Leading off today: The rematch for the NYSPHSAA boys tennis tournament's singles championship was even better than could have been imagined Saturday.
Yuval Solomon of Plainview JFK avenged last year's loss in the final with a 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) victory against two-time defending champion Matt Gamble of Webster Schroeder at the National Tennis Center in Flushing.
"I told myself that I've been working for years and I know I can play tennis and fight and do this," the junior told Newsday. "I learned some of the strategies that he had last year and that he was going to be aggressive and I had to do the same."
Solomon broke serve to go up 4-3 in the third set and then traded breaks before Solomon held serve to send it to the tiebreaker. Solomon won the first five points before dropping the next four and recovering to close out the tournament.
"This is better than I thought," Solomon said. "I didn't think it would be this exciting and this overwhelming. I can't even explain how happy I am right now."
In doubles, it was an all-Section 1 matchup as defending champions Hope and Courage Crawford of Mamaroneck downed James Wei and Spencer Lowitz of Horace Greeley, 7-5, 6-2. They became the first doubles team to repeat as NYSPHSAA champs since Prem Vadlamudi and Vijay Vadlamudi of New Hartford in 1988 and '89.
Section 2 sweep: The Capital region's baseball teams went 5-for-5 in the NYSPHSAA quarterfinals, led by Ian Anderson's 16-strikeout performance in the Class AA contest Saturday.
Anderson, widely expected to be selected in the top half of the first round in Thursday's Major League Baseball draft, pitched a two-hitter in just his fifth start of the season as Shenendehowa downed Cicero-North Syracuse 5-1.
Anderson only allowed an infield single by Brendan Reilly in the first inning and a single to left by A.J. Nisci in the second. He struck out the side in the third, fourth and sixth innings.
Queensbury advanced in Class A with an 11-0 rout of Syracuse CBA. Aaron Cook allowed just two hits in five innings, striking out seven, to get the win. Brett Rodriguez, who pitched the final two innings, was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
In Class B, Schalmont scored a 9-0 win over Ogdensburg Free Academy. Greenwich downed Ticonderoga 5-2 in Class C, and Fort Plain scored nine times in the first two innings of an 11-6 win over Heuvelton in Class D. Kenny Travis keyed the first-inning outburst with a two-run single and James May had a two-run double in the second.
All's well at North Salem: Two days after being hit by a pitch on his throwing elbow, Danny Capra was healthy enough to throw a two-hitter for North Salem in a 4-0 victory vs. East Rockaway in Class C.
Capra fanned seven to send the Tigers to their first-ever state final four.
Capra was nicked on the arm in Thursday's win against Pine Plains.
"He got me on the back part of the elbow, thankfully," the senior right-hander told The Journal News. "It wasn't the inside part, so I was icing it the entire night. My mom was freaking out the entire night, but I basically iced it, massaged it and I threw a couple balls (Friday). I knew I would be fine."
Junior shortstop Adam Concadoro helped set the tone with a big first inning. He made a leaping catch and threw to first for a double play in the top half of the inning, then led
