Port Clinton edges Clyde 3-2 in battle of SBC champions

PORT CLINTON — The general feeling became reality. Port Clinton coach Joe Miller acknowledged Clyde had a bit of an advantage at first singles and first doubles while the Redskins felt good at second singles and third singles. That meant all eyes were on second doubles. Port Clinton's Alex DeFreitas and Aero Wymer and Clyde's Cole Sengstock and Trenton Brown didn't disappoint. Sengstock and Brown won a tight opening set before DeFreitas and Wymer grinded out a win in the second set. In a match tiebreak in the third set, the duo of DeFreitas and Wymer had to dig deep in a 17-15 win Wednesday. The 5-7, 7-6 (2), 17-15 win by DeFreitas and Wymer gave the Bay Division champion Redskins a 3-2 win over Lake Division champion Clyde in a battle of Sandusky Bay Conference champions. Port Clinton celebrated after the match by receiving its Bay Division trophy from PC athletic director Rick Dominick. "I'm just so proud of them. That's a freshman (Wymer) and a sophomore (DeFreitas) who put in so much work," Miller said. "Our athletic director put it perfectly that it's the Monday nights in the middle of January and you go to Court 1 and see red and white all over the place. We have guys that go to Toledo two or three times a week to train and they're two of them. "We knew it was going to be a battle and we thought it would come down to second doubles and boy did it." Each team had four match points in the third set tiebreak. After the Redskins (18-1) won a second set tiebreak with ease, Clyde (16-2) dominated early in the third set tiebreaker. The Fliers went up 2-0 and after a point by Port Clinton, Brown and Sengstock won the next four points. They took a 6-1 lead on an overhead smash by Brown. DeFreitas and Wymer rallied, winning the next four points to even the set at 6. "I grabbed Aero and told him we had to get back in it," DeFreitas said. "We knew we could do it. We needed to go for it and not be afraid to miss our shots." Port Clinton had the first match point up 9-8, but a double fault tied the set at 9. A winner from Sengstock gave the Fliers their first match point, but a hitting error evened the set at 10. The Redskins also had match point up 11-10, but Sengstock lined a winner off the PC serve to tie the set. Clyde had chances up 12-11, 13-12 and 14-13, but Port Clinton answered each time. An error on the Fliers gave the Redskins an opportunity up 15-14, but Brown's winner tied the set at 15. From there, DeFreitas smacked a winner and a shot at 16-15 from Port Clinton turned into a Clyde error to give the Redskins the win. "We're big as a team on the next point mentality," Miller said. "It's so easy to say it. Tennis is such a mental sport that it's so hard to put it into practice, but they did. They were able to focus on that next point. Nothing before that mattered. To win a 17-15 tiebreaker, you have to do that." After winning the first set, Brown and Sengstock led 3-1 in the second. DeFreitas and Wymer got back in the set, but a wobbly serving game at 4-4 gave Clyde a plethora of chances to break and serve for the match. But, DeFreitas and Wymer kept serve and the set went into a tiebreaker. "Throughout the winter, we've always put in the work with a lot of practice," Wymer said. "We play together a lot outside of practice. We have a lot going for us and we wanted to prove ourselves." The two went up 5-0 in the tiebreaker before Brown and Sengstock won the next two points. Port Clinton sent the match to a deciding third set with the final two points of the set. "We're gaining experience," Clyde coach Jeff MacFarland said. "Our boys really hadn't been pushed at all this season and that was really the first really tough match they've been in. We learned a lot from it. We need to finish off points. We kept them in points a little bit longer than we needed to." Port Clinton's Payton Wadsworth was the first victor of the night, defeating Clyde's Alex Barrett 6-0, 6-1 at third singles. Wadsworth is 21-0 this season. "Payton was a JV player last year," Miller said. "He played second singles in the SBC JV tournament. That's incredible. I'm unbelievably proud of Payton. He's worked so hard to get here. He's a future leader on this team." Charley Kruse put the Redskins up 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Connor Eastby at second singles. Kruse is new to tennis, but has had a solid season. "Charley is the No. 4 seed at sectionals in his first year of playing tennis," Miller said. "I think he started nine months ago. He's a guy that's in Toledo all the time. He's always at Court 1. He loves tennis. I think Charley Kruse is a name you're going to hear the next couple years in the area." Clyde's senior first doubles team of Chase Castle and Oscar Webb got the Fliers on the board with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Zach Speer and Evan Lovitt. "It was a little slower start at the beginning," MacFarland said. "It's nice to try to put them in a bit of a pressure situation. They always have a 6-0 set, which they were able to do in the second set." Aric Kauble evened the match at two wins apiece with a 6-1, 6-3 win at first singles. Kauble recently became the first boys player to win 100 career matches for the Fliers. "Aric has really developed from his freshman year up to his senior year," MacFarland said. "He's developed into a nice first singles player these last two years. He got that experience and had a lot of success last year." Clyde will host Upper Sandusky for Senior Night on Thursday. The Fliers face Lexington in the next round of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association tournament early next week. Port Clinton hosts its Rod Gale Doubles Tournament on Friday. The Redskins will face Bellevue in a makeup match Monday with a shot at the best record in program history at 19-1. Port Clinton's girls team set a program record by going 20-1 this past fall. "The Bay champs and the Lake champs in the last year of the SBC," Miller said. "We knew this was going to be a fun match, but it feels like an unique match. You'd think it was a high pressure match, but both of us won titles and nothing was really on the line other than a quality win. We talked about embracing a high-stakes match without any of the pressure on us." Singles: Aric Kauble (C) def. Kai Weit (PC) 6-1, 6-3; Charley Kruse (PC) def. Connor Eastby (C) 6-0, 6-1; Payton Wadsworth (PC) def. Alex Barrett (C) 6-0, 6-1 Doubles: Chase Castle/Oscar Webb (C) def. Evan Lovitt/Zach Speer (PC) 6-4, 6-0; Aero Wymer/Alex DeFreitas (PC) def. Cole Sengstock/Trenton Brown (C) 5-7, 7-6 (2), 17-15