Triton Makes Quick Work Of Whitko WildcatsBOURBON – Playing its third match in as many days, Triton showed no signs of fatigue, needing about an hour to beat Whitko 4-1 in a boys tennis non-conference match Thursday. At No. 1 singles, Triton’s Mace Eads played and won a lot of closely-contested points in beating Bailey Platt in straight sets. The Trojans won at No. 2 doubles handily, with Grant Eib and Carter Kuntz winning 6-1, 6-2 over Luke Spurlin and Nathan Smith. Triton beat LaVille, a program that’s had its ups and downs, on Tuesday. The Trojans then were soundly beaten by perennial power Plymouth on Wednesday before handling its business against Whitko on Thursday, The Wildcats came in to the match with six players, and forfeited at No. 3 singles. Still, Triton coach Allen Peckham said his team, now 4-4 on the season, can benefit from playing teams with different skill levels. The Trojans, after playing Bethany Christian in Goshen on Saturday, will repeat the three matches in three days pattern again next week. “This has been scheduled like this for a while. I think they like (playing his much); they get a better rhythm for match play, and you don’t really see that in practice sometimes,” Peckham said. “I do think it helps sharpen their game, but you see some unforced errors because you don’t have time to work on them. “(Whitko was) another one of those matches that we’ll try to increase our level. We are a pretty young team and we need that experience to play against better teams. Even matches like tonight where you play against a pretty competitive team where you have to fight for your points, these help out.” Whitko head coach Victoria Cornell said they will have a seventh player available for its matches beginning next week, starting with a Three Rivers Conference contest at Peru Tuesday. Meanwhile, she’s been mixing and matching players, looking for just the right combinations to get the most from her Wildcat squad. She cited the efforts of Micah Cokl and Austin Hollowell in their No. 1 doubles match, where they lost to Triton’s Keegan Moiser and Chase Butler 6-4, 7-5, and Cory Hersha, who claimed the only Whitko win at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 6-3 over Aaron Stichter. “I was really happy with the guys tonight,” she said. “This was only the second match for Cory this season, and he’s coming out, working hard and staying focused, and I really like that. “Our No. 1 doubles, this is their second match playing together so, again, we have been switching positions throughout the season because we have had different people eligible. I’m pretty proud of them coming out and just working hard and not giving up. We were playing hard to the very end.”
