SOUTHERN SECTION TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS : Unseeded Corona del Mar Pair Beaten in Final

Trenton Rhodes and Brian Walden of Corona del Mar High School considered themselves lucky to reach the Southern Section individual tennis championships doubles final Saturday at the SeaCliff Tennis Club.

Rhodes and Walden, both sophomores, lost to Alex Lynch and Darren Potkey of Ventura in the championship match, 6-2, 6-3. But to get there, they survived a 2-hour 36-minute match against Pasadena Poly’s Danny Polsby and Charlie Hoecker in a semifinal.

The unseeded Corona del Mar team won, 5-7, 7-6, 6-3, but the match took a toll. Rhodes hurt his left ankle during the final set when he tripped while he was running to the net to hit a return.

The Sea Kings also had a problem in the title match. The teams were about to begin play when Rhodes and Walden were assessed a one-game penalty for a five-minute delay of game. Southern Section CIF administrator Bill Clark invoked CIF bylaw 307, which states that a team must be under the supervision of a coach or a league representative.

Corona del Mar Coach Gary Salazar had left the club after the semifinals because he was scheduled to compete at the Adoption Guild tennis tournament at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. Walden was to be on a doubles team competing against him in that tournament, and Salazar said he had to tell the Adoption Guild tournament director that Walden’s team would default. Salazar said Corona del Mar parents reached him at Balboa Bay Club and told him he was needed at SeaCliff.

Salazar rushed through traffic to reach SeaCliff five minutes after the final was scheduled to start. If he had been much later, Rhodes and Walden would have been forced to default.

“I had already showed up for the (semifinal) match (at SeaCliff),” Salazar said. “They (tournament directors Tim Mang and Jason Newman) knew I was here, and I didn’t feel they’d force the issue, and I wasn’t sure they’d enforce the rules. I planned to come back once I defaulted the match.”

Clark said he was only enforcing the rules.

“Our intent was never to not play the match, but we had to make sure the rules were followed,” Clark said. “The Ventura coach was here and he followed consistently with the rules.

“I was told he (Salazar) had gone to the Adoption Guild, but that doesn’t change the rule. That’s the story as I see it and the fact that we had a little confusion at the onset, that’s too bad. Let’s not take anything from the competition here.”

Rhodes said the one-game penalty didn’t bother him.

“We got it right back,” said Rhodes, who said he was bothered by his ankle injury. “Then we were up a break, and they broke us right back. I was really impressed with both of their returns.”

Lynch and Potkey, the top-seeded doubles team, played well in the final, attacking the net and forcing Rhodes and Walden into making errors. Ventura jumped to a 2-1 lead in the first set before Corona del Mar tied the match at 2. The Cougars then went on to win, 6-2. In the second set, Ventura again jumped to a 3-0 lead. After three match points with the score, 5-3, Ventura won when Rhodes’ return went long.

“Brian was telling me, he couldn’t believe we went this far,” Rhodes said. “We just had fun being here.”

Salazar said Rhodes and Walden had a great tournament. “For two young players to do so well, that can only help their tennis career in terms of confidence and playing.”

Mission Viejo’s doubles team of Jeff Holroyd and Vince Cheng was the only other Orange County team to reach Saturday’s tournament. Holroyd and Cheng fell, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, to Lynch and Potkey in a semifinal.

In the singles final, Heath Montgomery of Santa Barbara defeated Apple Valley’s Kenny Cruz, 6-1, 6-4.