The ball went straight for Seymour’s Madalyn Baurle when she was at home during her two-doubles game against Columbus North on Friday. The hard hitting Baurle backhanded the ball and didn’t let any of her opponents get a shot to get it.
This point sealed the match for Seymour’s two double tandems by Baurle and Elise Hartung. The duo hugged after Baille’s match point and celebrated a grand win over one of the state’s powerhouses.
“To be honest, I thought it was all worth it,” said Baurle after the two and a half hour game. “I was really excited.”
“Excited, relieved, happy, all of that,” said Hartung.
It was an incredibly close game from start to finish with two doubles. It was a three-set encounter where every set became a tiebreaker. Hartung and Baurle said they encouraged each other during the long game. Both admitted that it was the longest game they have played this season.
The end result of the game was 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (6-8), 10-8. The duo were down 7-4 in the third set but won six of the last seven points to take the win.
“You can make mistakes without your partner bowing their head,” said head coach Sharon Wood. “We decided to be more aggressive and trust our swing in the tiebreaker and that was the game changer right there.”
Baurle and Hartung’s win was the only win Seymour had that day against Columbus North in 4th place.
In three individual games, Valeria Ramirez also fought her way through a tough match with three sets. She barely lost the match 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 8-10.
“Valeria definitely played the best match we’ve seen her all year,” said Wood. “We were impressed by their anticipation. It moves very quickly, it reads where the players are going. With her we’re working on, she can meet a few more winners so she can earn some points instead of waiting for them to make a mistake. “
Other results for the Owls were that Brooke Sheepfold lost 0-6, 0-6 in one singles, Sandy Cerino lost 0-6, 0-6 in two singles, and Avery Ragon and Mallory Moore 0-6, 2-6 in one lost double.
They faced top notch competition and Wood hopes this will pay off for them in the long run.
“We wanted them to experience that, especially when we see teams like Floyd Central across the board,” said Wood.
Wood mentioned that against Columbus North, if one of their players hits a simple ball or a soft ball, the opponent hits a winner and nothing can be done about it. When the Owls go to trial again against Jennings County on Monday, she’s hoping her team can emulate and take advantage of meeting the winners when the opportunity presents itself.
Overall, Wood was happy with her team’s competition on Friday night. In the post-game group, Wood told her team that their efforts made them a “happy coach”.
“We had to play some longer points,” said Wood. “Especially with two doubles, they had to play a longer match and hit a few shots that they hadn’t yet hit. You really rose. “
“I’m so proud of everyone and the way they played,” said Baurle.
