The last time San Benito and Gilroy met up, the Balers needed a
sweep at doubles and a tight win in singles in order to edge the
Mustangs by a 4-3 margin. On Tuesday, San Benito head coach Chris
Yoder jumbled his lineup by placing his top two doubles players in
the singles division, and it wound up paying dividends. A 4-3 win
by the Balers a month ago was a 6-1 win on Tuesday.
GILROY
The last time San Benito and Gilroy met up, the Balers needed a sweep at doubles and a tight win in singles in order to edge the Mustangs by a 4-3 margin.
On Tuesday, San Benito head coach Chris Yoder jumbled his lineup by placing his top two doubles players in the singles division, and it wound up paying dividends.
A 4-3 win by the Balers a month ago was a 6-1 win on Tuesday.
Follow Free Lance Sports on Twitter.
“I just decided to mix it up a little bit today,” Yoder said. “The last time against Gilroy, we were pretty down in singles and pretty dominant in doubles.
“I wanted to put in a strong singles lineup and give them the opportunity to hit some more balls.”
With Jacob Garcia holding down his No. 1 spot in singles — he defeated Andrew Costa 6-2, 6-3 — San Benito was represented by Kyle Skinner and Eric Johnson at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, otherwise known as the Balers’ top doubles team.
But the decision to split the pairing paid off in the end. Skinner defeated Victor Vong 6-0, 6-2, while Johnson did the same to Joseph Leong 6-2, 6-3.
At No. 4 singles, Gilroy picked up its one and only victory when Justin Cho topped Alex Reilly 6-3, 7-5.
But despite the jumbled lineup, San Benito still swept the doubles portion Tuesday, just like it did a month ago against the Mustangs.
Brian Becerra and Sunny Singh, normally the Balers’ No. 2 team, moved up a slot to No. 1 and dispatched Gilroy’s Josh Sontag and Bobby Kwong 6-1, 6-0, while the Panger brothers of Jacob and Andrew defeated Ryan Jansky and Ryan Case 6-0, 6-1.
At No. 3 doubles, San Benito’s Nick Trillo and Geoff Muzik won their match by default.
Yoder said he doesn’t know if he’ll mix up the lineup again, but Tuesday’s test run at least proved to be fruitful for the Balers.
San Benito is now 6-3 in the Tri-County Athletic League, 7-6 overall.
The Balers will host Christopher High Thursday at the Ridgemark Golf and Country Club. Match time is 4 p.m.
