Gilroy
– Ben Wilson talked about how nice it would be to win three
times this week to give the younger players some confidence.
Gilroy – Ben Wilson talked about how nice it would be to win three times this week to give the younger players some confidence.
The Mustangs will have to settle for two out of three after dropping a 4-3 decision to San Benito, falling by the same score when the two teams met earlier in the season.
“We’ve had a lot of improvement,” Wilson, the Mustangs’ No. 1 singles player, said before Wednesday’s match. “The second time around we will do better.”
That will happen regardless of Wednesday’s outcome if Gilroy takes care of business at 3:30pm today at Watsonville. After all, the Mustangs (2-9 overall, 2-8 TCAL) already have defeated Alvarez, which beat them the first time around. Nevertheless, GHS coach John Langer was disappointed.
“I thought we could beat (San Benito),” Langer said. “A couple of guys were right in there. We just didn’t play well in the tiebreakers.”
Wilson, however, continued to play well. The senior was up 3-0 earlier in the week when his match with Danny Coffey was suspended. It resumed Wednesday and Wilson closed out the Haybaler sophomore 6-2, 6-3.
“Ben’s been solid all season,” Langer said. “He’s always cool on the court and does what he needs to do.”
And the Mustangs continued to get strong efforts from their Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams. Esteban Delgadillo and Edwin Hernandez beat Austin Pan and Michael Labugnen 6-0, 6-7, 10-3 at No. 2 doubles, and Zach Singh and Mitch Souza defeated Joe Frusetti and Sean Fridman 7-5, 6-4.
“Our Nos. 2 and 3 doubles teams are some of the strongest in the league,” Langer said. “They seem to go at least three sets with everyone.”
But Gilroy came up short in three singles matches and No. 1 doubles. Once-beaten ‘Baler Derek Panger and Matt Chan split the first two sets before Panger jumped to a 6-0 lead in the pro-set third set to emerge with a 6-2, 3-6, 10-4 win.
Also for San Benito (5-4), Mark Tobias beat Michael Tajan 6-1, 6-2, and Connor Bray got past Takashi Miwa 6-4, 7-5, and the No. 1 doubles team D.J. Nielson and Jon Rudolfs defeated Sai Erdenchemeg and Sang Min Park 6-3, 6-4.
“I still believe we can be better and beat some more teams this (second) time around,” Langer said.
