P.J. Stein has spent a lot of time with his sons, Carter, and Cash, coaching them at tennis courts, gymnasiums and baseball fields in recent years.

Carter, a sophomore, has played No. 2 singles for most of this season for the Seymour Owls, while Cash, a freshman, has played one varsity match, at No. 3 singles, while seeing action in junior varsity singles matches this fall.

When the boys’ tennis coaching position at Seymour High School became open this summer it didn’t take P.J. long to apply for the job.

“It’s an opportunity that I had thought about, looked at last year with Carter a freshman and Cash an eighth grader,” he said. “I had coached them both at Immanuel for four-five years, and when the opportunity presented itself, it was just kind of a natural step up for me to continue to work with them.

“Their teammates, and a lot of these guys, I had coached in other sports and know what kind of character and work ethic they had in other sports they all had, so it was really exciting for me to take the opportunity.”

On Monday afternoon the Owls had their eight-match win streak broken by a strong Columbus North team 5-0. North is 7-1 and ranked sixth in the state, losing only to Carmel.

Seymour’s doubles teams had the most success as Joel Stevens and Shun Takeuchi lost 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles, and Xavier DuBois and Braylan Busby dropped a 7-6, 6-0 match at the second doubles.

Seymour singles players Parker Thompson, Carter Stein and Dane Thompson lost in straight sets.

“We knew coming in what the challenge was going to be,” Coach Stein said. “As crazy as it sounds, we may have played our best tennis tonight as a team overall. We didn’t have much to show for it on the scoreboard. We really battled at every position tonight.

“We made them earn it. I told our guys, don’t get caught up looking at the score. We made them earn every victory tonight.

“They’ve got some really quality players. Hank Lin, at one singles, is the favorite to win the state tournament this year. He was runner-up last year and is just an elite player.”

“It shows us where we want to be. “

Stein, who played tennis for the Owls, said when he began pre-season workouts reps and fundamentals and stuff is all part of tennis.

“The one thing I’ve been really trying to get through to them, and it is a process, is the mental side of things, keeping a good attitude throughout a match,” he said. “When you’re playing different opponents sometimes it gets a little chirpy for certain guys, but maintaining a focus, and also trying to outthink your opponent and capitalize on their weaknesses is a big part of tennis that people don’t realize sometimes.”

He said basketball and baseball are team sports, but tennis is a little more black and white.

“It’s a little bit easier to justify who you are playing, and where you’re playing them based on who beats who in practice,” P.J. Stein said. “I’ve probably been harder on my sons through the years, to a fault even. There has definitely never been any ‘daddy ball,’ or anything like that. They’ve had it a lot harder than I have, but they’ve both persevered through all my years of coaching and have really come a long way in all the sports they’ve played, especially tennis.”

P.J. said when he and the boys get home, he changes from being their coach to being their father. “I think that’s important in any sport, the separation between coach and father. It’s not easy to coach your sons for sure.

“When we get home, we still talk about things and stuff, but it’s a little bit different than when we’re (at the courts) in the team environment.”

Both brothers began playing tennis in fifth grade at Immanuel, and were coached by P.J.

Carter said, “I would say it’s fun, no pressure playing for my dad. He is always my coach on the court, but after that he is my dad.”

He said in singles “it is you versus your opponent. You don’t have to worry about a teammate. I’d say forehand and my serve are the strong parts of my game. My backhand is decent, my forehand is better.

“I stay back mostly and let my opponent come to the net. I like that tennis is individual, but it’s also kind of team. We’re winning our singles matches. We just need to keep playing good tennis.”

Cash said, “I’ve played baseball for my father since sixth grade. I’m used to his coaching.”

Cash said he works hard in practice. “I work on going down the line, hitting cross-court. I like singles better. You rely on your own. I think I’m going to be at No. 3 singles next year.

“I’ve got to get my serve better, especially my second serve, and I’ll have to work on my ground strokes to get better. My backhand slices aren’t very good so I’m going to work on that.

“Hopefully I’ll get to play a few more varsity matches here and there.”

The Owls took a record of 8-2 into Tuesday’s match against New Albany.

Columbus North 5, Seymour 0

No. 1 singles: Hank Lin (CN) def. Parker Thompson (S), 6-0, 6-0

No. 2 singles: Parth Shah (CN) def. Carter Stein (S), 6-2, 6-4

No. 3 singles: Teddy Litrell (CN) def. Dane Thompson (S),6-0, 6-3

No. 1 doubles: Vince Sasse-Yoki Marabayashi (CN) def. Joel Stevens-Shun Takeuchi (S), 6-2, 4-6, 6-0

No. 2 doubles: Shashu Sabapathy-Adrian Perez (CN) def. Xavier DuBois-Braylon Busby (S), 7-6, 6-0