Centralia's Ben Corwin eyes down the ball before making a volley Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
Centralia's Jackson Buzzard makes a volley Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
WF West's Christian Iverson serves the ball Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
Centralia's Ben Corwin serves the ball Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
Centralia's Landon Kaut makes a volley Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
WF West's Caleb Walters stretches back for a volley Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
WF West's Cade Cameron prepares to take a swing Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
Centralia's Ben Corwin hits one while deep on his side of the court Wednesday afternoon at the Borst Park tennis courts.
Centralia employed a little out of the box gamesmanship here on Wednesday in an effort to flummox the visiting Bearcats and it would have worked too, if not for a strong push from the back end of the W.F. West lineup.
In the end the Bearcats were able to snag a 4-2 victory over their rivals, even after dropping the first two matches of the day.
“They have a really good first doubles team but they split them up today and had them play singles,” said W.F. West coach Jack State. “It was smart. Playing together they had a chance at one win but individually they had a chance for two wins, and they did.”
Just as the Tigers had planned, Ben Corwin and Ryan Mack were able to capture wins on their own accord after being separated from their usual union. Corwin defeated Cade Cameron 6-2, 6-1 and Mack bested Luke Walters 6-0, 6-4.
Those outcomes did not surprise State.
“That was to be expected. Ben is a very talented tennis player and a senior,” said State. “Luke is really coming on but Ryan has lettered for three years for them. I really liked the way Luke battled back in that set. He was really just hitting the ball better to better spots.”
W.F. West claimed their first in a string of victories in the next match when Joseph Chung bested Brandon Young 6-2, 6-0. The Bearcats then swept the doubles portion of play. First Colin Slattery and Caleb Walters dropped Johna Lopez and Landon Kaut 6-3, 6-2, then Jacob Blomdahl and Christian Iverson topped Brandon Wilkerson and Jackson Buzzard 7-6 (7-3), 6-0. Finally, Gabe Cuestas and Jacob Moeckel downed McKiernan Jones and Sawyer Cassel 6-1, 6-1.
State noted that several of those doubles sets were closer than their scores may have indicated, and said that the second doubles match could have easily gone in the favor of Centralia with a different bounce here or there.
“I was really nervous during that set,” said State.
W.F. West (4-0 league, 6-0) will host Capitol on Thursday. Centralia (2-2 league, 3-3) will host Black Hills on Friday.
Tuesday's Results
Bearcats Overcome Slow Start to Sink Tumwater
TUMWATER – Following the Bearcats 4-2 win over Tumwater in 2A Evergreen Conference play on Tuesday W.F. West boys tennis coach Jack Slate said he might go cold turkey on one of the ballyhooed traditions of the coaching world.
“I was pretty pleased with the kids. I gave a pep talk beforehand and we went out and didn’t play very well in the first set, so maybe I won't give any more pep talks,” joked State. “But the kids did a good job of bouncing back in the second and third sets.”
In singles action the Bearcats claimed a pair of wins when Luke Walters defeated Noah Tompkins (2-6, 6-4, 6-1) and Joseph Chung bested Alex Abbot (6-1, 6-1). W.F. West’s lone loss in singles play came when Ethan Dillon topped Cade Cameron (6-1, 6-1).
In doubles competition the T-Birds took the first match in two sets when Jake Johnson and Gunnar Fields outplayed Colin Slattery and Caleb Walters (6-3, 6-3). The Bearcats found their bounce in the second and third sets, though, in order to take the day. First Jacob Blomdahl and Christian Iverson defeated Puiton Peterson and Clayton Pierpont in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-2), and then Gabe Cuestas and Jacob Moeckel sent Sawyer Longherd and Zach Schmidt home unhappy (6-3, 7-6, 9-7).
“The second doubles team and third doubles team and second singles all had to come back after losing a first set,” noted State. “I was really happy about how we talked over the things they needed to clean up and then they went up and worked on those points of emphasis.”
W.F. West (3-0 league, 5-0) will play at Centralia on Thursday.
