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As experienced as it gets
The term "rebuilding" gets bandied about sports frequently. Whenever a team suffers heavy losses to graduation or other factors, the cliched rebuilding process begins.
You do not hear much about what happens once the construction is complete.
That's where you will find the CCHS boys tennis team — the Devils top eight players are all seniors. That experience has helped the Devils to a strong 2008 start.
But 2009 ... that will require some serious rebuilding.
"God bless the next team," No. 2 singles player Logan Desabrais said on Monday, after the Devils' fell to powerful Fauquier.
CCHS coach Ron Hutchins is currently in his 32nd season as the Devils' head man. So it takes something truly unusual to catch him off guard.
His current roster did the job.
"This is the first time I've ever had this many seniors," Hutchins said, and then joked, "If you're around next year, you'll see me over crying in the corner, so please come over and console me or something."
Hutchins can worry about the attrition come next spring.
For now, he has a team that is playing relatively well. Take out two expected losses to Fauquier, and Culpeper is 4-1 against its other competition.
Plus, all four victories have come within the Cedar Run District. That is critical as the Devils strive for a top-finish, and a spot in the district's team tournament.
Fauquier appears to be head and shoulders above the district right now, but CCHS could be next in line.
"Fauquier's always a step ahead of everybody, but everybody else has got maybe two good players and the rest are decent," No. 3 singles player Randy Smyth said. "Our whole top six is good enough to handle everybody."
The top six is almost more veteran-laden than any team the Devils will run into.
Such a setup has helped CCHS, even in practice.
"It's actually kind of cool," Desabrais said. "We just all do our thing, there's no quarrels with each other."
The peace and harmony has made Hutchins job easier as well.
At this point, he essentially knows what he is getting from every spot in the lineup. After four years together as a team, the Devils are very familiar with their capabilities.
"I've got a nice bunch of kids," Hutchins said. "They've got a lot of heart, they've shown that throughout the season."
The trick now will be taking all that heart and all that experience and continuing to win.
The best news out of Monday was that Fauquier is off the schedule (until the postseason), so CCHS can feel confident heading into its remaining matches.
And if confidence does not cut it, the Devils have an intimidation factor that no one else in the district can match.
"People come in and there like 'Oh man, all seniors, this is going to be hard,'" Smyth said. "So I guess it does give us an advantage."
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