ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (May 13, 2023) -- Rocky River's 2023 season was a challenging one just in getting on the court. A wet spring led to a slew of matches being postponed or canceled, and the 18-match Pirate schedule became a stutter-start-delayed slate with gaps, stops, and restarts.
The Double-R was able to log 10 matches overall. The Sons of Blackbeard went 5-5 and finished fourth in the Great Lakes Conference regular season. River took fifth in the May 6 GLC Tournament.
Individual standouts during the season were junior captains Will Gesci and Will Latham. Gesci logged a 6-7 mark at first singles; Latham went 8-5 at second singles.
Freshman Carter Rush earned a battlefield promotion and made a late charge in third singles, where he went 6-2.
Doubles lineups were in flux most weeks. Rein McKelway, Sergio Lucey, Colin Kelly, Charles Solecki, AJ Swislocki and Gus Fritz all earned doubles wins throughout the spring. Kelly and Swislocki were the senior members of the 2023 River squad; they were honored as part of Rocky River senior day on May 5. The team responded for the greybeard Pirate duo: River beat Elyria Catholic 5-0.
On May 9, the Maroon & White closed out their 2023 campaign in
DII Northeast Sectional Tournament action. Latham earned a win in the event at Magnificat High School, logging a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Luke Safranek of Lakewood High School. Kelly and Swislocki registered a doubles win before being ousted.
"This was a great group," said coach Scott Raiff. "I'm impressed with the growth displayed by a lot of players, and I'm excited to see us take the next step."
For all of us following River's racket squad, may that next step be a drier one.by Skip Snow