Wait Makes Mounts Savor Section Title

Good things come to those who wait.

After sitting through an almost two-hour doubles match, three of Ephrata’s boys singles tennis players then went out and won their matches, giving the Mountaineers a 5-2 win over Manheim Central for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two title Monday at Ephrata.

“It feels great. It’s been the first time in my four years,” said Chase Wilson, Ephrata’s No. 1 player. “I’m just glad to have this great team and all the competition that we face.”

It was the Mountaineers’ first section title since 1993.

“It feels wonderful. I’m really excited for this day,” said Jody Wilson, Ephrata’s coach and Chase’s mother. “It’s been a special season, and we’re excited.”

Both teams entered the match unbeaten in the section. The Mountaineers remained undefeated at 12-0, while losing just three games to their six division opponents. The Barons fall to 11-5 and finish at 5-1 in the section.

Entering Monday’s match, Chase Wilson and younger brother Lance were expected to deliver three points for the Mounts, and they did just that. They teamed for a quick 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles, then had to wait about an hour and 15 minutes to return to the court for singles, where Chase won 6-3, 6-1 over Andrew Rajaratnam and Lance was a 6-2, 6-0 winner over David Graff at No. 2. Both Wilsons improved to 11-0 on the season.

“I was a little nervous all day. But once I got into playing doubles, I felt really good,” Chase Wilson said. “It was nice playing with Lance in doubles; it really boosted my confidence for singles.”

Jody Wilson and Manheim Central coach Ryan Jeckel pointed to No. 2 doubles as a key match.

“It was one of those days where we needed to get two of three doubles,” Jeckel said. “We needed to be up 2-1 going into singles.”

But Ephrata’s Tyler Martin and Colin Zucchi won that match 8-4 over Graff and Tyler Snavely. Their wait to return to the courts for singles was about an hour.

That was because Manheim Central’s Ben Ginder and Andrew Donmoyer outlasted Ephrata’s Adam Zimmerman and Zeke Jones 9-8 (7-2) at No. 3 doubles.

Jody Wilson also pointed out Zucchi’s win over Ginder at No. 4 singles, where he won 6-3, 6-3 despite trailing in each set.

“To win it in straight sets really shows a lot,” she said, “because a lot of times you can win the first set and feel good and all of a sudden the guy comes back on you, but that didn’t happen.”

“I thought we played well,” Jeckel said. “It’s hard to judge (Ephrata). … I knew they were going to be strong at the top, but I wasn’t sure how deep that was going to go.”

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