior Ethan Samora went 1-1 in his first trip to the Division I state tournament May 27 at Camargo Racquet Club in Cincinnati. He defeated Avon’s Logan DeHaven 7-5, 6-1 before losing 6-0, 6-2 to Cincinnati Sycamore’s Nicholas Choo.
Upper Arlington junior Ethan Samora went 1-1 in his first trip to the Division I state tournament May 27 at Camargo Racquet Club in Cincinnati. He defeated Avon’s Logan DeHaven 7-5, 6-1 before losing 6-0, 6-2 to Cincinnati Sycamore’s Nicholas Choo.

A regular-season schedule that included several matches against eventual Division I state qualifiers provided Upper Arlington boys tennis junior Ethan Samora the measuring stick he needed.

After going 1-1 at state May 27 at Camargo Racquet Club in Cincinnati, Samora cited early losses to New Albany’s Declan Freedhoff and Olentangy Orange’s Parth Patel as much as the later wins that earned him his first state berth. Freedhoff and Patel made state as doubles players.

“I started the season kind of rough,” Samora said, referring to a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Freedhoff on April 7 and a 6-4, 6-4 setback against Patel on April 19. “But I ended up playing well at sectional and district, got a (No.) 2 seed (as district runner-up) and came here and did really well. Just everything has improved. Everything has gotten a little faster and a little more consistent, which helps me win matches.”

Samora defeated Avon’s Logan DeHaven 7-5, 6-1 in the first round before losing 6-0, 6-2 to Cincinnati Sycamore’s Nicholas Choo, who went on to finish fourth.

It was the kind of turnaround Samora hoped for after a disappointing end to his sophomore season, when he and 2021 graduate Jack Jones fell one win short of qualifying for state.

“It was kind of a revenge tour for him, beating guys (against whom) it didn’t go his way last year,” coach Will Thieman said. “In general, he just took care of business this year. It’s hard to beat kids you know you’re supposed to beat and he’s doing a good job of being more consistent and competing. That’s the biggest difference between this year and last year.”

Samora’s state berth also marked UA’s return to state after a four-year absence. The Golden Bears had at least one state qualifier every year from 1958-2018.

“(The district tournament) was the best tennis he’s played all year,” Thieman said.

Samora lost to eventual state runner-up and 2021 champion Brandon Carpico, an Ohio State commit from Gahanna, 6-2, 6-2 in the district final May 21 at Olentangy.

“A lot of it was about his maturity on and off the court,” Thieman said. “He definitely knows what he’s doing. He’s being more patient. He’s working the point a little bit more and just playing smart tennis. I talk about that all the time with the kids. You have to play to your strengths, not your weaknesses.”

One other district qualifier, freshman Jackson Lloyd, is eligible to return for UA, which went 7-5 overall and 2-3 in the OCC-Central Division. Also expected back are sophomores Ford Clark and Luca Sivilotti.

Sophomore shortstop/pitcher Charlie Ticknor should be one of the top returnees for Grandview Heights. He batted .313 and was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.
Sophomore shortstop/pitcher Charlie Ticknor should be one of the top returnees for Grandview Heights. He batted .313 and was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

•The Grandview Heights baseball program continued to make strides with a roster loaded with underclassmen.

The 11th-seeded Bobcats finished 13-13 overall, losing to top-seeded Liberty Union 7-0 on May 24 in a Division III district semifinal. Last season, they finished 8-18 and had won three of four games before losing in a district semifinal.

Grandview also won its first postseason game since 2015, edging 15th-seeded Mount Gilead 4-3 at home May 19 in the second round. Sophomore designated hitter Beck Brockbrader drove in sophomore third baseman Graham Nelson with the decisive run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“One thing that we talked about last year was that part of the process was competing in close games,” said coach Tyler Fitzgerald, who concluded his seventh season. “We improved on that this year, and it helped us win our first tournament game since 2015.”

Luke Clark-Moody (OF/2B; 11 RBI, 8 runs, 5 stolen bases), Joe Kessler (OF; 9 RBI, 10 runs, 6 stolen bases) and Max Mott (OF, .294, 11 RBI, 9 runs) were the seniors.

“The seniors were a good, tight bunch that went through a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “They were there for the 19-8 team in 2019 and then had COVID cancel their sophomore season. The last two seasons they were positive and rock steady for us.”

Junior Colin Cleary (second-team all-MSL-Ohio) emerged as an ace, going 4-4 with a 1.90 ERA, 56 strikeouts and 18 walks in 44 1/3 innings. The right-hander threw a pair of no-hitters — 14-1 in five innings March 29 against Briggs and 16-0 in six innings April 23 against Centennial. He also batted .298 with 12 RBI and led the team in runs (29) and stolen bases (13).

Junior Jackson Larson (honorable mention all-district, first-team all-league) led the team with a .341 batting average and 24 RBI and scored 21 runs. He also was 2-6 with a 3.53 ERA, 46 strikeouts and 27 walks in 37 2/3 innings.

Freshman Michael Greer (OF/P) was 4-2 with a 1.24 ERA, 47 strikeouts and 18 walks in 45 1/3 innings and batted .313 with 17 RBI and 21 runs. Sophomore Charlie Ticknor (SS/P) batted .313 with 10 RBI and 24 runs and was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, 24 strikeouts and eight walks in 20 2/3 innings.

Sophomore catcher William Halberg (first-team all-league) batted .238 with 19 RBI and 18 runs, and Nelson batted .273 with 10 RBI and 12 runs.

“The core of the team is expected to be coming back, including the entire infield,” Fitzgerald said. “We didn’t have a senior throw an inning this season. We have a lot expected back and most of them will be in their third season starting on varsity.”

—Scott Hennen

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GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS BASEBALL

•Record: 13-13 overall

•MSL-Ohio standings: Buckeye Valley (12-0), Worthington Christian (9-3), Bexley (8-4), Columbus Academy (7-5), Grandview (4-8), Wellington (1-11), Whitehall (1-11) 

•Seniors lost: Luke Clark-Moody, Joe Kessler and Max Mott

•Key returnees: Colin Cleary, Michael Greer, William Halberg, Jackson Larson, Graham Nelson and Charlie Ticknor

•Postseason: Def. Centerburg 4-3; lost to Liberty Union 7-0 in Division III district semifinal

UPPER ARLINGTON BOYS TENNIS

•Record: 7-5 overall

•OCC-Central standings: Olentangy Orange (5-0), Olentangy Liberty (4-1), Dublin Coffman (3-2), Upper Arlington (2-3), Hilliard Bradley (1-4), Hilliard Davidson (0-5)

•Seniors lost: Ryan Baxley, Mihai Crisan, Daniel Goldberg, Joe Saalman and Tyson Smith

•Key returnees: Ford Clark, Jackson Lloyd and Ethan Samora

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: UA’s Ethan Samora savors first trip to state tennis tourney