SALINAS
Following a surprising loss to Gilroy on Monday, the San Benito High boys tennis team finished the regular season strong on Tuesday when it trumped host Palma 5-2 in Salinas.
It was a doubles sweep – and a convincing doubles sweep at that – that ensured the ‘Balers of victory, and brought the tennis team to a double-digit win total in the Tri-County Athletic League. San Benito completes the regular season at 10-3 in the TCAL, 11-4 overall, and in second place behind undefeated Salinas.
In a near flawless performance by San Benito’s doubles teams, Jon Rudolfs and Michael Jensen set the tone at the No. 1 position when they easily defeated Palma’s Jose Ponce and Austin Walter 6-1, 6-0; Conner Bray and Tony Culler followed suit by beating Nathanial Hamilton and Neil Lal 6-0, 6-0; and Thomas Parcell and Eric Johnson continued the trend with another comfortable victory by topping Mario Jaime and Scott Karamura 6-1, 6-0.
The Chieftains scored singles victories at No. 1, where A.J. Yates downed Derek Panger 6-2, 6-2, and at No. 4, where Hunter Johnson took a 7-5, 6-3 win over Austin Pan.
But San Benito’s No. 2, Mark Tobias, defeated Steven Rogalsky 6-2, 6-1, while Kyle Skinner’s 6-0, 6-2 victory over Alex Hussain helped preserve the win.
The ‘Balers will now compete in the TCAL Finals at Everett Alvarez on Thursday and Friday, where only two singles players and two doubles teams will look to advance to the Central Coast Boys Tennis Championships.
Derek Panger and Mark Tobias will compete in the singles categories, while the pairings of Jon Rudolfs and Michael Jensen as well as Conner Bray and Tony Culler will eye a CCS bid in doubles.
Matches begin at 1 p.m., on both days.
