Daily Sun sports
OMAHA - Beatrice’s Orangemen tennis team claimed runner-up honors Monday at the River Cities Conference tournament in Omaha.
The Orangemen finished second to Omaha Skutt, finishing with 17 points to Skutt’s 27.
Omaha Gross and South Sioux City tied for third with 13 points each.
Coach Phil Cook said the Orangemen had a “great day” at the conference meet.
At No. 2 doubles, Beatrice’s David Gay and P.J. Cook won their second straight conference championship, finishing the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.
Gay and P.J. Cook’s closest match of the day was an 8-3 victory over Seth Peters and Brenden Knott of Ralston.
In the final match of the tournament, Cook said the Gay/P.J. Cook duo avenged an earlier season loss to Skutt’s Scott Marsicek and Blake Lubben.
Cook said the pair “hammered” the Skutt team 8-1.
“They (Gay and P.J. Cook) took control early and never looked back,” Cook said.
Beatrice also had conference runners-up at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles.
Jacob Sorensen, playing at No. 2 singles for Beatrice, finished with a 4-1 record.
Sorensen lost his only match to South Sioux City’s Jon Pfeifer in the fourth round, but rebounded to down Skutt’s Mitch Johnson in the final round to finish second overall.
“Jake lost a hard-fought contest to South Sioux City where he fell behind early and could never recover,” Cook said. “In his final match, Jacob rolled the Skutt player.”
Sorensen was tied with Johnson, 5-all, but then took control winning the next three games and winning 8-5, Cook said.
At No. 1 doubles, Craighton Carey and Kasey Barnard also finished with a 4-1 mark.
Carey and Barnard won their first four matches, but fell in the final round to Skutt’s Brandon Draheim and Jon Little.
“They (Carey and Barnard) easily beat their first four opponents,” Cook said. “The duo is playing well right now.”
While the two seniors lost to Skutt, Cook said the pair has “closed the gap” on the Skyhawks during the last couple of weeks.
“With a couple points here and there, they would have beat Skutt,” Cook said.
At No. 1 singles, Andrew Benson was winless for Beatrice. His closest match was a 9-7 loss to Ralston’s Brandon Broschat.
Next action for Beatrice will be today (Wednesday) at the Keaney Catholic Invitational.
Thursday, the Orangemen will host Roncalli in their final home dual of the season at Hannibal Park.
River Cities Conference
Team Standings
1. Omaha Skutt, 27; 2. Beatrice, 17; 3. (tie) Omaha Gross and South Sioux City, 13; 5. Ralston, 11; 6. Omaha Roncalli, nine.
Singles
No. 1: 1. Michael Sambol, Skutt; 2. Dillon Liber, South Sioux, 3. Chris Dorwan, Gross; 4. Mike Manzur, Roncalli; 5. Brandon Broschat, Ralston; 6. Andre Benson, Beatrice.
No. 2: Jon Pfeifer, South Sioux; 2. Jacob Sorensen, Beatrice; 3. Mitch Johnson, Skutt; 4. Mark Vogel, Roncalli; 5. Roman Shretha, Gross; 6. Tommy Handleman, Ralston.
Doubles
No. 1: 1. Brandon Draheim/Jon Little, Skutt; 2. Craighton Carey/Kasey Barnard, Beatrice; 3. Ross Passmore/Matt Diederich, Ralston; 4. Brian Hennigns/Matt Wanek, Gross; 5. Jake Hoffman/Garrett Barnes, Roncalli; 6. Justin Heitman/Colby Bausch, South Sioux.
No. 2: 1. David Gay/P.J. Cook, Beatrice; 2. Scott Marsicek/Blake Lubben, Skutt; 3. Seth Peters/Brenden Knott, Ralston; 4. David Cordwin/Joe Lamagna-Reiter, Gross; 5. Patt MaGuire/Cody Smoot, Roncalli; 6. Taylor Noteboom/Ryan Heeney, South Sioux.
Beatrice Results
Singles
No. 1: Benson lost to Mazur, Roncalli, 8-2; lost to Dorwart, Gross, 8-3; lost to Broschat, Ralston, 9-7; lost to Lieber, South Sioux, 8-1; lost to Sambol, Skutt, 8-1.
No. 2: Sorensen def. Vogel, Roncalli, 8-3; def. Schretha, Gross, 8-1; def. Handleman, Ralston, 8-0; lost to Pfeifer, South Sioux, 8-4; def. Johnson, Skutt, 8-5.
Doubles
No. 1: Carey/Barnard def. Hoffman/Barnes, Roncalli, 8-0; def. Hennigns/Wanek, Gross, 8-5; def. Passmore/Diederich, Ralston, 8-2; def. Heitman/Bausch, South Sioux, 8-0; lost to Draheim/Little, Skutt, 8-4.
No. 2: Gay/Cook def. McGuire/Smoot, Roncalli, 8-1; def. Cordwin/Lamagna-Reiter, Gross, 8-1; def. Peters/Knott, Ralston, 8-3; def. Noteboom/Heeney, South Sioux, 8-2; def. Marsicek/Lubben, Skutt, 8-1.