BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Luke Baylis finished his last set in the OAA Red tournament with a victory as he defeated Andrew Zhang from Bloomfield Hills in the championship round last Thursday.
“It was an outstanding win for him,” said Chas Claus, head coach for Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis. “Luke and Andrew are considered the top two Single No. 2 players in the state. Luke lost to Zhang earlier in the year. It was a great solid win for him.”
He finished with a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Teammate Frankie Piana finished in second place against Bloomfield Hills’ Brad Silverman, 7-6 (2), 6-3, on Singles No. 4.
The Wolves finished the tournament in fourth place with 25 points as Bloomfield Hills finished in first place with 43 points. Troy finished in second, 41; Birmingham Groves, third, 26; Troy Athens, fifth, 19; and Birmingham Seaholm, sixth, 14.
“We did very well in the league tournament,” said Claus. “Not perfectly, but I thought we had a very good day overall. In several flights we had avenged wins against players we lost to earlier in the season. We didn’t have any bad losses. It was a good day for us.”
Alex Matisse on the Singles No. 1 court had close match to against Troy’s Steven Forman before losing in two of the three sets.
“He came extremely close to beating Troy, who has been acknowledged as the No. 1 player in the state,” said Claus. “It was a good outing for him to take a set from a player of that caliber.”
He added David Carpenter and Tristan Greenlee, on Doubles No. 1; and Charlie Lussenhop and Cole Manilla, on Doubles No. 2; had good wins over Seaholm.
“It was a good confidence building day,” Claus said. “We had good wins against Seaholm and Troy and teams and players we hadn’t beaten in the past.”
Clarkston finished in fifth place overall in the league with combination of duals and the tournament. Bloomfield Hills was first, Troy, second; Groves, third; Troy Athens, fourth; and Seaholm, sixth.
The Wolves will see Bloomfield Hills again this Thursday for the MHSAA Boys Tennis Division 1 Regional 7.
“We are playing with a lot of confidence,” said Claus. “We have played well all year. I think if we do our job and play the way we have been playing we should make it to states and have a very good day on Thursday.”
Clarkston will compete against Bloomfield Hills, Lake Orion, Oxford, Rochester, Rochester Adams, Stoney Creek, Waterford Kettering and Waterford Mott for a chance to go to the state finals next week.
The Wolves are hosting the tournament beginning at 8 a.m. Matches will be at Clarkston, Waterford Mott and Waterford Kettering. The finals will be at Clarkston in the late afternoon.