By Aimee Ford FosterSpecial to Treasure Coast Newspapers

STUART — When Michael Rinaldi returned to the Martin County High School tennis team this spring, his goals were straight-forward.

He wanted the team to do well at the state tournament and he wanted to win the No. 1 state singles title.

Rinaldi’s first goal came true, as he helped the Tigers place third at the state tournament.

His second fell just short.Rinaldi lost in the champion-

ship match at the state tourna-ment, which was his only loss of the year. But that lone blemish certainly did not take away from a splendid season by the senior, who last played for the school as a freshman.

Rinaldi finished the season with a 15-1 record in No. 1 singles and 16-1 at No. 1 doubles, winning dis-trict titles in both and advancing through the regional tournament unbeaten. And despite suffering an ankle injury the first day of the state tournament, he still ad-vanced through his bracket.

For his achievements, Rinaldi has been named the Scripps Trea-sure Coast Newspapers All-Area Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

“It was a lot of fun to be on the

team for a change and not by my-self,” Rinaldi said. “Coach (Skip) Morgan makes it very enjoyable. We just had a good time and we did well.”

Rinaldi was playing just his sec-ond season of high school tennis.

In his only other high school season, as a freshman, he also posted a 15-1 record and advanced to the No. 1 singles final at state. In between, he spent two seasons playing high-level amateur tennis both nationally and internation-ally and secured a scholarship to play tennis at Florida State Uni-versity.

Still, he wanted one last shot at

a state title.“I said all along that I would

come back for my senior year,” Rinaldi said.

One of Rinaldi’s best perfor-mances of the season came in the state semifinals. In his first match, Rinaldi injured his Achil-les tendon, but won despite being hobbled. Then he easily won the semifinal later that day, giving up just one game in the two-set win.

“I would say the semifinal was pretty good,” he said. “In the morning, I hurt my ankle and then I came back an hour later and played well. I was happy about that.”

Morgan knew Rinaldi would have a big season.

“The way he played this year ... he loses one match, and that was against the No. 1 player in the state in the finals of the FHSAA tourna-ment,” Morgan said.

“I did expect him to be that good.”

ALL-AREA BOYS TENNIS TEAM

All-Area First Team

Andrew Blair

Colin Mackay

Josh Kane

Kurt Bradshaw

Harlan Swift

Ryan Kealy

Logan Walker

PLAYER OF THE YEAR MICHAEL RINALDI

ANDREW BLAIRJohn Carroll sophomoreNo. 1 singlesNotable: Blair went 14-2 with his only losses coming to St. Edward’s junior Josh Kane and in the semifinals of the District 11-1A tournament. This was his second year as the No. 1 for John Carroll.KURT BRADSHAWVero Beach seniorNo. 1 singlesNotable: After a quiet regular season, Bradshaw earned a trip to the Class 4A state tournament when he and doubles partner Colin Mackay gutted out a big win in the semifinals of the District 9-4A championships and then went on to win the district tittle. He and Mackay advanced to the finals of the individual doubles bracket at the state tournament. Bradshaw was 6-8 in singles play and 12-7 in doubles.JOSH KANESt. Edward’s juniorNo. 1 singlesNotable: Kane went 16-1 in singles play and 10-1 at No. 1 doubles, winning the District 11-1A title and both his regional matches to help St. Edward’s advance to the state tournament. Kane and doubles partner Harlan Swift advanced to the semifinals at the state tournament.RYAN KEALYMartin County seniorNo. 4 singlesNotable: Kealy put together an impressive 21-2 record at No. 1 singles and was part of Martin County’s No. 2 doubles team that finished the year 19-1. Kealy won the No. 4 singles title at the District 15-3A tournament and went on to win his opening match at the Class 3A state tournament.COLIN MACKAYVero Beach seniorNo. 2 singlesNotable: Mackay won the No. 2 singles title at the District 9-4A tournament and teamed with Kurt Bradshaw to win the No. 1 doubles title and advance to the state tournament. The team advanced to the finals of the individual doubles bracket to finish the year with a 12-7 record. Mackay was 9-6 in singles play.HARLAN SWIFTSt. Edward’s seniorNo. 2 singlesNotable: Swift finished 13-1 in singles play and 10-1 at No. 1 doubles. He won the No. 2 singles title at the District 11-1A tournament. Swift advanced to the semifinals of the Class 1A state tournament in both singles and doubles play.LOGAN WALKERMartin County sophomoreNo. 2 singlesNotable: In his first year of high school tennis, Walker put together an 18-1 record at No. 2 singles. He was the District 15-3A champion at No. 2 singles and combined with Michael Rinaldi to win the No. 1 doubles district championship and finish with a 16-1 record.

ANDREW BRADSHAWVero Beach freshman

SEAN CARRICKSt. Edward’s sophomore

NICK DUNCANSt. Edward’s freshman

DREW HARDINVero Beach junior

OTTO RAMIREZOkeechobee freshman

KETHAN RAOLincoln Park junior

ROHAN REDDY Lincoln Park senior

JJ SANGUILLYMartin County senior

IAN SIGALOWMartin County senior

MARC TAYLORVero Beach senior

OLIVER WILKEYSt. Edward’s senior

All-Area Spring Sports Schedule

SUNDAY

Girls TennisMONDAY

Boys TennisTUESDAY

Girls TrackWEDNESDAY

Boys TrackTHURSDAY

Girls LacrosseFRIDAY

Boys LacrosseSATURDAY

SoftballSUNDAY

Baseball

Michael RinaldiMartin County seniorNo. 1 singlesNotable: Rinaldi slammed through the regular season undefeated atNo. 1 singles, and doubles, and advanced to the finals of the Class 3A state tournament before picking up his first loss. He ended the season with a 15-1 singles record and a 16-1 record at No. 1 doubles. Rinaldi was especially good in the postseason as Martin County’s competition picked up. He won No. 1 singles and doubles titles at the District 15-3A championships and advanced through the state tournament despite suffering an ankle injury the first day.Coach Skipper Morgan: “He loses one match this year and that’s against the No. 1 player in the state in the finals of the FHSAA state tournament ... I did expect his to be this good. And being a senior, he showed all the senior leadership that I expect, by example in the way that he conducted himself.”

Player of the Year

Tournament tough■■ Michael Rinaldi goes 15-1, falling only in the state title match

ALEX BOERNER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS

Martin County High School’s Michael Rinaldi is the 2012 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year

Skip MorganTeam: Martin CountyRecord: 236-72 in 18 seasons2012 season: Led Tigers to a perfect 16-0 mark including two regional wins that sent the team to the Class 3A state tournament where it placed third. Martin County started the postseason run by winning its 10th consecutive district championship.Quotable: “This was probably the most enjoyable year that I’ve had because I had five seniors. Ian (Sigalow), Ryan (Kealy) and Zach (Cramer) were with me for four years. I was worried because Jensen Beach is in our district and they’re good and they’re going to be good and I anticipated not winning. To come out on top and to play the way we did in the district and through regionals was very enjoyable.”

Honorable Mention

The TeamThe 2012 All-Area Boys Tennis Team was compiled by Aimee Ford Foster.

It was a lot of fun to be on the team for a changeand not by myself. Coach (Skip) Morgan makes

it very enjoyable. We just had a good time and we did well.”Michael Rinaldi,

Player of the Year

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