COCALICO’S DUONG, LANCASTER CATHOLIC’S VERONIS WIN SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIPS

Our very own Phil Glatfelter was at Elco High School on Monday for the District 3 boys’ tennis singles championships, where a pair of L-L League players stormed to victory. Here’s Phil’s story from Tuesday’s New Era:

MYERSTOWN — After winning the Lancaster-Lebanon League Double-A title last week, Alex Veronis said he felt like he was catching up to players like three-time District 3 champion Nick Shadowen.

On Monday, Veronis caught him.

And passed him.

The Lancaster Catholic senior took the District 3 Double-A crown with a gutsy 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-4 win over Shadowen, Trinity’s senior star.

Cocalico senior Michael Duong made it a clean sweep for the L-L League, following up his league Triple-A crown with a district title in a rematch of the L-L final, defeating Manheim Township junior Peter Bookman 6-1, 6-4.

All three local players qualified for the PIAA Singles Tournament, along with Steven Child of Lancaster Country Day, who finished third in Double-A with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Evan Andrews of York Suburban in the consolation match.

“(A district title) was definitely a goal the entire season,” said Veronis, who lost to Shadowen in three sets in last year’s semifinals. “I know I got tremendously better since last year — so did he — so I was really looking forward to playing him again.”

How Veronis won made the victory even more amazing. He took control early against the hard-hitting Shadowen, building a 5-3 lead. But he couldn’t seal the deal, and Shadowen won in a tie-breaker. It seemed the momentum had switched and that Veronis wouldn’t recover.

But both Veronis’ coach, Joe McCaskey, and father, George, said that when he’s down, Alex seems to play at his best.

“He seems to kick it into another gear,” McCaskey said.

And Veronis, who was seeded second in the tournament behind Shadowen, showed that gear, taking the second set 6-1.

“That was definitely tough,” Veronis said of the first-set loss. “But I pride myself on mental toughness.”

Then, after losing the first two games of the third set, he reeled off the next five. Shadowen made it exciting with back-to-back wins to close to 5-4, then took a 40-love lead in the deciding 10th game.

But the other gear kicked in again for Veronis, who went on for the victory.

“I should have been more aggressive,” Veronis said of a possible letup after taking the 5-2 lead. “I just tried to be consistent, which I guess ended up working out, but almost didn’t.”

Key to Veronis’ victory was sticking to a game plan.

“I wanted to keep hitting to his backhand as much as possible and keep it deep,” he said. “Also, I was coming to the net; that’s how I was successful last year (a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win by Shadowen).”

In Monday’s semifinals, Veronis advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Andrews while Shadowen topped Child 6-2, 6-3.

“I didn’t really think about that,” Child said about qualifying for the state tournament. “I don’t really know what to expect. I’ll just give it my best.”

Duong didn’t have as large an obstacle in front of him — he just had to live up to his No. 1-seeding.

“There’s always pressure,” he said of being the top seed, “because the further you go in a tournament, you get harder opponents.”

He also pointed to the pluses and minuses of playing someone he’s already defeated twice (he also beat Bookman during the regular season).

He knew he could win, but he also knew Bookman would be trying different ways to beat him, Duong said. After coasting in the first set, he outlasted Bookman in the second.

“I was a little disappointed with my first match,” Duong said of his 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over fourth-seeded Clarke Freeman of Central York. “But overall, I think I did pretty well in the tournament.”

“It’s a good experience, because I still have one more year,” Bookman said.

“I’m sort of getting used to it,” he said of the loss to Duong. “I was hoping I could maybe get a win in there, but he’s a good player.”

Bookman also needed three sets to advance to the final, outlasting second-seeded Sean Montgomery of Lower Dauphin 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

NOTES: Veronis went 51-0 in L-L section and league matches in four years. He played No. 1 singles his last three years, winning league titles each year. … Duong, who was third in the district last year, has not lost a match this season. Three of his wins are against Bookman. … In addition to Duong, Bookman’s other losses this season are to Veronis and Dallastown’s Gavin Smith, who was runner-up in Triple-A last year but elected to play doubles only this year. … Conrad Weiser’s Tommy Meyer, who finished second the past three years to Shadowen, also elected to compete in just doubles this season. He’ll play with his brother, Mike.