Schedule tightens Norwalk's Lake title path

NORWALK — There will be little time to think about it. "It's probably better for the kids than it is the coaches, as we obviously have things we always want to work on," Norwalk boys tennis coach Ray Scheid said. Thanks to a days-long rain system to start this week, the Truckers will need to wait a bit longer in their quest to finish atop the SBC Lake Division for the first time since 2019. And, there won't be any practice time starting on Friday if the weather finally holds. The Truckers (12-1, 8-0) were scheduled to host Perkins on Monday and Vermilion on Tuesday, followed by a pair of road matches at Perkins and Sandusky next Monday and Tuesday (May 8-9). The Pirates (9-2, 5-1) trail the Truckers by one match in the league standings. A win by Norwalk on Monday would have put it up two matches with three to play, essentially putting them in full control. Perkins — which still has six league matches to finish — lost 4-1 at Bellevue on April 10 for its lone league setback. The Truckers have won seven of their eight league matches by 5-0 or 4-1 scores, as only Columbian won a pair off them in a 3-2 win on April 6. Now, the schedule will tighten up significantly. The Truckers will entertain Vermilion on Friday for a single match this week. They will travel to Perkins on Monday with a chance to clinch a share of the league title with a pair of wins over the Sailors and Pirates. Norwalk then visits Sandusky on Tuesday, and the rescheduled match with the Pirates at home is set for Wednesday (May 10) — a match Scheid hopes is a celebration of his team's senior class and a league title if things go according to plan before then. "The new schedule definitely will keep in the front of our minds that our goal is to finish atop the SBC, and every single one of these matches will be important," Scheid said. "The weather this weekend looks good, but you can never look too far ahead with spring weather in Ohio because you never know." After helping kickstart the defunct Northern Ohio League's most accomplished program (27 league titles) as a player in 1985, Scheid took over for his mentor, Ohio Tennis Coaches Association Hall of Famer Dave Rehnborg, back in 2004. In seven seasons, Norwalk finished 99-37 with five league titles under Scheid, who then stepped down after 2010 to transition to the athletic director role at NHS, which he also took over from Rehnborg. Stepping in this spring for Chris Higgins, the coach of the previous 12 seasons, Scheid recalls standing inside the NHS gymnasium for spring sports photo day. "Of course the photos were taken indoors because of the weather," he said. "But we had the kids look at the banner on the wall and talked about how we needed to get a fresh set of numbers back up there. "We knew this team had the ability to do that with Ashton Coe coming back out to join some veteran seniors who were good athletes and varsity players for us," Scheid added. "The focus for the entire year has been to go out and play every single match with our eyes on that No. 1 spot in the league." In taking over on short notice, Scheid didn't know what he had talent-wise this season other than past results on paper. The Truckers were 15-5 in 2021 and 9-9 last season. Scheid knew what he had at first and second singles with Bryan Sommers and Coe. But he cited the emergence of junior Drew Thomas at third singles as a big reason why the Truckers are looking for their second SBC Lake title since the division began in 2018. "Coach Rehnborg and I talked many practices about who would be the perfect No. 3, because we had quite a few kids who could fit in that spot," Scheid said. "We agreed on Drew at the start of the season, and if we had to, we could make changes and had options. "But once we put him there, he's just been phenomenal, and just this past weekend cruised through (the SBC tournament)," he added. "He's just been someone we could count on all year long. Because we have such a good, deep senior class, I'd say Drew has been the biggest surprise." Norwalk's lone loss this season was a 3-2 loss vs. Ashland (8-5) that featured tie-breakers at all three singles matches on March 30. Five of a possible seven players also earned all-league honors at the individual Lake tournament on April 30 in Vermilion. And once the Truckers are done with the league slate, the turnaround will be overnight. After hosting Perkins next Wednesday, Norwalk will begin Division I sectional play at Fremont Ross the next day on Thursday. Coe and Sommers will team up at first doubles in the tournament, with Ethan Brown and Josh Newhouse — the usual first doubles team — shifting to No. 2 doubles. Coe and Sommers earned the No. 2 seed at the sectional, while Brown and Newhouse are seeded third. In singles, Thomas is the No. 4 seed. "We're not even thinking about sectionals right now since our lineup will be different," Scheid said. "But we're very happy with our seeding going into it."