EVAN WHEATON/Sun-Gazette Wellsboro’s Joe Doty competes at No. 1 singles against South’s Logan Ogden on Tuesday afternoon.
Wellsboro brought a new look in its boys tennis rematch against South Williamsport on Tuesday. The Green Hornets adjusted their lineup around Joe Doty — their projected first-singles player ahead of the season — who had returned from vacation.
“Especially with the change at No. 1 singles, that kind of threw us off guard,” Mounties senior Logan Ogden said. “But we handled it well. It was a very close match and I think we all did a great job.”
With the meeting tied 2-all, Ogden defeated Doty, 7-6, 6-3, to ice a 3-2 win for South Williamsport over Wellsboro at the South Williamsport Community Park.
In Doty’s first match of first-singles of the season, he was hitting well and taking it to Ogden. But the latter also had to settle in first. The first set saw some muffed serves to keep the gap close between the two.
“I couldn’t get my serve in today. I was doing a lot of just popping it over for the second serve,” Ogden said. “But he’s a heck of a player and I have a lot of improving to do.”
EVAN WHEATON/Sun-Gazette South’s Wyatt Robbins competes against Wellsboro on Tuesday afternoon.
Doty kept his attacks consistent. Ogden tried to play off those attacks by pushing the pace in his favor.
“Yesterday I had a tiebreaker match, but for this one, I just needed to have confidence to hit the ball in my forehand,” Ogden said. “He kept hitting to my backhand, so I really needed to prepare mentally for that to be able to return the ball, and that’s what I tried to do the entire game.”
Kade Sanford picked up another win for the Mounties (4-2) in second-singles. Against Liam Manning, Sanford took a 6-2, 6-0 outing. Owen Richardson took third-singles for the Green Hornets (4-4) with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Wyatt Robbinson.
The Mounties previously took a 4-1 win over the Green Hornets last month. With its singles lineup bolstered, Wellsboro brought a much tighter game to South Williamsport’s courts.
“I was expecting Wellsboro to come down and play,” Mounties coach Kent Young said. “… I was very happy with the way our singles players played across the board because each of them played new kids that had different styles. I was very happy with what I saw.”
EVAN WHEATON/Sun-Gazette South’s Logan Ogden competes at No. 1 singles against Wellsboro on Tuesday afternoon.
Both sets in first-doubles were vastly lopsided outcomes. The opening frame came down to a 7-6 (3) finish in favor of Ross Flerlage and Caleb Jackson of South Williamsport over Aiden Gehman and Hayne Webster.
Flerlage and Jackson rode that momentum off the opening-set thriller and flew out to a 6-1 finish to ice their pairing.
“One-doubles came up big for us. I knew it would come down to doubles. I was pretty certain of that,” Young said. “One-doubles, that tiebreaker that they won in the first set set the tone for the second. And they just rolled from there.”
Drew Manning and Connor Pierce earned the second win of the day for the Green Hornets. The duo took second-singles, 6-4, 6-2 against Luke Sanford and Brock Weaver.
“Credit Wellsboro. They came down here looking for a win. That’s what I thought they’d do, and that’s what they did,” Young said. “They came down here looking. Fortunately for us, they didn’t find it.”
South Williamsport 3,
Wellsboro 2
SINGLES
1. Logan Ogden (SW) def. Joe Doty, 7-6 (1), 6-3; 2. Kade Sanford (SW) def. Liam Manning, 6-2, 6-0; 3. Owen Richardson (W) def. Wyatt Robbins, 6-3, 6-4.
DOUBLES
1. Ross Flerlage/Caleb Jackson (SW) def. Aiden Gehman/Hayne Webster, 7-6 (3), 6-1; 2. Drew Manning/Connor Pierce (W) def. Luke Sanford/Brock Weaver, 6-4, 6-2.
Records: South Williamsport (4-2), Wellsboro (4-4).
