Cruse wins No. 1 singles at Spring Hill

Friday, April 10, 2015

SPRING HILL -- Raifen Cruse took the No. 1 singles division at the Spring Hill Invitational here Tuesday, earning the Fort Scott High School player his first varsity championship.

Cruse (8-6) was 3-0 in the four-team tournament. He beat Mason Jelliff of Baldwin easily, 8-1. He downed Spring Hill's Jacob Crabtree in a tie-breaker, 8-7 (1). And he edged out Lansing's Sam Crawford, 8-6.

Micah Self played his first singles match of the year at No. 2's and went 2-1. His first two matches ended in tie-breakers, an 8-7 (4) loss to Baldwin's Matt winters and an 8-7 (5) win over Spring Hill's Rev Teajomo. Self also lost to Lansing's Kyle Verhaeg by a slim 8-6 margin.

"Raifen had a solid performance in his three matches and Micah really showed a lot of heart and determination in his three matches, all of which were very close," Fort Scott head coach Lynn Barr said.

Quinton Parsons and Alex Gorman (2-8) picked up their first varsity victories. They lost their first match in No. 1 doubles to Baldwin's Auggie Lange/Colten Sewell, 8-3, but rolled by Spring Hill's Keanon Powell/Nick Kaechele for their first victory. In the next match, they beat Lansing's Noah Curry/Adam Goeke in a tie-breaker, 8-7 (5).

Vandaro Chit and Levi Reichard were paired together in No. 2 singles for the first time this season and went 1-2 on the day. They lost by 8-3 scores to both Chris Jackson/Ryan Wessley of Baldwin and Zach Ingram/Dylan Arnold of Spring Hill. They defeated Quenton Sass/Cody Finniy of Lansing, 8-2.

"Alex and Quinton played better doubles today and played better together," Barr said. "Vandaro and Levi had periods where they played good doubles, they just need to keep working and improving."

The Tigers were scheduled to play at Pittsburg Thursday -- hopefully avoiding a mid-afternoon thunderstorm -- and are scheduled to play a dual at Nevada this afternoon at 4 p.m. The junior varsity team will also be going to Nevada.