It will go down in the record books as a 4-3 victory for the Spring-Ford Rams over the cross-bridge rival Phoenixville Phantoms, but for the hundred or so people in attendance, Thursday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference showdown will be forever etched in their memory as perhaps one of the greatest matches of all time and certainly in the PAC-10’s 25 year history.
With the team match knotted at three apiece, it was time for the attention to turn to center court and the battle that was ensuing between the Rams duo of Pierre Baty and Frankie Reppert and the Phantoms team of Jake Lynch and Evan Talbert with the fate of match and perhaps the PAC-10 season on the line.
Two and a half hours later, when Baty was able to slap the ball past the outstretched racket of Talbert, scoring an 8-6 tie breaker win, thus giving Spring-Ford a 4-3 victory, it ended a match that was one for the ages.
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“I have seen a lot in my 48 years of coaching,” said Phantoms coach Leo Scoda. “But nothing like this. This was the most amazing match I have ever been a part of. Just the pressure and excitement of every match and every point was something very special.”
“We had no idea that the match was tied,” said Baty, an exchange student from France. “We were just playing as hard as we could to get our one point for the team. It was great to hear all of the people cheering and going crazy. This is definitely one of the best experiences I have had since being here.”
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The Phantoms drew first blood as the doubles team of Ryan Cadigan and Brendan Stone defeated the duo of Blake Emerson and Joey Graziadei in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 to give Phoenixville its first team point.
The Rams evened the tilt as the third double pairing of Mike Powers and Austin Galaska beat Norris Hua and Brian Groener 6-4 and 6-4, then took a 2-1 lead as the doubles team of seniors Lewis Cooper and Kyle Emerson battled from behind to emerge victorious over Chris Walsh and John McInally 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
“This is always such a big match for us,” said McInally. “Chris [Walsh] and I are still working on communication, but I think we played pretty well today. It’s important to pick your teammate up when they get down ... We had a great chance to win our match, but a few points really changed the outcome.”
“When we play against Phoenixville, we know every point is important,” said Rams senior Lewis Cooper.
Coming into the match, the marquee match up was that of Phantoms freshman phenom Karlyn Small and Rams junior Tyler Triolo in fist singles, and they did not disappoint.
Triolo jumped out to an early lead and wound up winning the opening set by a 6-1 margin only to see Small battle back in the second set claiming a 7-5 win in which he broke Triolo’s serve three times.
It was Triolo that had to battle in the rubber set of the match as Small fought off an early surge by Triolo, winning three games in a row to tie the set at four games each. Triolo then had to be attended to by the trainer as he had an issue with cramping in his forearm and fingers.
Triolo pushed through the pain, winning the last two games in the set to win the match and claim a valuable point for his team.
“Wow, what a match,” said Small. “I was very disappointed that I could not win my match for the team. I let him get the best of me in that first set, but after that I got into a rhythm a little. They are a great team and this I what I love about the game so much. You have play as an individual, but it is still such a team sport.”
“He really came back at me in the second set,” said Triolo. “It caught me by surprise a little. I wasn’t ready for the effort he was giving. In a big match like this every point is so important. I was so glad to be able to hang on and win my match. He [Small] is a very good player.”
Phoenixville evened the team match by claiming victory in the remaining two singles matches when Doug Reeves defeated Gary Williams 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 and Jeff Potts beat Kevin Chang 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
“Every time we play Phoenixville we expect a tight match,” said Rams head coach Josh Brennan. “But I have never seen anything like today. Every match going three sets, tie breakers and all of the long points, this really has been a match I won’t soon forget.”
With all of the other matches concluded, the fourth doubles battled to a 6-1 finish in the first set with Pierre Baty and Frankie Reppert having the better of it.
In the second set Jake Lynch and Evan Talbert had the mental fortitude to fight off an early deficit of 3-4, breaking the Rams serve twice en route to a 6-4 win evening the match at one set a piece.
In the pivotal third set, Lynch and Talbert were up 40-love, leading two games to one, but allowed Baty and Reppert to come back and win the game evening the set at two, which would prove to be the turning point of the match.
Again in this epic doubles match, Lynch and Talbert had their backs to the wall trailing 5-3 with the outcome of the team match hanging in the balance.
The Phantoms duo clawed back, breaking serve again to win three straight games, claiming a 6-5 advantage.
The drama continued and as the score was 30-40, Jake Lynch made a great save to knot the game at deuce. The two team continued with 12 serves, exchanging between advantage in and advantage out and deuce before Frankie Reppert was finally able to rip it past Lynch on the baseline to even the match at six all.
“This is unbelievable,” said Scoda as he watched his guys refuse to give an inch. “I have never seen anything like this. Every service point is so important. The biggest point I think was when were serving up 30-love and they came back and won that game from us. If we could have gone up 3-1 there the match probably would never have gotten to the tiebreaker.”
The Rams got to serve first in the tiebreaker and recorded the first point, but the Phantoms scored five of the next seven points, taking a 5-3 edge.
The Rams regrouped and Baty and Reppert won five of the next six points, culminating with Baty dropping the ball behind Talbert and Lynch for the victory.
“This was by far the most nerve-wracking match I have ever been in,” said Reppert. “We always have a great match with Phoenixville, but nothing like this. We had no idea that our team match was tied at three. When I saw Tyler [Triolo] win I thought we were up 4-2.”
As cliché as it sounds, it was a shame that someone had to lose when such a phenomenal effort was put forth by both squads. Scoda summed it up best when talking to his team afterwards.
“The season is not over because we have one loss now,” said Scoda. “We are just starting our PAC-10 schedule. They will have to play the same teams as we do and on any given day a team can rise in this league.”
“That was exhausting,” said Jake Lynch who compared the match to a district basketball playoff game. “This is such a team sport even though we are out there playing as individuals. We wanted to win to get our team one point. We had no idea the match was tied. No one told us.”
“This was a huge win for us,” added Brennan. “They are always a tough match for us and have a great program. I have been very happy with the way we have come together as a team, we have good senior leadership on our team and it was great to see all of our kids up and cheering for that entire match.”
Scoring
1st singles- Tyler Triolo (SF) defeated Karlyn Small (PX) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
2nd singles- Doug Reeves (PX) defeated Gary Williams (SF) 6-4, 1-6, 6-0
3rd singles- Jeff Potts (PX) defeated Kevin Chang (SF) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
1st doubles- Lewis Cooper and Kyle Emerson (SF) defeated John McInally and Chris Walsh (PX) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2nd doubles- Ryan Cadigan and Brendan Stone (PX) defeated Blake Emerson and Joey Graziadei (SF) 7-5, 6-4
3rd doubles- Mike Powers and Austin Galaska (SF) defeated Norris Hua and Brian Groener (PX) 6-4, 6-4
4th doubles- Pierre Baty and Frankie Reppert (SF) defeated Jake Lynch and Evan Talbert 6-1, 4-6, 6-6, 8-6 tiebreaker
Spring-Ford wins 4-3 Time of match 3:58
