Bethlehem coach Steve Smith is ready for tennis season.
His Eagles have won the section championship two years in a row, and they show no signs of slowing down with the return of Jesse Hoffman, Mike Amico and Peter Collins. Hoffman and Amico, both juniors, have helped lead the team to a 30-1 record over their last two seasons.
They’re a great 1-2-3 punch all three of them would be number ones on separate squads, said Smith.
What makes Bethlehem so formidable is their youth. The Eagles have two seventh graders ` Rohin Bose and Nick Mashuta ` that Smith said will make an impact, as well as returning sophomores Brendan Jacques, Yufan Lin, Phil Sell and Kyle Gross.
`We have great young players (overall),` Smith said. `They won’t all be starters, but they make me very happy about the future of the program. We have a nice core of freshmen from last year. They were young, so it was a bit of a surprise we won. But they are very talented.`
When asked why his boys were so successful, Smith said, `They play all winter, all summer, all the time. When there is snow on the ground, our guys go indoors. They never put down the rackets. When the training starts, they’re already a month ahead of their opponents, and it shows on the court.`
Bethlehem’s first match is Thursday, April 10, at Columbia.“