The season goes on for one Manteca boys tennis player, even though the sixth-seeded Buffaloes dropped a 7-2 decision at No. 3 Merced in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III team playoffs on Thursday.
Sophomore Yok Chai Ma, who notched one of Manteca’s two wins Thursday, will compete in the SJS Division II Individual Tournament on May 15 at Johnson Ranch Racquet Club in Roseville.
Undefeated this season so far, the Valley Oak League singles champ took care of Merced’s Jacob Friedman 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 1 match. The Buffaloes’ other team point came from No. 6 Vincent Almeida, who fended off Jackson Butler, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
“We put up a good fight and had some chances in today’s match but were unable to pull out the win,” Manteca coach Frank Fontana said. “We have nothing to hang our head on. We got better each match over the season, and we went down fighting in the playoffs. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for.”
Emiliano Hurtado dropped the No. 3 singles match 2-6, 6-3, 2-6 to Josh Corona.
Losing in two sets were No. 2 Ivan Barajas (3-6, 2-6), No. 4 Michael Osanna (4-6, 3-6), No. 5 Michael Levchenko (0-6, 2-6), No. 1 doubles Landon Butler/Edward Chen (4-6, 2-6), No. 2 doubles Kevin Navarro-Mendoza/Harian Sepulveda (1-6, 0-6) and Steven Sarmiento/Declan Edwards (4-6, 3-6).
Merced will face No. 2 Central Catholic of No. 7 El Capitan in the semifinals next Monday.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Merced 3, Lathrop 1
Seventh-seeded Lathrop’s SJS Division III title defense came to an end Thursday in the quarterfinal round, as they lost to No. 2 Merced (27-5), 25-23, 16-25, 21-25, 19-25.
The Bears will play host to No. 3 West Park next Tuesday.
Leading the Spartans (21-8) in his final match with the school was senior outside hitter Jerico Santillan with 14 kills, 12 digs and two aces. Freshman Gabriel Fa’ali’i added 14 kills of his own to go with seven digs.
Marco Palomares had seven kills and four digs. Christian Buerster contributed four kills and three blocks.
Setter Alexander Vere totaled 35 assists, and libero Lucas Baluyut turned in 22 digs.
SOFTBALL
Le Grand 7, Ripon Christian 0
At Le Grand, Nadia Avila pitched a four-hit shutout for the second-place Bulldogs (10-1 Southern Athletic League, 14-6 overall), while Maisen Priddell hit 4 for 4 with three RBIs.
Teagan Chapman went 2 for 3 for Ripon Christian (6-6, 8-11). Tara Heida and Cilya Michel each had a hit.
BASEBALL
Ripon Christian 8, Mariposa 7
On Wednesday, the Knights (12-1, 18-5 overall) secured at least a share of the SAL title in dramatic fashion, rallying for five runs to go ahead in the top of the seventh inning.
Josh Buffalow (3 for 4, four RBIs) highlighted the rally with a two-run double to tie it, and Luke Crivello came through with an RBI single for the eventual game-winner.
Micah English pitched the last six innings for the win and notched 11 strikeouts.
Dustin Hoekstra (3 for 4) helped power the attack with two doubles, three runs and two RBIs.
Mariposa (8-5, 11-7) visits Ripon Christian today for the regular-season finale. The Knights will look to claim sole possession of the league crown.
