Tigers move indoors, win district title

~ Central captures the weather-delayed Class 2 District 1 tournament.

What a difference a year made for David Berry and the Central boys tennis team.

Last year, the Tigers won one match in the entire district tournament and finished seventh as a team.

It was a different and much happier story this spring. Central turned things completely around, winning the team title at the Class 2 District 1 tournament on Friday evening.

The two-day tournament started Thursday in Forest Park in St. Louis but was stopped early by rain. It concluded Friday at the Sunset Tennis Center in Fenton, moving indoors because of more rain.

No big deal for the Tigers, who will move on to regional play and host Eureka either Monday or Tuesday.

The icing on the cake was the qualification to the state tournament by Berry and his doubles partner, Patrick Duffy. They lost only six games in making it to the championship match, in which they lost to Lindbergh's Ross Albertson and Scott Gyllenborg, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.

The top two singles players and top two doubles teams from each district qualify for the state meet, which will be May 25 and 26 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.

"Last year, about everybody lost in the first round at districts," said Berry, who lost his first-round match last year while playing doubles with David Deisher. "Because of that, I was kind of shaky about this tournament. I was really surprised that Patrick and I got the top seed."

The two juniors played like top seeds, winning the pivotal semifinal match against Dan Ragsdale and Adam Dickey of Webster Groves 6-0, 6-1.

"I thought we were capable of getting to state. It's nice to have the lefty-righty combination," said Duffy, the right-hander. "And I feel we complement each other on the court."

Added Berry: "We get along with each other both on and off the court. It's unbelievable to get to state. We know the competition will be brutal but we really just look forward to the experience."

Brandon Gonzalez and Josh Hubbard were two points away from joining their teammates in Springfield.

The Tigers juniors had a 5-4 lead in the third set in the semifinals against Albertson and Gyllenborg. They were up 0-30 on Gyllenborg's serve, but the Flyers were able to hold and win the next two games to wrap up the match. Gonzalez and Hubbard finished fourth.

Another Central player also missed out on making it to state by one match. Robert Weir advanced to the semifinals before falling 6-4, 6-2 to top-seeded Malay Bhatt of Poplar Bluff. He also finished fourth.

"It was just a great day overall," Cape Central coach Bud Craven said. "All but one of these kids are juniors and we brought them up together. It is a group of kids who really love to play tennis, and they have shown so much improvement."

Bhatt won the district singles title, defeating Carlos Espinosa of Eureka 6-4, 6-0 in the finals.

Webster Groves finished second as a team and will host Lindbergh, which finished third, in the regional round.