Tornadoes top Rams in county tennis matches

SPRINGFIELD — Jason Moody didn’t let his emotions take away from his play on the tennis court Thursday.

Bay’s top player avenged a recent loss to Rutherford’s Nick Tran with a 6-3, 7-5 victory, and the Tornadoes held on to defeat host Rutherford 5-2 in a District 1-2A showdown.

The Rams’ Felicia Pitts won her respective No. 1 singles and doubles matches, but Bay’s girls won four of the remaining five matchups to eke out a 4-3 victory over their county rival.

Bay’s boys improved to 4-3 overall and 4-2 in the district. The Tornado girls now are 2-5, 2-4.

Moody advanced to the Class 2A state semifinals in singles last year, and he missed out on a chance to win a state championship when he failed to close out the match after winning the first set. He said his emotions got the better of him, and that also plagued him in a three-set loss to Tran on Feb. 24.

“It’s by far my biggest problem,” Moody said, adding that he needs to play more matches to build his confidence.

Moody’s forehand was a weapon against Tran, a skilled player in his own right who will lead Rutherford’s robotics team to the Bayou Regional FIRST Robotics Competition in New Orleans next week during Spring Break. Moody said Tran was trying to work the ball to his backhand, but Moody was consistent enough from that side to deter the effort.

“My forehand was solid … and I hit my backhand pretty good, too,” Moody said. “The wind made it tough to get first serves in. I managed to get a few more in.”

Tran agreed that the wind was a factor, but he also credited Moody for his improved play.

“Jason was playing a lot better,” said Tran, who was trying to follow up on his 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8) win over Moody a couple weeks ago. “He hit a lot of good shots.”

A year-round tennis competitor, Tran said preparing for the robotics competition has cut into his court time. He may have defending Region 1-2A champion Gulf Breeze awaiting him and his teammates on March 23 after he returns home, but that pressure likely won’t contend with the stress he’s dealt with trying to build the Rams’ robot for the competition.

“There’s only a couple weeks allowed to build it,” Tran said, noting he enjoys engineering and probably is headed to the University of Florida next year. “You have to design it, troubleshoot it and find the resources for it.”

On the girls side, Pitts teamed with Amanda Paulsen to defeat Bay’s tandem of Dezy Bacon and Caroline Hanson 8-3. Pitts then swept Bacon 6-3, 6-1 in singles to cap a satisfying day.

Interestingly, Pitts is ambidextrous and alternates her racket to hit forehands from both sides.

“I feel like it gives me an advantage,” she said. “It allows me to hit angles that people with backhands can’t hit. I was never taught to do a backhand. I never had a coach. It just developed naturally.”

Bay boys 5, Rutherford 2

• Singles — No. 1: Jason Moody (B) def. Nick Tran 6-3, 7-5. No. 2: Tyler Barr (B) def. Patrick Robinson 6-1, 6-0. No. 3: Neil Vijapura (R) def. Pat Barry 8-4. No. 4: Dylan McCormick (B) def. William England 8-0. No. 5: Chris Walters (R) def. Connor Healey 6-2, 6-4.
• Doubles — No. 1: Moody-Barr def. Tran-Vijapura 8-1. No. 2: Barry-McCormick def. Robinson-England 8-4.

Bay girls 4, Rutherford 3

• Singles — No. 1: Felicia Pitts (R) def. Dezy Bacon 6-3, 6-1. No. 2: Caroline Hanson (B) def. Rachel Reiss 6-1, 6-0. No. 3: Muna Alsahi (B) def. Amanda Paulsen 6-2, 6-3. No. 4: Jennifer Johnson (R) def. Lynn Higby 9-8. No. 5: Chloe Harris (B) def. Sarah Waranker 6-0, 6-2.
• Doubles — No. 1: Pitts-Paulsen def. Bacon-Hanson 8-3. No. 2: Alsahi-Higby def. Waranker-Johnson 8-2.