The Salem boys tennis team entered the Class L tournament against Pinkerton looking to defend its state championship title, but ended the day defenseless as the Astros eliminated the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.

Following a 12-2 regular season record, Salem entered the playoffs as the No. 3 team and earned a home match that was twice postponed by rain.

In the regular-season match up, the Blue Devils snuck past Pinkerton in a 5-4 win on May 13, but the Astros prevailed on Saturday, May 30, 6-3.

Salem trailed 4-2 following singles play after its top four players suffered setbacks. Nick Letizio and Nick Noshirwani earned victories at No. 5 and No. 6 to keep their team’s hopes alive.

Noshirwani’s victory took extra time, as he won 9-8 following a 7-4 tiebreaker to finish his individual season record at 14-1.

The efforts from the bottom of the ladder were not enough as the team’s top two doubles teams were toppled, though Jordan Faulconer and Mike Michalczyk came away with a victory at No. 3 doubles.

Salem mentor Mike Jolicoeur said the layoff in between his team’s regular season finale and its playoff opener may have had an impact.

“We had about a week off, the weather to deal with and some other distractions, so it was a bad combination,” said Jolicoeur. “It’s tough not knowing when you are actually going to play, so the timing was just bad.”

Jolicoeur also said his squad knew Pinkerton, the sixth-seeded team in Class L, was a formidable challenge. The Astros made statements at No. 3 and No. 4 singles play in matches Jolicoeur believed his players would win.

During the regular-season meeting, Brian Peltz lost in a tiebreaker, and Faulconer earned a victory, but the playoff scores were 8-2 and 8-3, respectively.

Seven seniors graduate from this team, and next year’s squad also loses Windham residents to the new high school.

“I think we’re going to struggle,” said Jolicoeur. “We won’t return anybody who has seen any playing time. I think we’ll be young, but if there is a positive, that’s it. There are guys who will be in the program for a couple years.”