Bangor boys blank Witches in tennis 4-0

Ethan Croce and Parke Oldenburg, doubles partners infrequently over their Bangor High School tennis careers, had teamed up together just once this season against Brewer High School. They won.

On Friday afternoon the two teamed up once again against the Witches. Again, they won.

Bangor’s Croce-Oldenburg team defeated Brewer’s No. 1 doubles team of Stacy Glidden and Rick Brochu 6-2, 6-2 leading the Rams past the host Witches 4-0 in quarterfinal action of the 1991 Maine Team Tennis Tournament.

No. 1 singles player Kris Jensen of Bangor defeated Brewer’s Oliver Gartenbroeker after Gartenbroeker retired due to an injured wrist.

Bangor’s No. 2 singles player Gerrick Rodrigues defeated Brewer’s Jason Pelletier 6-3, 6-3 and No. 3 singles Bobby Burns of Bangor defeated Aaron Gray 6-0, 6-1 to clinch the match.

The second doubles match was called a 4-4 in the third set due to rain.

Brewer was playing without its usual No. 2 singles player, who was suspended for disciplinary reasons.

Twice Brewer had beaten Bangor this tennis season. As is often the case, however, the third time around proved to be a different story.

For Croce and Oldenburg, Friday’s teaming was decided after Thursday’s practice.

“We had an indoor practice last night and Ethan and Parke were hitting together. It was obvious they had to play together today,” said Bangor’s first-year coach Jim Chasse.

Burns had beaten Gray easily to give Bangor a 1-0 lead. A victory in the first doubles would have really put the pressure on Brewer.

One point, in the second set of their match, summed up the day for the Croce-Oldenburg team and the entire Ram squad.

With Brewer serving, Croce sent a return into the far left corner of the court. Glidden made a nice play to save the ball, but Oldenburg, at the net, was awaiting his short return.

Oldenburg’s shot was directed toward the far right corner away from both of the Brewer players. After he hit, he disgustedly turned away thinking the ball was headed out. It nestled into the corner near the line.

“Parke thought it was out,” said Croce. “He said, `Sorry about that’ after he hit it. He had turned away and started walking back to the baseline.”

“Everything was going our way,” Oldenburg added. “We played well today.”

With a 2-0 lead, Rodrigues was the Ram who iced the victory with his win against Pelletier, normally the Witches’ No. 3 player. Rodrigues used a display of impressive passing shots to defeat Pelletier.

“We just wanted to play aggressively all the way through,” said Rodrigues. “We’ve had matches where some people were playing well but other people would have confidence problems. We’ve come along way since the last time we played.”

“In previous matches against them, we played with a lot of tenacity. Today, my kids seemed a little tentative,” said Brewer coach Bob Simko. “All the matches before had been close and tenacity pulled my kids through. We didn’t have that luxury today.”

Bangor boys 4, Brewer 0

Singles: Kris Jensen (Bang) def. Oliver Gartenbroeker 6-0, 1-0 retired; Gerrick Rodrigues (Bang) def. Jason Pelletier 6-3, 6-3; Bobby Burns (Bang) def. Aaron Gray 6-0, 6-1; Doubles: Parke Oldenburg-Ethan Croce (Bang) def. Stacy Glidden-Rick Brochu 6-2, 6-2; Peter Dauphinee-Chris Harper (Brew) were leading Todd Oldenburg-Tim Murphy 6-3, 6-7 (1-7), 5-4, rained out