After press time: Melrose falls to Wakefield (April 8)
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The always-talented Melrose High boy’s tennis team returned to action last week, and already picked up a win, a 3-2 victory over Reading on the road on April 1.
At 1-1, Melrose looks to continue their winning ways but this week may have had to battle Mother Nature as they finish off their first week of the season.
Melrose comes off a great 2023 season in which they compiled a 10-7 record and won an opening-round playoff match against North Quincy. And they return a lot of the talent and experience that helped guide them last spring.
Serving as senior captains are Nathan Chow, Caleb Miller, and Patrick Stratford. All three are in their fourth seasons with the team. “They are well-experienced leaders for us,” says Melrose head coach Sam Stallings. “We returned most of our team from last year (only lost three seniors), so we have a group that know each other well and are continuing to grow together off of last season.”
Melrose took on five new players this season. “We’re certainly more experienced than we are ‘young’,” notes the coach.
Look for depth and playoff know-how to be a hallmark of their singles play. At press time, single lineups had sophomore Daniel Teittinen at 1st singles, senior captain Patrick Stratford at 2nd singles, and senior captain Caleb Miller at 3rd singles.
Doubles have been composed of senior captain Nathan Chow, junior Gautik Singh, junior Joseph Brady, and sophomore Alec Truesdale. Says coach Stallings, “I believe we have several capable doubles players on the top of our JV line-up, so we’ll see other guys get chances as well as the season goes along. Nathan, Gautik, and Joseph have a lot of experience and I’m excited to see what they can do for us at doubles.”
Melrose began the season quite early, on March 27, and lost 5-0 to an always-strong Belmont. “I was happy with how our boys played, they certainly weren’t intimidated by a more talented team, and they gave it what they had. Caleb Miller had a close match at 3rd singles that didn’t quite go his way,” says the coach.
But they enjoyed a huge win on Monday, 3-2, against league rival Reading at home. “It was a tough win, but I’m proud of how the boys played, especially our singles players.”
All three singles players prevailed. Daniel Teittinen in 1st singles prevailed against a tough opponent, 6-3, 6-3. Patrick Stratford at 2nd singles played a composed and balanced match, winning 6-4, 6-4. And Caleb Miller came up clutch at 3rd singles, winning in a three-set battle. Says the coach, “Caleb was fighting an ankle injury during the match, but was able to win by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. It was tough for Caleb to drop the first set and have to claw back, but he relied on the experience. I was very happy to see him pull off the win for us.”
Melrose doubles pair Nathan Chow and Gautik Singh fell at 1st doubles, while Joseph Brady and Alec Truesdale also fell at 2nd doubles.
Says the coach, “I think it was a good day for us to garner more experience for our doubles teams and I expect them to bounce back at the next opportunity.”
Every year, Melrose battles in an always-competitive Middlesex League. This year the Freedom League remains very strong. Says the coach, “Burlington is very experienced and has much talent, and so do teams like Wilmington and Wakefield. We’re expecting tough battles with all those teams and hopefully we’ll be up to task.”
You can check out Melrose for yourself when they host Winchester on Friday, April 5th at 4:15 p.m. at Lyons Court.