TENNIS: Logan 3, Cass 2 in final — again

By BEAU WICKER
Pharos-Tribune sports editor

October 04, 2008 01:43 am

— The Logansport boys tennis program is on an unprecedented run of success in its long history.
Unfortunately for Cass, the Kings could probably be on a similarly successful run if it wasn’t for the Berries.
Logansport won its third consecutive sectional title with a 3-2 win over Cass in the championship Friday evening at the LHS tennis courts. It was the third consecutive season the Berries (16-5) eliminated Cass (14-6) with a 3-2 win.
“This has happened to me four times now to come in second in the sectional,” said Cass senior Doug Engle, who advanced to the Peru individual sectional for the second straight year with a win at No. 1 singles. “I’m getting tired of it, but life goes on.”
The Berries had never repeated as sectional champions until a year ago, and this year is the first time they have ever three-peated.
“We feel really good about getting this one,” Logan coach Matt Tuggle said. “You don’t take any of them for granted.”
Cass secured the first two points of the day to put pressure on Logan. Sean Ritz got the first point at No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Alex Miracle. Engle then recorded his 6-2, 6-3 win over Evan Clem.
Logan’s No. 2 doubles team of Jake McCord and Rick Brink pulled out a 7-5, 7-6 win over Dillon Mund and John Ziolek to get the Berries their first point. Jordan McGuire followed with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Cam Cummings at No. 2 singles to draw the match even, leaving the No. 1 doubles match to decide the champion.
Entering the match, the Kings’ Drew Fowler and Jaren Downhour had handed Logan’s Robbie Stewart and Andrew Rowe their lone defeat of the season. But on Friday, Stewart and Rowe were able to turn the tables, dealing Fowler and Downhour their first loss of the year as a duo, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1.
“When you’re 20-1, you just expect to find ways to win, and they did that,” Tuggle said of his No. 1 doubles team.
“The emotions were going pretty hard there, so we just had to keep those under control and finish what we knew we could do,” Stewart added. “Once we got down, we came back and we just kept playing cross court, cross court, and didn’t make as many errors.”
McGuire was another Berry who was able to avenge a regular season loss against the Kings.
“I was really proud of the way he finished sets,” Tuggle said of his No. 2 singles player. “He’d get a little bit of a lead, but he knocked it out instead of waiting around for the other guy to make a mistake.”
Cass coach Stu Engle credited the Berries.
“I think our guys played as well as they could today. Logan was just a little bit better,” he said. “You’ve got to congratulate them for that.”
Doug Engle (14-4) entered Friday 0-2 on the season and 1-1 during summer tournament play against Clem before pulling out the sectional win.
“I’ve lost to him three times over this summer, and I was back for revenge today. I just wanted to redeem myself and get back,” Engle said. “He’s a tough opponent. I had to give it my all. If I didn’t play my best, I was going to lose. That’s what I did, I played my best.”
Engle reiterated he wanted to advance with the rest of his team.
“I wanted the team to win real bad,” he said.
Next up for the Berries will be the Peru Regional. They’ll face the winner of the Marion Sectional on Tuesday evening. The winners of the Kokomo and Peru sectional will meet in the other Tuesday semifinal. The regional final is set for Wednesday.
Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com

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