NORWICH – The fact that the 1948 Norwich High School tennis team finished the season undefeated did not come as a complete surprise. All five starters from the 1947 team, which went 5-4, were returning. But Norwich had never gone the whole season without a loss, mainly because it played home-and-home with Binghamton Central every year, and had never prevailed in a single match.
In his preseason article, Perry Browne predicted, “Should win at least eight of the 10, and may finish undefeated. Chances of annexing the sectional title are excellent.” There was little doubt which team challenged Browne’s optimism.
Charles O. Miers arrived in Norwich in 1930, and started coaching tennis in 1932. He was the only tennis coach Norwich had ever had, and continued to be until 1963. Miers also ran the city’s summer tennis program, so he was able to spot talent and aptitude among the youngest players, and encourage them until they reached high school.
The No. 1 player in 1948 was Dick Mattice, only a junior. As a freshman and sophomore, he had won the Section IV doubles titles. His first was with Bob “Pinky” Myles and then with Charles “Stub” Stewart. Stewart had been captain of the 1947 team, as a junior, and occupied the No. 2 spot for 1948.
The No. 3 player and captain for 1948 was senior Ken Beckwith. Beckwith was a three-year veteran on the squad who had lived in McDonough until starting high school. Filling the fourth spot was Frank LaCava, and No. 5 was Dick Darling. Others on the squad were juniors Don Hall and Bill Handy, and freshmen Dick Flanagan and Jim Acenowr.
Most matches totaled of seven points, with each of the starting five playing singles and then some combination of them for two doubles matches. Ties were virtually impossible. As the season commenced at the beginning of May, the schedule called for home-and-home meetings with Binghamton North, Binghamton Central, Oneonta, Cortland, and Utica Free Academy.
It was not that schools such as Sherburne and Oxford did not have tennis teams, but Athletic Director Kurt Beyer and Coach Miers scheduled the best teams in the central NY area. Miers’s record going into the 1948 season was 61 wins and 54 losses.
The first match of the season was against Binghamton North, and was played on the Norwich Alumni Field courts. Each of the Norwich singles players won his match in two sets. His team’s obvious superiority caused Miers to tinker with the doubles pairings, with Darling and Acenowr teamed up in the first, and Handy and Hall in the second. Both doubles teams lost, but Norwich won its first match, 5-2.
Early May saw three weather cancellations, two with Oneonta and one with Cortland, making the second match actually played a road trip to meet the Purple’s old nemesis, Binghamton Central. Not only had Norwich never beaten Bingo, but no team had ever beaten Bingo in tennis.
After a fairly easy victory by Purple ace Mattice at No. 1, Stub Stewart lost in three sets to Gitlitz of Central. At #3, Captain Beckwith lost to John Bloom in two close sets, 6-4 and 8-6. Bloom was the son of Dr. Sol Bloom, former Norwich and Syracuse star athlete. Dr. Bloom was present at the match, and rooted for his old Alma Mater, in spite of the fact that his son opposed the Purple.
Close play continued as LaCava evened up the score at 2-2 by defeating Decker in two deuce sets, 8-6 and 11-9. At No. 5, Bingo took the lead again when Darling succumbed to an experienced senior. For an account of the doubles, we accede to the talented pen of the inimitable Perry Browne:
At this point, it appeared as if Central would continue their 17-year mastery over the Purple, who seemed tightened up and were not displaying the smooth, relaxed type of ball so prevalent in their play generally. Norwich needed both doubles matches in order to win.
Mattice and Stewart, doubles kings of the section, tied the match by easily defeating Gitlitz and Bloom, 6-1 and 6-3. The Purple duo was at its best and won with smashing, aggressive, and impressive play.
The match now depended upon Captain Beckwith and LaCava, who were opposing Central’s number one and four singles men. In a torrid, exciting struggle that seesawed back and forth, the Norwich duo won the first set, 7-5. In the second, they trailed 4-1 when suddenly Captain Beckwith steadied and displayed superb tennis to lead an uphill battle that terminated in a 10-8 win and Norwich High’s first tennis triumph over Binghamton Central.
Two days later, on May 18, the Miers men made another trek down Route 12 to oppose North, the team they had handled easily on the Alumni Field courts two weeks earlier. The euphoria from the Central conquest had no effect, as the Tornado won easily 6-1, in spite of the absence of LaCava. Darling moved up to No. 4, and Hall lost the only point at No. 5.
The next week brought two 7-0 shutouts, one over Oneonta and the other over Utica Free Academy. In the former, only LaCava was extended to three sets. Against UFA, although the score would indicate an easy whitewash, the scores were close in three of the singles matches, with only Mattice and Captain Beckwith having an easy time of it.
As May and the regular season wound to a close, Norwich knocked off return bouts with UFA and Oneonta by the same 7-0 scores, and then gave up two points in a match against Cortland. In preparation for postseason play, Coach Miers rested Mattice and Stewart in singles, with Beckwith, LaCava, and Darling each moving up two spots and winning. Hall won at No. 4 and Handy lost at No. 5, both using all three sets. In doubles, Mattice and Stewart barely broke a sweat, while Darling and Acenowr gave Cortland its second point in three close sets.
