Ellsworth leaders Gray, DeLong overwhelm Foxcroft

ORONO – The Ellsworth High School tennis team figures a team that plays together wins together.

Most of the players on the 1996 Eagles squad have been competing with and against each other for several years. Ellsworth put its experience and cohesiveness to work Friday afternoon, sweeping Foxcroft Academy 5-0 to claim the Eastern Maine Class B team tennis title at the University of Maine.

Top-seeded Ellsworth takes a perfect 14-0 record into Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. state championship against Western Maine titlist Cape Elizabeth, a 3-2 winner Friday over York. The second-seeded Ponies closed out the season at 13-2.

“They’re all very good friends off the court,” said Eagles coach Brian Higgins. “I think the camaraderie is there. They always had somebody to play with.”

Ellsworth, which had lost in the semifinals three years in a row, won the title this year behind a corps of six seniors, led by 14-0 Adrian Gray, its No. 1 singles man.

“We’ve been expecting it, but it’s been a long time coming, Gray said. “We’ve all been on the team together and played for the past three years. We’ve been working hard at it.”

Gray overwhelmed Foxcroft’s B.J. Costa 6-0, 6-2, implementing an assortment of crisp, well-placed shots that kept his opponent on the run. Ellsworth’s No. 2 singles man, Charlie DeLong, was also a convincing winner, beating John Brennan 6-1, 6-2.

Gray, DeLong and first doubles mainstay Chad Thomas are the Eagles’ serious players, all of whom compete year-round.

“It’s kind of the reward to all the work that we’ve put in over the years to get this far,” DeLong said. “We’ve grown up with each other. Our doubles teams are very good friends and have gelled together.”

Thomas paired with Brendan Bonner on Ellsworth’s undefeated, all-senior first doubles team. They played conservatively against FA’s Mike Blakely and Ben Orton, earning a 6-1, 6-4 victory.

“This is Chad’s fourth year of first doubles, and he’s really been a good coach, helping me out with shot placement,” said Bonner, who credited Ellsworth’s success to its camaraderie and commitment.

“We’re all best friends, and you’re always feeling like you’ve got your buddies around you,” he said. “We really stick together when we’re out there.”

Ellsworth’s No. 2 doubles duo, seniors James Pidhurney and Phil Buswell, improved to 14-0, besting Ponies Trevor Teachout and Seth Kimball. They eked out a 7-6 (7-5) tiebreaker win in the first set, then won the second 6-3.

Bonner, Pidhurney and Buswell didn’t take up tennis until reaching Ellsworth High as freshmen.

“This year, it was all of us [seniors] together,” Thomas said. “This was the big year. If we didn’t make it at least this far, we were going to be upset.”

Sophomore Darby Higgins completed the Ellsworth sweep in No. 3 singles, rallying to beat Josh Iannetta 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.