Outlaws get taste of state tennis tournament

Three players from the Outlaws tennis squads experienced the energy and high level of play found only at the state tournament. Colin Reinert (No. 1 singles) represented the boys' team and Brenna Weems and Jesse Farr-Baenziger (No. 1 doubles) represented the girls' squad at the state tennis championships held at OSU Thursday and Friday, May 21 and 22.

Reinert started off great, and defeated Emmett Copher of Molalla 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. Copher is a very steady player, runs down every single ball, and returns it. Coach Bim Gander told The Nugget that Copher's strategy drove Reinert crazy. Copher would continually lob it over Reinert's head and then Colin had to go back to the baseline.

Colin got slammed in the first set, and then went down 1-4 in the second set.

Gander said, "I could tell Colin was frustrated and so we chatted about how to defend against Copher's strategy. We talked about him taking position in the middle of the court so he could hit a first aggressive shot, which led to a weaker response from Copher, and then Colin could angle away for a winner."

The strategy worked. Colin came back to win a tight second set, and kept at it to win an easy third set.

Reinert advanced to the quarterfinals and lost to No. 3-seed Ethan Berkey from North Marion. Berkey handled Reinert 6-1, 6-1.

Gander said, "Colin was just thrilled he made it to the state tournament. He played a difficult first match and overcame a tough problem. It was inevitable he'd eventually run into a top seed and he did. He lost to a very accomplished Ethan Berkey and he knows there's plenty of work to be done on his game in the future."

On the girls' side, Weems and Farr-Baenziger had to face Salvador and Woken from powerhouse Caitlin Gable. Brenna and Jesse lost the match 6-4, 6-2.

Gander said, "They played a good match, but just weren't quite as strong. They had a very good showing against a strong team."

The Outlaws combo went into the consolation bracket and lost 8-6 to Suelzle and Wood from Cascade. Brenna and Jesse had played against this same team earlier in the season and lost in a very close match, and this time around was a duplicate of the previous match.

"Brenna and Jesse had a great start and jumped to a 3-0 lead," said Gander. "They played well and the other team had some unforced errors. The Cascade team got their act together and then play consisted of numerous long rallies, terrific shots, and great defensive plays by both teams."

Little by little, Cascade inched ahead, and Brenna and Jesse saw their lead dwindle. The pro-set went to a 5-5 tie and then Cascade forged ahead and got the win.

"Brenna and Jesse played their hearts out, but it just wasn't quite enough," said Gander. "They just didn't have the fire-power to overcome the decisive play of the Cascade team. Once again, Jesse's lobbing was outstanding."