Safford hosts top-ranked Thatcher on Tuesday

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: The top-ranked 7-member Thatcher varsity squad visits No. 12 Safford for the Section I title on Tuesday, April 18. The Chris Cook-coached 13-0 Eagles are, from left, senior Hunter Sellers, junior Brock Smith, junior Blake Kartchner, junior Gene Huish, senior Austin Haynie, freshman Braden Huish, and senior Carter Bryce.

Section I boys tennis title awaits the winner

By Raymundo Frasquillo

SAFFORD – The No. 12 Safford tennis boys host the top-ranked Thatcher Eagles on Tuesday, April 18. To date, both teams have a 5-0 Section I record. The section title and automatic state tourney berth await the winner as the Top 16 ranked teams and section champions qualify. The dual starts at 2:30 p.m.

The Eagles were top-ranked with a 22.7146 rating compared to 7.2159 for the Bulldogs to start the week on April 17. Thatcher defeated Safford 9-0 on March 20.

Also on April 18, No. 38 Duncan (minus 10.6780) visits No. 45 Benson (minus18.3164), No. 32 Pima (minus 6.7642) visits No. 19 Morenci (1.7377), and No. 20 Willcox (1.5036) has completed its seeding schedule.

State Rankings

The Division III state rankings as of noon on April 18 had four teams from Section VII in the Top 16; three from Section IV; two apiece from Section II, Section III, and Section V; and one each from Section I and Section VI.

The teams were Section I Thatcher (13-0 seeding, 22.7146 rating) No. 1, Section VII Phoenix Country Day School (9-0, 20.7372) No. 2, Section II Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (12-1, 18.2662) No. 3, Section V Scottsdale Prep (10-1, 15.6274) No. 4, Section VI Anthem Prep (9-0, 13.2650) No. 5, Section VII Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (7-1, 11.8997) No. 6, Section IV Gilbert Christian (7-3, 10.3452) No. 7, and Section IV Chandler Prep (9-2, 9.6882) No. 8.

Section IV Gilbert Classical (7-3, 8.8073) was No. 9, Section V Phoenix Veritas Prep (9-2. 8.6940) No. 10, Section II Tucson Tanque Verde (7-4, 7.6606) No. 11, Section I Safford (9-3, 7.2159) No. 12, Section III Tucson’s The Gregory School (8-1, 5.8365) No. 13, Section VII Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (7-5, 5.1199) No. 14, Section VII Glendale Prep (8-3, 4.7296) No. 15, and Section III Saint David (8-3, 3.0538) No. 16.

The other state rankings for Section I members were Morenci (8-5, 1.7377) No. 19, Willcox (8-5, 1.5036) No. 20, Pima (4-9, minus 6.7642) No. 32, Duncan (2-8, minus 10.6780) No. 38, and Benson (0-11, minus 18.3164) No. 45.

Post Season

The post-season draws near as Division III members begin the team play-in round (if necessary) at the higher seed on Friday, April 21. The Top 16 ranked teams and section champions qualify for the state meet, starting on April 26 at the higher seed. The quarterfinals are on May 3, the semifinals on May 5, and the finals on May 6.

The Individual first round is a week later (April 28) at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 West Thunderbird Road. The quarterfinals and semifinals on April 29, and the finals are on May 1.

Section I Standings

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Brock Smith checks where to place a back-hand return. The Thatcher junior is 8-4 from the No. 1 singles slot and 12-0 along with junior Gene Huish from the No. 2 doubles slot.

As the regular season winds down, two Division III – Section I teams have zero section losses as of April 17. Results of the Morenci at Miami non-section pairing were unavailable.

Thatcher is 13-0 overall and in seeding matches, Safford (9-6, 9-3), Morenci (11-7, 8-5), Willcox (8-5, 8-5), Pima (4-9, 4-9), Duncan (3-10, 2-8), and Benson (0-11, 0-11).

There are seven teams in the section and each plays one another once or six pairings to determine section standings. As of April 13, Duncan and Safford both have six section matches listed. *Thatcher still has Willcox listed twice, Morenci still has Pima listed twice, Pima still has Benson listed twice, and Willcox still has Thatcher listed twice for section matches. It is an administrative correction needing to be made by school athletic directors, reminded at least a month ago.

