ONONDAGA COUNTY – Back on May 5, the Baldwinsville boys tennis team was on the brink of a landmark victory over Fayetteville-Manlius, long the dominant power in the SCAC Metro division.
The Bees and Hornets were tied, 3-3, with one match undecided, but then darkness halted the match. It would get resumed exactly one week later – and that decisive point went in F-M’s favor.
B’ville got on the board in singles when Eric Ventura defeated Xavier Sul in three sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-4, while in doubles Connor Tutor and Leonardo Vona beat Kaelen Michez and Justin Dunn 6-3, 6-3, and by those same scores Aidan DeLaney and Zach Treichler beat John Gilligan and Agniva Chaudhuri.
But Andrew Jung and Nick Helbig lost in two sets to Dan Manta and Gene Balian 6-0, 7-5, with Mason Doan taking a 6-2, 7-5 defeat to Cameron Lukasik.
And two other three-set matches decided matters. Nathan Smith fell to Colin Byer 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, while Ethon Haahr and Zach Pendergast, two games from a clinching victory, instead lost to Jon So and Will Ferguson 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.
Before all this, B’ville had two other big tests, first facing Jamesville-DeWitt last Monday and, despite getting swept in singles, pulled out a 4-3 victory over the Red Rams.
None of the trio of Doan, Treichler and DeLaney could win a set in any of their singles matches, forcing the doubles to be perfect – and they were.
Jung and Helbig got past Will Sharlow and Carson Souser 6-0, 7-5, with Tutor and Vona handling Dean Bratslavsky and Isiah Sternberg 6-1, 6-2.
Pendergast and Haahr routed Mike Meskos and Kai Brutsaert 6-0, 6-1, with Ventura and Smith getting a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jacob Price and Nate Amare.
Now, back in league action on Wednesday, B’ville challenged Cicero-North Syracuse, and had to forfeit a doubles match that proved the difference in a 4-3 defeat to the Northstars.
Tutor and Vona had handled Peter Gill and Andrew George 6-0, 6-2, with Pendergast and Smith pairing up for a 6-2, 6-2 win over Mike DeGroat and Alex Cao.
Up in singles, DeLaney beat Brandon Nguyen 6-1, 6-3, but Doan fell to Wyatt Dupell 6-4, 6-1 as Treichler took a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Brady Petranchuk. And in a three-set battle, Jung and Helbig struggled late and lost, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 to Matt Jordan and Ryan Kiel.
