Patriots 3rd at Pitchford after some ups, downs

Late heroics from Krishna Ravella and his doubles teammates at No. 1 helped defending state champion Hinsdale Central secure the biggest prize on the tennis circuit thus far.

The Red Devils edged New Trier to capture the team championship at the Pitchford 32 Saturday afternoon hosted by Hersey in Arlington Heights.

North Suburban Conference power Stevenson (60) fell out of the running late in the day to finish third, followed by Oak Park-River Forest (52) and Deerfield (40).

Neuqua Valley was ninth with 29 points, and Mid-Suburban League West Division leader Fremd was 13th with 23.

Ravella, who lost in a 3-hour marathon to Deerfield freshmen Jason Brown last week at the Hinsdale Central Invite, avenged that defeat with a straight-sets victory over Brown to win the individual title at No. 2 singles - helping Central jump over both New Trier and Stevenson.

The Patriots, who at one time were 10 points ahead of Hinsdale Central, had advanced two singles players and a doubles tandem into the semifinals.

In the No. 1 singles title match, the Patriots' Blake Bazarnik fell to Robert Stineman and a case of severe leg cramps, which rendered the No. 2 seed all but helpless against the talented New Trier sophomore in a straight-sets loss, 7-5, 6-2.

But it had been vintage Bazarnik (12-1) earlier in the day, when he breezed past Drew Feder of Belleville East and Augie Bloom of Hinsdale Central, each in less than an hour.

Stineman made a strong case to be a 1-2 seed later this month at the state tournament after his three-set victory over Glenbrook South's Michael Moore earlier in the week coupled with his win over Bazarnik.

In a strange first set in which both players struggled to hold serve, Stineman went ahead for good when he broke Bazarnik and took the set after a 14-ball rally.

"I began to (cramp) in the fourth game of the first set, then worked it out, but it came back stronger in that second set," Bazarnik said. ""But Robert played very well today and deserved to win the tournament."

The Patriots' top-seeded David Packowitz and Ross Putterman (13-1) dropped a three-setter to No. 2 Dan Ballantine-Ian Tesmond of Hinsdale Central for the No. 1 doubles title.

The Patriots looked unstoppable, roaring past Moline's 9-16 seeded David Stewart-Nate Wilson 6-2, 6-2, then sending 3-4 seed Danny Park-Austin Roos of Rockford Guilford into the consolation bracket with a 6-4, 7-5 decision.

"We've traveled everywhere and seen just about every doubles team this season, and that (Stevenson) team is clearly the best I've seen this season," said Guilford coach Mike Muldowney.

Park-Roos' 7-6 (6), 6-4 win over New Trier in the third-place match, coupled with Hinsdale Central's defeat of Stevenson in the doubles final ended New Trier's title hopes.

In the No. 1 doubles final, Packowitz-Putterman fell 6-1 in the opening set, but they rebounded with a 6-1 win the second set. But the Patriots were unable to overcome near-flawless service from Tesmond in the third set.

"We just didn't do the simple things very well in that match," Putterman said.

"Our start in the third set gave us some hope, but we didn't play well enough to win today," said Packowitz, who like Bazarnik has been fighting a cold all week.

The Patriots received some terrific play from their No. 2 doubles team of Nick Stephan-Alec Turner and senior Etham Frenkel at second singles.

Stephan-Turner came back from a straight-sets loss in the semifinals to New Trier and beat Highland Park's Marcus Ampon-Jared Ruff 6-4, 6-2 for third place.

"Alec and I have been friends a long time and it really helped both of us when we became partners for the first time this season," said Stephan, a state doubles qualifier last season. "I have so much confidence in him, I really feel we've been getting better with each match that we play."

Frenkel, who during the past two seasons played club and tournament tennis, has returned to the Patriots for his senior year. He beat Devon Jones of Oak Park-River Forest in three sets to snare third place.

In his quarterfinal match, Frenkel battled for nearly 21/2 hours to upend Andrew Krentz of New Trier in three sets.

"I am very excited about what both Nick and Alec, as well as Etham accomplished this weekend," said Patriots coach Mark Linnenburger. "Their presence in our lineup is and will be so important to (us) in the postseason, and their results today prove that with continued hard work, they will give us a tremendous boost along with our 1-dubs team and Blake later on."

Top seed Denis Bogatov of Warren was an injury default casualty after he was unable to complete his quarterfinal match against Mike Jacobs of Oak Park-River Forest.

The reigning state singles champion played one game, took an injury timeout, tried one more time, then called it a day.