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Upset at Turlock tournament
Doubles team loses in finale
Pitman tennis
Pitman Highs Devan Jantz, one part of the number two doubles for the Pride, looks to backhand a shot during the first round of the CCC doubles tournament at Turlock High on Thursday. - photo by EDDIE RUIZ/The Journal

 

The Central California Conference doubles tournament was hosted at Turlock High on Thursday with the sun shining bright early in the morning as 16 doubles squads looked to catch a CCC title.

Unfortunately for Pitman, both the number one and two doubles squads fell after the first round.

Turlock had three doubles teams in the tournament and all of them escaped past the first round, but after the quarterfinal round, only Alex Lima and Heath Rojas, the tournament’s second seeded team, would remain until the final match.

Despite being up in both sets, the top seeded Golden Valley squad of Thomas Becker and Adrian Garcia were able to come back and beat out Rojas and Lima in the doubles final 3-6 and 4-6 to capture the CCC doubles title.

“We did a great job running the tournament, all our doubles team won first round,” Turlock head coach Juan Alaniz said. “In the final, the other guys were very good and made some plays, they had more variety in shot making ability than most normal players, so it got down to taking shots that counted and they did, very competitive, good match.”

Pitman was unable to get much going in their opening round matchups as both teams fell in straight sets and both against Atwater.

Despite the loss, Pitman head coach Doug Reimers is very happy with the team this year and what they achieved in league this year.

The number one doubles team of Joey Berry and Jeremy Moitoso were able to make the first set close but in the second they fell as it ended 4-6 and 2-6.

“Joey [Berry] played two years for Pitman and this year he moved up from the JV level in the course of the year. He was a leader and competitor that everyone on the team looked up to as an example of good sportsmanship and hard tennis play,” said Pitman head coach Doug Reimers. “Jeremy is an incredibly smart tennis player who took giant steps forward in cementing his physical and mental game this year.”

The team of Tony Gutierrez and Devan Jantz in the number two doubles for Reimers finished with a 3-6, 3-6 final in their respective matchup.

“Tony [Gutierrez] played all four years for PHS. He is one of the nicest, most passionate tennis players I have ever met. He always gave his all on the courts. Both Joey and Tony look to play tennis for one of our local junior colleges,” Reimers added. “He [Devan] worked harder and harder each week. He never gave up. If I had a team full of young men like Devan, I’d be the luckiest coach in CCC.”

For the home team in Turlock, the number two and three doubles teams got past the first round with ease but in the second round they were met by some of the toughest competitors in the tournament.

The number two team in Davis Griffin and Carlos Iniquez faced the top seeded and eventual winners in Becker and Garcia as they fell in straight sets.

David Lazar and Eilan Shabaz were the number three doubles and handled the first round only to come back and lose after three sets in the quarterfinals against a tough Merced squad, 6-4, 6-7 (4) and 3-6.

“David and Shabaz had a tough match and came back but lost it at the end,” Alaniz added. “Davis and Carlos played the number one team so that was tough. But we played well, all the kids played well and things went very well.

The CCC Sections are starting on Tuesday for Turlock with the tournament beginning on Monday. Turlock, who is the number one seed gets a bye and will wait to play on Tuesday at home with the match scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Pitman will play on Monday with a time and place yet to be announced.

The All-League selection was announced and it was Michael Andres of Turlock to be selected along Pitman’s Jeremy Moitoso for singles players.

Griffin and Iniquez got all league in doubles and also Lima and Rojas for Turlock.

Heath Rojas along with Thomas Becker were both the recipients of the sportsmanship award for the CCC.