Tiger tennis struggles in Pittsburg tourney
PITTSBURG -- Fort Scott High's tennis team took part in a six-team tournament here Thursday evening but came away with only one win for each of its four entries.
The Tigers finished fifth as Labette County won a tie-breaker. Pittsburg won the team title with Bishop Miege second. The format of the tournament did not have all the entrants play each other, so some of Fort Scott's entrants did not play Pittsburg.
"Again, the effort was there," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said. "I felt like everyone played hard and gave a good effort. We are still hurting ourselves by inconsistent play and many unforced errors. We are lacking experience, but we need to start eliminating some of these errors and play at a more consistent level."
Gage Addington (8-5) lost his first two matches in No. 1 singles to Miege's Michael Wood, 8-2, and Labette County's Caleb mathes, 8-5. He shut out Columbus' Ross Westervelt.
Raifen Cruse (4-6) lost to Miege's Will Grier, 8-4, in his first match at No. 2 singles. He defeated Robbie Gibbs of Labette County, 8-5, then lost to Iola's Isaiah Fawson, 8-7.
Alex Combs and D.J. Blethen (6-7) were shut out in the first round of No. 1 doubles by Tom Aijard/Nate Mohler of Miege. They also lost to Caleb Webster/Dylan Waugh of Labette County, 8-4, but defeated Columbus' Mac Jameson/Gage Ricker, 8-4.
Ryan Harper and Quintin Parsons (2-8) were also shut out by a Bishop Miege team, Luke Powell and John Schultz, in the first round of No. 2 doubles. Neither LCHS nor Columbus had No. 2 teams, so Pittsburg players filled in. The LCHS subs, Will Jewett and Zach Dee, defeated Harper and Parsons, 8-3. But the Tiger duo beat the Columbus subs, Zach Stewart and Jared Wilde, 8-6.
Fort Scott was scheduled to travel to Nevada for varsity and junior varsity best-of-nine duals Friday. The JV also plays at Parsons on Monday while the varsity will participate in the Labette County Invitational at Parsons on Tuesday.