It was a long and hot day for Lompoc junior Alex Jensen at the Los Padres League tournament held on Friday afternoon at Allan Hancock College and the Minami Center.

When it was all said and done, Jensen had a new title - LPL singles champion. Erasing some ghosts that have haunted him this season, Jensen disposed of St. Joseph's Jake Eszes in the semi-finals, then outlasted league MVP Juan Ferrer of Santa Ynez in the championship final.

In the semis and the finals in both doubles and singles, opponents played two full sets. If it was tied at one set each, they then played a tie-breaker. Jensen defeated Ferrer 5-7, 6-4, (7-0).

In the doubles finals, Miles Seemann and Curtis Cole from Santa Ynez defeated Kji Hamill and Samuel Orozco of St. Joseph 6-0, 6-2.

Jensen, who is coached at Lompoc by his mother Loretta, was able to exact a bit of payback on both Eszes and Ferrer after he had fallen both times he played each one in league play. He beat Eszes 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 Friday. It was also Ferrer who defeated Jensen last year in the league final in a tie-break 6-4, 0-6, (7-3) when they were both sophomores.

“It feels awesome,” Jensen said after the win. “I probably played my best tennis ever today.”

The difference this year was that Jensen knew his opponent better.

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“I was able to figure out his game a little bit,” explained Jensen. “Last year he was new and surprised me - this time I knew how to read him better.”

Santa Ynez coach Larry Popkin saw a close match coming.

“They both played well all day,” he said about Ferrer and Jensen. “Alex has been coming on the last part of the year, so it wasn't any surprise at all.

What was the difference?

“I believe it was Alex - he played Juan a tiny bit smarter today,” Popkin said. “And for Juan there were more unforced errors than I've seen him make. Particularly in the tie-break, Alex played well, he didn't.”

Jensen played a little different than he had during the regular season.

“I approached his backhand a lot because he always hit the slice, so I would come up and get an easy volley,” Jensen said.

Jensen's coach like what she saw on the day.

“He's been anticipating this day all year,” Loretta Jensen said. “This is the best I've ever seen him play. It must of been the fetuccini alfredo last night.”

In doubles, Seemann and Cole rolled through the day just like they did in the regular season. The duo, Cole a junior and Seemann a freshman, were undefeated in league and were unstoppable in the tournament.

After sweeping through the first round 6-0 over Steve Rodriguez and Luciano Luu of Santa Maria, they breezed through the quarter-finals over Lompoc's Kyle Thumm and Marco Pasallo 6-0. In the semi-finals they faced Cole Upton and Dane Eckert from Morro Bay and won 6-1, 6-2.

After Kji Hamill and Samuel Orozco from St. Joseph struggled through the semis with Cabrillo's Ryan Anderson and Andrew Shewell 3-6, 6-2, (7-4), they were defeated by Seemann and Cole 6-0, 6-2 for the championship.

“It's an unbelievably good combination,” Popkin said about his doubles champs. “You have a junior and a freshman and they complemented each other all year.

“Miles is an amazing ninth grader - he's very mature. Curtis is just a cool 11th grader that keeps Miles cool. The type of game they play is very consistent.”

As far as the rest of the tournament, there were not any huge surprises.

There were almost a couple of upsets by the Cabrillo doubles teams.

“Both of our doubles teams played fantastic,” Cabrillo coach Dan Troup said. “We were a point away from having both our teams in the semi-finals and Anderson and Shewell were a tie-breaker away from the finals.”

After winning their first round set 6-2, Arjun Ayyar and Jordan Daniels were one game away from winning their quarterfinal set against Cole Upton and Dane Eckert of Morro Bay, but fell 7-6 (8-6). Anderson and Shewell won the first round 6-3 then beat Cory Zleisy and Johnny Lazaro of Santa Maria 6-3 to set up a semi-final against Hamill and Orozco.

They took the first set 6-3, before the St. Joseph team bounced back to win the second 6-2. Hamill and Orozco earned a spot in the finals with a 7-4 tie-breaker win.

“We had a good day in doubles,” Troup said.

Upton and Eckert defeated Anderson and Shewell in a third place match 6-0, while Eszes beat Daniel Borcherding of Santa Maria in the singles third place match. The finalists both qualify for the CIF individual tournament and the third place finishers would go if one of the top two cannot.

All-League tennis team announced

Ferrer was named the singles most Valuable player. First-team singles players were Eszes, Jensen and Daniel Borcherding (Santa Maria).

Cole and Seemann were named the MVP double team.

Second teamers included Andrew Shewell and Ryan Anderson (Cabrillo).

Earning honorable mention were Erik Wang (Cabrillo and Anthony Wong (Lompoc).

Softball

St. Joseph 5, Cabrillo 0

Kailey Snyder pitched a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts at St. Louis de Montfort, and the Knights (7-3, Los Padres League, 13-10 overall) wrapped up a playoff spot.

The Knights sewed up a post-season berth by sweeping the season series from the Conquistadores (5-5 LPL with two league games left).

Templeton 2, Lompoc 0

Kat Hicks pitched a one-hitter against the Braves in a Los Padres League match-up. Lauren Lopes broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the seventh. The Braves (6-4 LPL) had base runners with four walks, but were not able to score.

Baseball

Cabrillo 7, St. Joseph 6

Zach Pecyna slugged the game-winner, a three-run home run in a six-run Cabrillo fifth inning at St. Joseph.

Cabrillo pitcher Bobby Engler improved to 6-0 on the year.

The Conquistadores (7-4, 12-12) moved into third place in the LPL.

Templeton 6, Lompoc 5

The Braves (7-3 LPL) fell into a first-place tie with Santa Ynez, which lost a 4-2 non-league game against Mission Prep Friday.

Lompoc fell on the road , despite out-hitting Templeton 8-7. The Eagles moved to 6-4 in LPL games. Brandon Alonzo and Dalton Rouleau doubled for Lompoc. Ryan Bower was the Braves' starting pitcher. Dave Bennett relieved in the fifth.

May 4, 2008