Good showing by Eagles at L-L Tennis Tourney

Cocalico’s Colby Martin finished fifth in the L-L League Flight One AAA singles held this past week. Photo by Kirk Neidermyer

Over three days and four sites, Lancaster-Lebanon League boys tennis crowned champions in two classes and four flights over the last week. Championship and doubles matches were held at Conestoga Valley High School with finals on Monday.

Undefeated Section Two champion Cocalico sent two individuals to flight one AAA singles and two teams to flight one AAA doubles play with a chance to advance to the District Tournament which begins Friday.

Eagle seniors Colby Martin and Jarod Snader were not only in the same half of the bracket, they were also paired with eventual champion, Cedar Crest’s Jackson Muraika. Ephrata’s Chase Wilson was lined up in the bottom half, where he lost in round one to Hempfield’s Ben Cooke 6-2, 6-3.

Martin and Snader each won opening round matches. Martin easily got past Lampeter-Strasburg’s Evan Winters 6-1, 6-2 while Snader downed Hempfield’s Rishi Pandey 6-3, 6-2. Both fell in round two, setting up a Saturday playback against each other where Martin outlasted his teammate 7-6 (8), 6-4 to keep his District goal alive.

Both would play Monday at CV in placement matches. Martin defeated Hempfield’s Cooke 6-3, 6-4 to secure fifth place and be the L-L’s first in line for a D-3 at-large bid. Snader came back for a three-set marathon win over Penn Manor’s Curtis Rabatin with set scores of 4-6, 6-3, and 7-5 to place seventh.

In Martin’s match the player hitting against up to 40 miles per hour gusts won each of the first five games.

“The wind was kind of messing with both of us,” admitted Martin after the match. “We had to keep fighting it. I preferred that side (against the wind) today. You just hit and it wouldn’t go long. In both sets, I think I hit one ball long on that side…maybe two.”

Should he get the at-large bid he will likely be facing someone new.

“You’ve got to get a feel for them as soon as you can,” explained Martin. “Get a feel for how they play and make adjustments.”

Martin and doubles partner junior Danny Engle lost a two day (Saturday, Monday) flight one doubles semifinal 7-6 (5), 6-4 to eventual champs Curtin and Cooke of Hempfield. The Eagles’ team was waiting to hear from the seeding committee on a possible District berth.

Snader paired with Connor Murphy to win their first match. They also fell to Cooke and Curtin in round two. Ephrata’s Wilson teamed up with Ellis Martin in flight one doubles. The team lost to silver medalists Tom Chairs and Carson Schreiber in the opening round.

The Eagles’ lone champion was Engle at flight three singles. He saw a familiar face across the net in Manheim Township’s Max Pan. The one and two seeds had squared off one week before in the L-L team semifinals with Engle coming out on top. Engle repeated the victory with a 7-5, 6-2 decision.

“When you’re serving with the wind, you have to put a lot of topspin on the ball so it comes down,” agreed Engle. “It was a lot of strategy. It took both of us a while to get used to it.”

Ephrata’s Jaron Wenger battled but lost in number three singles, falling to Pequea Valley’s Josh Heinrich in a tie-breaker 7-6, 2-6, 5-10. Fellow Mount Ellis Martin won two matches on Thursday’s opening day. Both in tie-breaker fashion. He fell to eventual champion Schreiber in the third round.

Both teams had success in flight four singles as Murphy had two wins before dropping a 6-1, 6-4 match to eventual champ Clay Myers of McCaskey. Ephrata’s Nick Ohline defeated Lancaster Catholic’s Peyton Sheaffer 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 before falling in round two.

The Eagles had their second finals appearance in flight three doubles. Once again Cocalico’s Collin Hall and Jacob Digman had a familiar foe. Township’s Drew Ketcham and Charlie Gingrich had the upper hand again in an 8-4 victory. Ephrata’s Michael Storb and Alex Auker also picked up a 9-7 first round win.

Before Monday’s matches the all-star selections for each section and the All-League honorees were posted. Colby Martin and Jarod Snader were recognized as Section Two first team all-stars. And with six players having success, five making the final day of the tournament, the Eagles depth was apparent.

“I think it reflects how well we did in the regular season,” added Engle. “We won Section Two and we thought we could have this many guys playing on Monday. I think it shows a lot of toughness on our team.”

In addition to the District at-large bids, Cocalico has an automatic spot in the District Three team tournament. The Eagles earned the third seed in the power rankings and a bye in the first round among the 12 teams in AAA. They play Monday afternoon at Hershey Racquet Club against the winner of Cumberland Valley (sixth seed) and 11-seed Carlisle.