Astilean Is First East Hampton Division Champion Since 2004

Max Astilean is resilient.

Even when the East Hampton junior found himself down 1-3 in a decisive third set in the Division IV singles tournament finale on Monday, he never counted himself out.

“I was thinking, ‘I couldn’t have done all this work for nothing,’” Astilean said, beaming from ear-to-ear following his match. “I told myself I had to really fight for it.”

He did just that, powering back to top Shoreham-Wading River eighth-grader Ray Hidaka, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to become the first East Hampton athlete to claim the Division IV championship crown since Matt Rubenstein in 2004.

“I was being way more aggressive — that really helped me,” Astilean said of his play down the stretch. “I was getting into his game of pushing the ball back and moving him, but I put it together at the end.”

Astilean let out a scream as he slammed down an ace up 40-all to claim his fifth point in the final set. His strong serves and even harder returns forced Hidaka to make multiple errors on returns that fell just short of the net to claim the victory.

East Hampton head coach Kevin McConville joked about how Astilean has been putting him through the ringer since the student-athlete was competing in the 10-and-under tournaments, adding the junior flourishes when tested.

“He loves the pressure — it’s almost like he subconsciously creates it, so he can thrive under it,” McConville said, laughing. “I feel like, sometimes, he sets himself up for that challenge — and he always gets the most out of it. He does not choke.”

The junior had faced his opponent three times last year, so knowing his game, he came in with the strategy to force Hidaka to move forward and backward — to come to the net and tire him out — but when the eighth-grader began sending volleys behind him, he had to change his attack. That’s when Astilean got into the back-and-forth battle for returns from the baseline, many of which fell outside the sidelines as he fell behind in the second and third sets.

“Ray is a fantastic baseliner — plays really good lateral tennis where he’s hitting left and right into open space,” McConville said. “So, it wasn’t just about hitting big shots — because sitting back you miss eventually — but to come in behind his good shots and force Ray to pass. You don’t see a lot of juniors coming to the net.”

Astilean wasn’t the only Bonacker to come away with bragging rights on May 16, with seven of his East Hampton/Pierson teammates — every one who entered the tournament — boasting impressive showings to earn a spot in the individual Suffolk County tournament, which begins Friday, May 20, at 9 a.m. at Smithtown East High School.

“It’s really cool to get eight kids out of 16 All-County spots from our one team,” McConville said. “I knew we had solid guys all the way through, but I really didn’t know what we had until our Ward Melville match — until we really got some good competition. But I know what we’ve got now.”

Freshman Kiefer Mitchell, a Ross School transfer, bested Elwood-John Glenn senior Alon Alkelai, 6-4, 7-5, to take third place, and Mitchell’s older brother Cameron, a sophomore, along with East Hampton classmate Miguel Garcia, beat teammates Armando Rangel, an East Hampton junior, and Dane Schwalb, a Pierson freshman, for the third spot in the doubles draw.

“Kiefer should not be overlooked,” McConville said. “That was a really good performance — that John Glenn kid was tricky to play.”

Southampton senior Luke Sacchonaghi, who topped Hampton Bays junior Israel Pulla, 6-2, 6-1, fell to Mitchell, 6-3, 6-3, in the second round. The Mariners doubles teams of Charlie Davis and Yassine Boukaiss and Raphael Garcia and Yostin Sandoval also advanced to the second round.

The Mitchell-Garcia tandem were the No. 1-seeded duo in the tournament, but fell to second-place finishers Kevin Koch and Tommy McGunnigle out of Mattituck, who lost to No. 2 Bobby Stabile and Sandro Volpe out of Westhampton Beach.

East Hampton eighth-grader Jagger Cohen finished sixth with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Westhampton Beach sophomore Gavin Vander Schaaf, and Bonacker sophomore Nick Cooper, who couldn’t make his consolation match due to illness, rounded out the Top 8.

“Jagger played great. He played Westhampton’s No. 1 very, very close,” McConville said. “I’m super happy with the guys.”

Astilean said he will be riding the momentum of his win in the county championships this weekend.

“I feel great — a lot of confidence,” he said. “I’m finally finding my mojo and being the player that I know I am.”