Prep Roundup: Brayton makes it 3 for III in tennis

Escalon junior wins in straight sets

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STOCKTON — Kaitlyn Brayton's third straight Sac-Joaquin Section Division III singles title was hardearned and, therefore, sweet.

Brayton, the talented junior from Escalon High, completed her third straight unbeaten season Friday by turning back Adaugo Ukaegbu of Center High 6-4, 7-5 at Oak Park.

Ukaegbu, a 6-foot freshman with a 19-0 record going into the final, led 4-0 in the second set before the 5-11 Brayton countered.

"I was kind of intimidated. She came out strong in the second set," she said. "I just played my game point by point and got back in it. She was kind of inconsistent and hit the ball very hard but she double-faulted quite a bit."

Brayton capped her third straight 12-0 season with twin wins in the semifinals and over Ukaegbu in the title match.

"This was the best competition she's ever had," Escalon coach Dan Thompson said. "She holds her composure out there. She's mentally tough."

Not only is Brayton unbeaten in her prep career, she's dropped only one set in the section tournament.

"It (a loss) will happen sooner or later," Brayton said, "but for now it's good."

Her season will continue at home Monday in the section team quarterfinals vs. Argonaut.

• ENOCHS TANDEM OUT, at Santa Rosa — Enochs doubles pair Yann Libbrecht and Trevor Wright was defeated in the section semifinals by top-seeded Nelson Hosely and Jimmy Stone of Davis of Yolo 6-0, 6-1. The Davis team went on to win the tournament and dropped only six games in four matches.

• MANTECA DUO LOSES 3-SETTER, at Roseville — Unseeded Manteca pair Yassen Aniss and Arnie Morales lost serve once in the final set, resulting in a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 loss to top-seeded Dusty Davis and Andrew Hall of Oak Ridge in the section Division II final at Roseville. Aniss and Morales reached the title match by beating Alan Toscano and Oscar Figueroa of Pioneer 6-2, 7-5. That avenged a loss to the Pioneer tandem in the team championships.

SWIMMING

• EIGHT ADVANCE TO SECTION MEET — Eight boys advanced to the season-ending Sac-Joaquin Section Swimming Championships, beginning today at 10 a.m. at Tokay High. Entries finished in the top eight the finals.

Qualifying for today's races were David LaFlamme of Beyer, second in the 100 butterfly (50.14) and third in the 200 freestyle (1:43.52); Terrance Coughean of Atwater, fifth in the 200 free (1:45.06) and fifth in the 500 free (4:43.86); R.J. Barton of Downey, fourth in the 200 individual medley (1:55.52) and sixth in the 100 free (47.63); Adam Rice of Atwater, fifth in the 200 IM (1:56.92); Tyler Bolton of Grace Davis, fifth in the 50 free (21.79); Jason Marks of Beyer, seventh in the 50 free (21.90); and Justin Carter of Golden Valley, fourth in the 100 back (52.90).

BASEBALL

• WATERFORD 4, FOREST LAKE CHRISTIAN 3, at Lodi — The Wildcats (22-6) moved into the Division VI semifinals after reliever Thomas Longworth got the final out with the tying run at second base.

Starter Russell Longworth, Thomas' brother, struck out three in the sixth inning to pitch out of a jam. Waterford scored all its runs in the first on Jordan Doman's three-run triple off the wall in left, followed by Thomas Longworth's RBI single.

The Wildcats meet Capital Christian today at noon at Zupo Field in the first game of a best-of-three semifinal series.

LATE THURSDAY BASEBALL

• LINCOLN 7, ENOCHS 6, at Stockton — The Eagles, wearing T-shirts with the inscription "The Tradition Begins," rallied for four runs in the seventh inning but barely fell short in the first round of the section tournament. Nick Romero struck out with two on base to end their season late Friday night.

Two errors, an RBI single by Kevin Miller, a two-run double down the leftfield line by Mike Stewart and an RBI double to right by Travis Edwards brought Enochs (17-10) to within one run.

"Being a first-year program with seniors, this is something to build on," Enochs coach Matt Brown said. "Last year we were 10-17 and this year we're 17-10; to come back and beat Davis on the last game of the year, and then to battle back tonight, I think they represented the program well."

The Trojans (18-9) struck for five runs in the second off John Alonzo. J.T. Boles tripled for Enochs.