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By Brian Pitts

Enterprise Record

The Central Piedmont Conference Tournament saw another brilliant performance in a brilliant year for Burke Rosenbaum of Davie’s boys tennis team.

He captured the singles championship by going 3-0 and became just the fifth War Eagle to win that title this century. Even more staggering, he outscored his opponents 34-2. The scores were 10-0 in the first round; 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals; and 6-0, 6-0 in the final.

This is a remarkable achievement for a sophomore who is 14-1 for the season. In two years, he has not lost in the CPC.

“What can I say about Burke?” coach Shane Nixon said. “He went 3-0 and was not really tested. He is so good. He plays a very cerebral game. He’s usually one step ahead of the other guy and maybe more.”

Seniors Luke Stillson and Jack Nixon took second place in doubles. In the first round, they dominated 10-2. In the semifinals, they pulled out a third-set tiebreaker (6-7, 6-2, 10-4). In the final, they were narrow losers (4-6, 6-3, 7-10) in another third-set tiebreaker. Although they exited with their first loss in 10 matches, they poured in everything they had.

“Luke and Jack didn’t have their best day, and even saying that, they finished as the second-best doubles team,” coach Nixon said. “I was proud of the fact that even when they didn’t have their best stuff, they fought to the bitter end.”

Even though junior C Crenshaw and senior Cren Rosenbaum are cousins, they paired up in doubles for the first time in their Davie careers. They did well, going 2-1 and taking fourth to earn a regional berth. Their wins were 10-2 and 10-8. Then they lost 6-4, 6-2.

“They played really well, especially early,” Nixon said. “Their spot in regional play was really never in doubt because of how well they played in rounds one and two. They finished fourth, but it’s hard to be disappointed with regional qualification.”

The top six earned berths to the Midwest Regional, so Nixon will carry one in singles and four in doubles.

“All in all, I thought we played really well,” he said. “The CPC doesn’t do ‘tournament champions’ anymore, but if they had, we and Reagan would have tied. We’d be split champs in both the regular season and tournament. An 11-2 record with three entries going to regionals and a CPC championship, yeah, I’ll take it. There is only one way to characterize the season and that is as very much a success. But we’ve got more tennis to play.”

Notes: Davie hosted the tournament on April 28. “Hosting the tournament is nice. The kids get to play on their home court, but it takes a lot of work from a lot of people,” Nixon said. “Shout outs to Davie athletics staff, tennis parents and especially to assistant coach Terri Eanes.” … Bryce Bailey lost 10-0 to complete an 8-5 season for the sophomore. “He got better today,” Nixon said. “He learned from his mistakes. He played against a better player and got better. I’m excited about the future for Bryce.” … Sophomore Jack Williams lost 10-0 in his season debut in singles. Juniors Cooper Smith and Seth Hill lost 10-5 in doubles. “I was so glad for all those guys, all underclassmen, to get some experience playing in a CPC Tournament,” Nixon said. … B. Rosenbaum joined four others as singles champs during this century: Alex Appelt (2007), Scott Gallimore (2012), Elijah Gregory (2017) and Ben Fleming (2018).