PORTLAND – High school tennis can be cruel.
With five matches being contested at the same time at the APEX Racket and Fitness Center on Thursday, the Freeport Falcon boys were able to see the fate that was coming all around them.
With Yarmouth leading on courts 1, 2 and 4, the Clippers made the Falcons’ season end in flash, with three matches concluding in quick succession of a 3-2 Yarmouth victory in the Class B South regional final.
The Clippers (14-1), seeded third in Class B South, take on Class B North champ Belfast in the State Class B championship at Lewiston High School on Saturday at 12:45 p.m., while the Falcons saw their defense of the regional final come to an end.
“Today we certainly knew Yarmouth had some fire power and they played better than us,” said Freeport coach Jay Harper after his Falcons finished 12-2.
Freeport fell behind early, dropping the first set in four of the five matches. Yarmouth’s top doubles duo of Liam Ireland and Asher Lockwood defeated Freeport’s Aaron Rusiecki and Sully Smith, 6-1, 6-4.
At No. 1 singles, Yarmouth freshman Archie McDonough broke Freeport junior Clay Canterbury’s service throughout his match, a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
“He doesn’t miss and is a great player,” said Canterbury of McDonough. “The score didn’t entirely reflect how close it was, but he deserved to win.”
At No. 3 singles, Freeport senior Liam Gould began in similar fashion as Saturday’s battle with Greely, with Gould dropping the opening set, 6-2.
Will Nicholas continued to give Gould fits, using his serve in keeping his Freeport opponent moving around the court.
But Gould refused to quit. Trailing 5-2 in the second set, he broke his opponent’s serve and held to close to 5-4. Gould had his chances, but Nicholas put the senior away for a 6-2, 6-4 victory and the third and deciding point.
“When you’re looking around and seeing those scorecards, it gives you bad energy and puts the stress on your shoulders,” Gould said. “I fought harder, came back to 5-4 and had some shots that I should have buried away.”
“Both Gould and one doubles fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to get to 5-4 and had chances to get to 5-5. They just didn’t quit,” said Harper. “We knew when we beat Yarmouth, they were missing Ireland at one doubles, and he played terrific today. We won both doubles that day, but their doubles came to play and that was the difference.”
“We went out to Freeport last year, so it was nice to see them again and get past them to get to the state final,” said Nicholas, a junior. “I tried to hit deep and I relied on my serve. In the second set, I had to adjust, hitting more loopy shots, and I was able to close it out.”
At No. 2 singles, Falcon senior Wes Goodwin closed out his career in style, rallying for a 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 win over Clippers senior Shep Shutkin. The doubles duo of Freeport sophomore TJ Whelan and freshman Gage King also won, capturing a three-set, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 10-5 victory over Yarmouth’s Miles Hagedorn and G.W. Ruth.
Gould looked back on both this season and his high school tennis career.
“It was so much fun, being that this was my senior year, to end with just the one loss during the regular season,” he said. “Us seniors fought so hard to get that state title. We won regional finals for the first time, won Western Maine for the first time this year. It was fun.”
“I believe we were the best team, and today is a really tough loss. Yarmouth played great and I wish them the best,” Canterbury added.
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