MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA — The top-seeded Pioneers didn’t break a sweat and opened the tournament with an easy win in the Division 4 Round of 32. Due to wet court conditions, the match was played indoors at the Manchester Athletic Club.
Head coach Joe Dunn Sr. said the decision was made to go indoors in part to spare No. 30 Mashpee from having to make another two-hour, one-way trip back to Lynnfield.
“We were running around trying to squeegee the courts and realized there was no way they could get dry,” he said. “The matches were pretty quick, but once the kids learned to adjust to the faster indoor courts, we had no problems. Mashpee is a young team that just needs to make the leap up to the next level. It was a little hard at first getting used to the indoor surface, which is very fast, but the kids figured it out.”
Shea McCarthy (second singles), Shlok Kudrimoti (third singles) and the duo of Kurt Rothermund and Slate LoPilato (second doubles) cruised to straight set 6-0, 6-0 wins.
“Kurt and Slate were much stronger than the other team. Slate hits hard and goes for winners and Kurt is very tall and just puts it away at the net,” Dunn said. “Shea played a smooth match and Shlok played a nice match and was very clever. He came to the net and put the ball away.”
At first singles, Dan Levin won 6-1, 6-0 and Russell Kasdon and Brendan Sokop won at first doubles, 6-2, 6-1.
“All year long, the ones and twos have always been really, really good and this match was more of the same in a way,” Dunn said. “Dan showed no mercy and lost only one game. His opponent was doing everything he could to get to every ball he could, so I don’t know how Dan did what he did. Brendan and Russell simply were the better team.”
Dunn said the team has been “on a roll.” The Pioneers have lost just one league match in four seasons, heading into the tournament with a 46-match Cape Ann League win streak. The Pioneers have been undefeated in the CAL the last four years.
“The kids are excited about it and maybe we’ll just keep it going,” Dunn said.
The fact is, Dunn has also been on a roll. He picked up his 100th win in the first match of the 2024 season.
The Pioneers were scheduled to host No. 17 Leicester at 3 p.m. on Wednesday in the Sweet 16 (too late to print).
Dunn said he is a bit relieved to have hit the century mark.
“If I do retire and not come back, at least I won’t retire at 99 wins,” he said.
