PERRYSBURG — Bowling Green seniors Theo Bock and Mathias Drumm reached the Northern Lakes League first doubles championship match, only to fall to Anthony Wayne’s Logan Sutto and Brody Sutto, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, Wednesday at Perrysburg Tennis Center.
It can be difficult facing two brothers who not only look similar, but one is left-handed (Brody) and one is right-handed (Logan).
Makes for a good doubles team because both can go out wide to their forehand, and while the ball is in play it is difficult to ascertain how to take advantage by hitting toward their backhand.
“When you try to serve out wide against them, they try to hit down the line,” BG coach Andy Drumm said.
“Whenever you try to serve out wide, they are always hitting down the line, so you always have to be ready for the down the line shot against them.”
Bock and Drumm opened all three sets by winning the first game, but the second set was their best. They opened a 4-1 lead, let the Sutto brothers tie the set at four games each, and then the Bobcats closed by winning two games.
Bock served to put BG up 5-4, nailing three aces along the way and he had the game-winning shot. The final game went seven deuces, but the AW tandem was unable to return Bock’s ground stroke for the game-winner.
The third set, the Bobcats opened a 2-0 lead, but then the Sutto brothers won six straight games unanswered with strong play at the net to take the match.
“That was a great match at first doubles,” coach Drumm said. “Mathias and Theo did a great job coming back in the second set, playing some unbelievable points.
“We just had a couple balls go the wrong way in the third set and that was the difference, and a couple breaks and that was the end of it.”
Coach Drumm said he could not ask for more from the BG duo — to reach the league final and have a shot at bringing home a championship is all he could ask.
“They have the finesse and they both have the big serves and when their serves are on they are hard to beat,” coach Drumm said.
Drumm and Bock breezed through the bracket, defeating Springfield’s Patrick Kovach and William Meeker easily, 6-0, 6-0, in the quarterfinals, and Sylvania Southview’s Keyshav Agnihotri and Max Malinowski 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals on Tuesday.
At second doubles, BG senior Jonas Kendrick and sophomore Robert Seiffert fell to Perrysburg juniors Jack Kreienkamp and Jack Alcroft 6-1, 6-2, in the third-place consolation championship match.
Despite falling by big margins in every set, they did not lose games that way, including taking the last three games to deuce before losing all three.
“They fought really hard,” coach Drumm said. “What I was able to watch, they were right there, really close.
“The big difference is that Perrysburg had big servers there and they made a lot of big serves and that made it easy for them. They were serving and it was tough to get breaks against them.”
Perrysburg coach Patrick Giammarco said that is what Kreienkamp and Alcroft have been doing to opponents all season.
“Big serve, finishing out strong, and we were really aggressive at the net when we needed to be,” Giammarco said. “We made some unforced errors, but we won the points that we needed to win and that is what it is all about.”
BG junior Zack Mangan finished fourth at second doubles, losing in the consolation final to Sylvania Northview sophomore Shane Kagy, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
BG, which went 5-2 in match play against NLL teams this season, finished fourth in the league, including points earned from the league tournament. AW won the championship, followed by Southview and Northview.
Perrysburg was fifth, followed by Springfield, Napoleon and Maumee. Coach Drumm says he’s pleased with the direction the team has taken, headed up by first singles player, junior Aaron Hershberger, and including third singles player, senior Paul Guo.
“It’s been a great season. The guys competed hard,” coach Drumm said.
“We’ve played a lot of good matches even when we’ve had three of our top four players out for spring break, two of our top four players in the musical and just trying to get everybody together and gel.
“By the end of the season, we’re starting to get and starting to get some good tennis in,” the BG coach continued.
Drumm says he’s looking forward to seeing how his players perform in the upcoming Division I tournament.
“We have a tough sectional this year,” Drumm said. “We have Lima Shawnee in our sectional down in Findlay, and they are a very solid team. Their first doubles team went to state last year, and we also have Perrysburg in our sectional.”
