January 29, 2021
The Tigers of Marion Military Institute (2-1) and the East Central Warriors (1-1) squared off in tennis Friday, Jan. 29, in an early-season matchup. East Central battled hard but ultimately fell to MMI, 6-3.
The mid-morning match started with doubles play where the Warriors picked up one of three available points. Chris Lawrance (York, Australia) and Isaac Santitto (Innisfall, Australia) played at No. 1 for the Warriors and defeated Tanjuatco/Hunter 8-2. Ian Gordon (Vicksburg) and Chris Albert (Vicksburg) dropped the match at No. 2 versus Smith/Warner 8-1, while Garrett Crimm (Mathiston) and Samuel Turner (Mathiston) fell in a tough 8-4 loss to Ingram/Delvalle.
"The doubles points cost us," said ECCC head coach Jay Pacelli. "The effort was good and the guys are dedicating to improving on this area of the game."
Lawrence was back in the No. 1 spot for ECCC in singles play and won a nail-biter against MMI's Joseph Tanjuatco 7-5, 7-5. Santitto played No. 2 for the Warriors and fell in a back-and-forth, mental and physical match versus Eddie Hunter 6-2, 2-6 (10-8). Albert fell at No. 3 to Dom Ingram 6-4, 6-2, while Gordon lost to Preston Smith 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4. Crimm lost a hard-fought match at No. 5 versus Carson Johnson 6-4, 4-6, (10-4), and Steed Springfield (Vicksburg) picked up the Warriors final point of the day at No. 6 with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Drake Delvalle. Jonathan Calzadilla (Forest) and Jacob Gardner (Waynesboro) played unofficial single-set matches and fell to the Tigers.
"There were a lot of hard-fought, close matches in singles," said Pacelli. "Congrats to a solid MMI team on the win, but we are on to Holmes."
The Warriors are on the road on Tuesday, Feb. 2, as the team travels to Goodman to face the Holmes Bulldogs beginning at 3 p.m.
