Jay County gets by Bruins (10/03/03)

MARION — The victory didn’t come as easy as they would have liked. And, the Patriots didn’t play as well as they would have like.

But, their season has been extended for another day, and as coach Barry Weaver would say: “That’s a good thing.”

Weaver’s Jay County tennis team defeated the Blackford Bruins 4-1 Thursday in the opening round of the Marion Sectional.

The victory earned the Patriots a semifinal match against the host Giants today at 3:30 p.m. The championship match will be played Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

“We got through a match we didn’t play particularly well in,” said Weaver. “We live another day.”

The Patriots (9-7) had beaten Blackford 5-0 two weeks ago, but the Bruins came out ready for a fight.

Both of the Patriot doubles teams faced stiff challenges, with Chip Feazell and Adam Paxson going to three sets against Justin Perry and Nick Baughy. At No. 1 doubles Tyler Rigby and Randy Evans took nearly as long as their No. 2 counterparts to top Jeremy Keplinger and Chance Wimmer in a close two-setter.

Evans and Rigby trailed 3-2 in the first set of their match, but won each of the next four games to take the victory. Again, they fell behind 4-3 in the second set before coming back.

Jay County won back-to-back games for the 5-4 advantage and a chance to finish the match if it could break Blackford’s serve. The Patriot pair fought off one Blackford game point, and finished the match 6-3, 6-4 when the Bruin pair hit one shot long followed by one into the net.

Feazell and Paxson went up and down in their match, dominating the first and third sets while foundering in between.

The No. 2 doubles duo capped a run to a 5-0 lead with a Chip Feazell ace in the first set and went on to win it 6-1. But, they stumbled in the second, losing 6-3 before regrouping.

The pair was back to form with the match on the line.

Adam Paxson nearly ended the match with an ace, but the ball hit just past the service line. Chip Feazell took care of the final point off of Paxson’s second serve, crushing the Bruins with an overhead slam for the 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win.

The doubles wins finished off a victory started at the singles spots by Kentaro Ohgo and Derek Powell.

Ohgo was dominant against Bret Ashley in a 6-0, 6-0 win. He is 7-1 on the season.

Powell never trailed in his match against Nathan Baughey, finishing off the first set with an overhead slam a few swings after showing all-out hustle in tracking down a Baughey lob. He dominated the second set, winning 6-4, 6-2 when he got a ball to just barely skip over the net.

“Kentaro played solid,” said Weaver. “I was real pleased.

“Derek had a good match. It tested him a little bit.”

Weaver also said he was happy with the doubles teams, but they need to be more consistent, especially with their serves.

The lone loss for the Patriots came as Blackford’s Tom Ehrhart took the first game against Kurtis Hess at No. 1 singles and would never trail against the Jay County sophomore.

Ehrhart nearly took Hess to a third set before losing to him in their previous meeting and built on that success. Hess was never in the match as Ehrhart took it 6-1, 6-2.

“I still think a lot of it is right between the ears,” said Weaver. “I think he wanted to play, I think he was ready to play, it just wasn’t there.”[[In-content Ad]]