Calvin Vincent learned a lot as a freshman playing behind Jonah Chen in Edward Little’s lineup in 2023.

Chen went undefeated as the Red Eddies’ No. 1 singles tennis player that season, and Vincent nearly replicated that success, winning 10 of his 11 regular season matches as sophomore this spring.

And like Chen last year, Vincent has been chosen as the 2024 Sun Journal All-Region Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

“Jonah is awesome — I really learned a lot from him, and we hit often still,” Vincent said. “I love Jonah, and I learned a lot. It’s different playing at (No. 1) compared to (No.) 2.”

Vincent was Edward Little’s No. 2 player in 2023, and his dad and Edward Little coach Greg Vincent said learning from Chen was invaluable.

“It allowed him to feel it out and come in with some confidence in the No. 2 position …” Greg Vincent said. “Jonah hitting with him and making him a better player day in and day out in practice, you can’t account for it. It’s amazing, it’s outstanding actually.”

Calvin Vincent said he played a lot of tennis in March to get ready to face opposing team’s No. 1 players this spring. That work paid of, Greg Vincent said.

“He actually had a really good year,” Greg Vincent said. “I think he surprised a lot of people with that record. He was looking to go into the season — it’s a big step, maybe go .500, or maybe a little better than .500. Going 10-1 is an accomplishment for him.”

Calvin Vincent was anxious and eager heading into his sophomore season.

“It was daunting sometimes,” Calvin said. “You know you are always going to be playing a tough match. I played some long matches this year, and I grinded them out. It’s also exciting too because you are playing their best, and I was our team’s best.”

Something he quickly learned is that the shots that won him points as a No. 2 player weren’t necessarily going to win points against the No. 1 players.

He also had a side hustle that helped him train for long matches: along with playing tennis this spring, Calvin was also a long-distance runner for the Edward Little track and field team.

“It definitely gave me endurance, I will say that,” Calvin said. “These matches were long. I was trying to keep my endurance up, my lungs good, and my legs. I think that’s one of my strengths, actually, going longer into matches. Track, and I run a lot. I think that helps me a lot.”

Edward Little’s Calvin Vincent runs during the KVAC Class A cross country championships in October at Messalonskee High School in Oakland. Vincent, a sophomore, also plays tennis, ski races and is a distance runner on the Red Eddies track and field team. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

He isn’t sure if he will compete in two sports again next year. While he enjoyed both, Calvin said he got a little tired this spring and had some minor injuries that kept him from running in a few track meets this season.

One of Calvin’s highlights this year was splitting the regular season matchups with Brunswick’s No. 1 player, Jacob Scrapchansky. Scrapchansky took the first match 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 on April 22 in Lewiston, where Edward Little played its home matches. A month later, Vincent won 6-1, 6-0.

“I played Jake here for one of the first matches of the season,” Calvin said. “It was a very close match, we both played real well. I ended up losing in a very long match, in three sets. We went down to Brunswick, and I beat him there — it felt good to get a little revenge. I really like Jake, he’s a really good player.”

While Calvin’s conditioning improved throughout the season, so did his confidence level.

“My endurance and just my confidence,” Calvin said. “I feel like I got confident. I feel like I got more confident later in the matches as the season went on.”

Calvin was Edward Little’s lone entrant in the state singles tournament, where he reached the Round of 32. He beat Kaiden Plourde of Old Town 6-2, 7-5 in the opening round and lost a second-set tiebreaker in the second round to Sam Hebert of Caribou 7-5, 2-6 (11-9).

“My freshman year, I lost in the first round, so I was happy this year to advance one more round,” Calvin said. “What I would have really liked was to advance to the Round of 16, but it was a real close match. I am hoping next year that can be my goal.”