Varsity Tennis Undefeated in Wasco Tourney
Assistant coach Bill Friend, Antonio Guzman, Bryson Ginn, Rodolfo Magana, Jose Osornio, Enrique Reyes, Jose Ramirez, Brian Rivera, Sawyer Maier, Tyler Nguyen and head coach Jim Carnal.
WASCO — The Taft High varsity boys tennis team went undefeated to win the Wasco tournament in the first year Taft has participated. The girls team accomplished the same feat in the fall.
Along the way, the Taft boys team exacted some revenge for earlier losses, made history
and quite possibly secured the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs, coach Jim Carnal said.
Taft No. 1 Enrique Reyes went undefeated and was named tournament MVP. Taft improved to 16-5 on the season.
Jose Osornio, assistant coach Bill Friend, Brian Rivera, Rodolfo Magana, Enrique Reyes, Bryson Ginn, Tyler Nguyen, Jose Ramirez, Sawyer Maier and head coach Jim Carnal. Not pictured: Antonio Guzman.
Taft’s first match Friday, March 24 was against Division III rival Delano, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last spring. Taft won 4-2. Next up was league rival Wasco. Taft won 4-2. Last up, was the formidable Division II Garces Rams, a team Taft’s varsity has never beaten, Carnal said, at least not in the last 40 years. Garces had beaten Taft the previous weekend in Division I of the Lynch Cup. But No. 2 Sawyer Maier and No. 5 Brian Rivera were unavailable that day. Taft had all its players for both days of this tournament. The key match was Reyes against Garces No. 1 Patrick Blaine. Reyes fell behind 4-1 in the eight-game pro set but came roaring back to win seven games in a row. Taft won 4-2.
On Saturday, Taft faced Division I East, which also was undefeated on Friday. In essence, this was the championship match. Again, Reyes fell behind 5-1 to No. 1 Angel Garcia before staging a comeback. The players tied 7-7, setting up a 10-point tiebreaker, which Reyes won 10-8. The teams tied 3-3, 37-37 in games. The tiebreaker was the No. 1 singles match so Reyes’s win gave Taft the championship. Taft finished the day by beating the Independence Falcons, 4-2.
“This tournament win over quality opponents should give us the No. 1 seed in the Division III playoffs,” Carnal said.
Tyler Nguyen and Bryson Ginn went 4-1 in the tourney. Maier, Rodolfo Magana and Rivera went 3-2.
Taft’s next match is at league-leading Bakersfield Christian at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 4. BCHS beat Taft, 5-4, in their first match and 3-3, 57-44 in games in the Lynch Cup. If Taft wins, the Wildcats would share the league championship with BCHS. A loss would mean second place in league.
