Escanaba Edges Negaunee to Claim Anticipated Battle for Best in UPD1
By
Jerry DeRoche
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2022
KINGSFORD — All season long, the Escanaba Eskymos and the Negaunee Miners were the top two boys tennis teams in the Upper Peninsula, seemingly on a collision course to fight for the Division 1 championship for the second-straight year.
Turns out that premonition was accurate, and for the second-consecutive season, the Eskymos left with the championship, recording 17 points compared Negaunee’s 15. Marquette finished third with 13, Kingsford took fourth with five, Menominee placed fifth with two points and Gladstone did not score.
Escanaba won flight championships at No. 4 singles, No. 1 doubles, No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles. The Eskymos also finished runners-up at No. 2 singles and No. 4 doubles.
“I’m just happy for the kids,” said Escanaba coach Tom Penegor. “This is all about them. They put in a lot of hard work and practice time, and it’s just a bunch of kids that worked together. They deserve this.”
The Eskymos can thank their doubles players for their repeat. At No. 1 doubles, Isaac Maki and Dawson Williams upended James Thomsen and Jace Turri of Negaunee 6-1, 6-2, while No. 2 doubles Joseph Hubert and Joseph Montel defeated Negaunee’s Gavin Downey and Bryce Storms by the same score.
The No. 3 doubles tandem of Connor Smale and Troy Delvaux knocked off Marquette’s Isaac Johnson and Liam McFarren 6-2, 6-4 for the third doubles point.
Escanaba’s other flight championship came off the racquet of Sam Rivera, who battled back from a slow start to get past Mick Kumpala of Negaunee 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The No. 1 doubles match was indicative of the Eskymos’ efforts.
“I would say these were some of the best performances we had,” Williams said of his and Maki’s road to the championship. “I’m not going to look back and say, ‘Hey, we could have done better.’”
Williams, the ground stroker, and Maki, the imposing net presence at 6-foot-4, drew a bye into the second round where they battled past Kingsford’s Isaac Nash and Ben Trevillian 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. With the win in the final, the Escanaba duo closed the season unbeaten and secured their second-straight U.P. Finals title.
Escanaba’s depth was in evidence during its run Wednesday and all season, Penegor said.
“We have 35 kids that went out this year, and that’s unusual,” said the seventh-year Escanaba coach. “There are some teams out there that barely have 12 kids. I think part of that is if you have success, that can bring more kids to play. And Escanaba for many years has been a tennis community. We have had a lot of past U.P. champions, a lot of people that played in college.”
Runner-up Negaunee, which had its three-year run at the top of Division 1 in the Upper Peninsula end last season, received championship efforts from No. 2 singles player Gavin Saunders and No. 3 singles Tyler Lajimodiere. Saunders defeated Nathan Howes of Escanaba 6-2, 7-5, while Lajimodiere knocked off Chase Thomsen of Marquette 6-2, 6-3.
Marquette scored victories in the other two flights. Senior Nick Olivier showed his powerful game in beating Luke Syrjala of Negaunee 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and Seppi Camilli and Toby Camilli topped Evan St. Peter and Parker LaFond of Escanaba 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 doubles.
For Olivier, his title was another in the long line of family U.P. singles championships. His father Wayne won the 1983 No. 1 singles flight, while his brother Alec won four titles at No. 1 singles from 2016 to 2019.
Additionally, Nick’s sister Elysa captured top flight singles championships in 2018 and 2019.
The new family champion said he improved his athleticism and his feet during the summer, and he showed that Wednesday as he was often able to run around his backhand in order to blast away with his forehand.
Olivier said his performance was inspired by the late Jordan DeMay, a friend and basketball teammate at Marquette High School who died in March.
“A lot of motivation to do this,” he said, “was for my friend Jordan.”
PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba's Nathan Howes gets airborne to return a shot during Wednesday's Division 1 Final at Kingsford. (Middle) Marquette's Nick Olivier returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Photos by Dennis Mansfield.)
Clarkston Ace Ready for Final Title Drive
September 26, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
CLARKSTON – While striving for his first MHSAA Finals title in one sport, Luke Baylis is looking to be a part of a repeat championship in another.
A senior at Clarkston High School, Baylis is head of the powder puff committee for his class, a job that entails collecting money, setting the rules and overseeing the team as it goes for a second consecutive win.
“As juniors they beat the seniors last year,” said Baylis, who served in the same role for the junior squad a year ago. “They’re a pretty solid team. Hopefully they’ll win again.”
As the powder puff team pursues school bragging rights, Baylis is in the midst of a statewide quest.
An all-state tennis player his first three years of high school, Baylis is looking to cap off his career with a Lower Peninsula Division 1 individual title at No. 1 singles after contending for the flight championship the last two years.
Baylis has lost in the No. 1 semifinals both of the last two years, falling to Troy’s Steven Forman two years ago, 6-0, 6-0; and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s Jarreau Campbell in three sets last year.
As a freshman, Baylis lost in the championship match at No. 2 singles to Andrew Zhang of Bloomfield Hills, the title winner at No. 1 singles in 2018.
With Campbell and Zhang graduated, this could be the time for Baylis.
“I definitely think there is a pretty big opportunity,” said Baylis, who carries a 4.1 grade-point average. “I’m definitely feeling a little more pressure, but the pressure is good at the same time. It’s not bad pressure.”
Baylis said his parents have told him that he has had a “racquet in his hands since he was a baby,” but he started playing competitively when he was 6 years old.
Baylis also dabbled in basketball, an obsession in the Clarkston community. But despite that, he didn’t have any dreams of suiting up for the decorated Wolves hoops program.
“I kind of knew I always liked tennis more,” Baylis said. “I knew I really wasn’t going to be playing varsity basketball, so I moved on and started playing tennis more competitively.”
Baylis certainly does play competitively during the summer, saying he’s usually gone every weekend competing at junior tournaments.
Clarkston head coach Chas Claus said Baylis’ biggest strength is his poise.
Claus pointed out there are no situations in matches where Baylis gets frustrated, starts talking to himself or shouts in anger.
“He’s very tough to fluster,” Claus said. “I’ve rarely seen him out of sorts in a match where he didn’t pull through and figure it out.”
Baylis, who currently has a 20-1 record, will play in college at Michigan State, choosing the Spartans over Notre Dame.
“It had the best feeling,” Baylis said of a visit to MSU. “When I stepped on campus, I knew it was right. Nothing felt quite as right as the team at Michigan State.”
Before making the move to East Lansing, he wants to apply the lessons he’s learned the last three years when he gets a final crack at a Finals title next month.
“I got tight in certain situations,” Baylis said. “I think it definitely made me stronger and a little more motivated going into this year after that semifinal loss.”
By the time the Finals wrap up Oct. 19 in Midland, Baylis hopes he’ll have two titles in the bag – a tennis championship to go with a second powder puff crown for his senior class.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clarkston’s Luke Baylis returns a volley during first-day play at the 2017 LP Division 1 Finals. (Middle) Baylis has made the No. 1 singles semifinals the last two seasons. (Top photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com; middle courtesy of Luke Baylis.)