Scottsburg’s tennis team was too strong for Trinity Lutheran in Thursday’s opening match of the Seymour Sectional.
The result was a 5-0 win for the Warriors, who improved to 14-2 on the season.
“They’re a very good team all around,” Cougars coach Danny Frastaci said. “They had very good serves, very good ground strokes, solid up at the net and just all areas of the game. They were better than us, and they took it to us. Give credit to them, they played really well. I thought we played well, but they were a very good team, played well today and beat us.”
The Warriors won all five points in straight sets.
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Trinity’s Bailey Baker was the only Cougar to win a game, as he lost 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
“I think they all played well,” Frastaci said. “I don’t think it’s a matter of anybody didn’t play well today. They were just that much better than us. Everybody had good shots. They just happened to hit a lot more good shots than we did.
“We had good strokes, but they were able to get them back in play and take it to us. Bailey played well, Jonathan (Keith) played well, but they were just a very good team.”
Keith fell to Caleb White 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles, while Mason Ruble topped Jace Crockett 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
Trinity’s Matt Stuckwisch and Aden Jones at No. 1 doubles got to deuce twice in the first set but lost to Isaiah Walker and Camden Jones 6-0, 6-0, and Hunter Morgan and Pierce McCammon fell 6-0, 6-0 to Malachi Carr and Mark Hays.
Frastaci said he saw progress in his team throughout the season.
“Today, the score wouldn’t show it, but looking back where we started two months ago, in terms of individual effort, everybody really took some big strides, and we hope to see that continue as we head into next season,” he said.
“They’ve just got to keep working day by day. You want to keep your hope on the big picture, but you’ve got to keep focusing on the little things and just keep working on those day by day.”
Keith was the only senior on the team.
“We’ll definitely miss Jonathan. He’s a very strong player for us, a rock for us all season long and has played really well,” Frastaci said. “We wish him the best as he heads off to college. He’s going to be playing at Concordia University in Nebraska.”
The Cougars finished 0-12.
“We’ll have Bailey Baker back, and he’s been playing the No. 1 position for us most of the season,” Frastaci said. “He didn’t get any wins there, but you’re playing against the best of the best when you’re at that position. I look for him to really step into that role next year.
“Aden Jones and Matt Stuckwisch really meshed well as a doubles team over the course of the season and had some really strong matches. We look for those guys to continue working together with that chemistry coming back next year.”
Today in the sectional, Seymour will play Brownstown Central and Scottsburg will face Austin. Both matches are set to start at 4:45 p.m.