Thatcher Eagles (13-0 overall, 13-0 seeding, 5-0 section)

The Chris Cook-coaches Eagles are 13-0 in seeding matches with wins of 9-0 over Miami (March 2), 5-4 over Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (March 8), 6-3 over Gilbert Classical (March 9), 9-0 over Safford (March 20), 9-0 over Willcox (March 21), 8-1 over Tucson Tanque Verde (March 23), 8-1 over Tucson Sabino (March 27), 9-0 over Pima (March 30), 7-2 over Nogales (April 3), 9-0 over Morenci (April 4), 9-0 over Willcox (April 6), 9-0 over Benson (April 11), and 9-0 over Duncan (April 13).

Thatcher has won 90 percent (70-78) of singles and 92 percent (36-39) of doubles pairings. The singles marks include five singles forfeits and two doubles forfeits.

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Camden Montierth tosses up the ball for a serve. The Safford sophomore is 8-3 from the No. 1 singles slot and 8-3 along with junior Kody Gluyas in the No. 1 doubles team.

Individually, junior Brock Smith is 8-4 overall and seeding, senior Hunter Sellers is 11-1, junior Blake Kartchner is 12-0, junior Gene Huish is 10-2, senior Austin Haynie is 13-0, senior Carter Bryce is 7-0, freshman Braden Huish is 5-0, sophomore Bryson Scores is 2-1, senior Brenden Anway is 1-0, and sophomore Eli McNeal is 1-0.

The Sellers – Haynie duo is 9-3, Kartchner – Gene Huish 12-0, Scores – senior Carter Bryce 11-0, Braden Huish – Bryce 1-0, Haynie – Anway 1-0, Gene Huish – Bryce 1-0, and Scores – McNeal 1-0.

Safford Bulldogs (9-6, 9-3, 5-0)

The Katie Jones-coached Bulldogs (9-6 overall, 9-3 seeding, 5-0 section) have seeding match wins of 8-1 over Willcox (Feb. 28), 7-2 over Morenci (March 7), 9-0 over Tombstone (March 21), 6-1 over Duncan (March 28), 9-0 over Benson (March 30), 5-4 over Sabino (April 3), 7-2 over Pima (April 6), 7-2 over Morenci April 11, and 8-1 over Willcox (April 13). The losses were 3-6 to Florence (Feb. 23), 0-9 to Thatcher (March 20), and 0-9 to Pusch Ridge (March 23).

Safford succumbed 3-6 to both Morenci and Miami, and 2-7 to Florence during tourney matches played on March 10.

Section pairings are in Duncan (March 28), with Benson (March 30), in Pima (April 6), in Morenci (April 11), with Willcox (April 13), and with Thatcher (April 18).

Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Safford hosts top-ranked Thatcher as No. 12 for the Division III – Section I title on Tuesday, April 18. The Katie Jones-coached Bulldogs include, from left, junior Xavier Owens, sophomore Bo Bowman, junior Thomas Biggs, junior Brayden Bowman, junior Kody Gluyas, and sophomore Camden Montierth.

The Bulldogs have won 62 percent (40-65) of singles and 58 percent (21-36) of doubles pairings. The singles marks include five singles forfeits and two doubles forfeits.

Sophomore Camden Montierth and junior Kody Gluyas are both 8-3 overall and seeding, junior Brayden Bowman (4-11, 4-8), junior Thomas Biggs (9-6, 8-4), sophomore Bo Bowman (12-3, 9-3), junior Xavier Owens (6-8, 6-5), senior Zach Montierith (1-0, 1-0), junior Kyle Lines (1-3, 0-1), and freshman Owen Price (0-3, 0-0).

The Camden Montierth – Gluyas duo is 8-3, Brayden Bowman – Biggs (9-3, 9-3), Owens – Bo Bowman (10-3, 7-3), Biggs – Bo Bowman (0-3, 0-0), Lines – Price (0-3, 0-0), Owens – Lines (0-1, 0-1), and Bo Bowman – sophomore Bronson Hatch (0-1, 0-1).