San Benito sweeps doubles to beat visiting Sobrato 6-1
Tuesday
HOLLISTER
After suffering a 7-0 defeat on the road at Carmel on Monday, the San Benito High boys tennis team picked up their first win of the 2009 season Tuesday when they beat visiting Sobrato 6-1 at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club in Hollister.
San Benito’s lone loss came in No. 1 singles where Haybaler Derek Panger lost to Sobrato’s Ronnie Pollard 1-6, 4-6. To Panger’s credit, though, Pollard doesn’t lose often. In fact, he went undefeated in the Blossom Valley Athletic League last year, when Sobrato went all the way to the CIF-Central Coast Section playoffs.
Despite the loss at No. 1 singles, the ‘Balers otherwise cruised past the Morgan Hill school, losing just 21 more sets in the process.
No. 2 Mark Tobias downed Tyler Pecsock 7-5, 6-1, while freshman and No. 3 singles player Kyle Skinner topped Nick Garber 6-2, 6-1. Austin Pan, San Benito’s No. 4 singles player, defeated Sobrato’s Zach Thomas 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles the ‘Balers swept, with the top team of Jon Rudolfs and Tony Culler defeating Mitchell Schinkelberg and Gian Abella 6-2, 6-2.
Neither member of San Benito’s No. 2 doubles team, Josh Greenwood and Mike Jensen, played for the ‘Balers last season, yet they scored their first victory of 2009 when they upended Kyzema Khairullah and Chris Holmes 6-0, 6-0.
The No. 3 team of Thomas Parcell and Eric Johnson then downed Sobrato’s Jacob Mendola and Aaron Statz 6-2, 6-2 to finish the match.
San Benito (1-1) will open Tri-County Athletic League play on Thursday when they will host Salinas at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club in Hollister.
Match time is 4 p.m.
