Harlingen HEB wins RGV Championship
The Harlingen Men's 3.5 HEB Tennis team won the Rio Grande Valley Championship last night when they went head to head against the Brownsville #1 team at the Brownsville Tennis Center. Both teams were tied for first place with everything to win (and lose) when they grabbed their swords and took to the battlefield. With eyes of fire and hearts full of passion, both teams would hit every ball with violent malevolence. Each wanting to cause maximum damage to the other.
In times past, some have accused tennis of being a "sissy" sport. Anyone seeing the display of athleticism, anger, violence, rage, spite, and virulent disposition to injur would have succumbed to fear. Armed with the motto, "We win as a team and we lose as a team", the warriors of Harlingen would rudely take the victory they had worked so hard for.
The Brownsville team took a closely fought win in the #1 doubles. The Harlingen #1 Doubles team, which consisted of Joey Sermino and Gabe Elizondo went down in split sets to Aristeo Gutierez and Ricardo Ortiz. Ortiz normally plays singles but was placed in doubles; a strategic move by veteran captain Jim Crixell. Sermino played well, but it was Elizondo that played well above a normal level - making spectacular shots. "Gabe was really in the zone", said spectator Irene Salinas. Quite a bit of passive-agressive behavior was noticed on the part of Brownsville's Aristeo Gutierez with his yelling (way too loud) when his team would hit winners and even stomping his feet or making a loud noise whenever Harlingen was about to hit the ball. Harlingen did not complain, however. The highlight of the match came when Joey Sermino "beaned" Gabe Elizondo in the ear with a second serve. Gabe claimed he could hear a loud ringing afterwards. Perhaps he could hear the ocean? Either way, they both played furiously but would fall prey to the Brownsville team, losing in split sets with a final score of 4-6, 6-1, 1-0.
The #2 doubles team for Harlingen was the first to finish their match. Veterans of the Harlingen team, Jorge Salinas and Sam Martinez, would join forces the entire season and suffered only two losses (one of which was to this Brownsville team). They would take turns deciding which one of them would take match point in all but two of their matches the entire season. This is how dominant they have been. They would face the formidable team of Miles Hutchinson, who had been bumped down from the 4.0 league division and Jim Crixell, the actual captain of the Brownsville #1 team. In a battle that was much closer than the score, spectacular shots would be made by all four players. Jorge Salinas would hit a memorable short backhand volley that would land much too close to the net for the Brownsville team and Sam Martinez, not wanting to be outdone would hit a volley winner with his left hand to win the first set In the end, however, the net game of Sam Martinez would be too much for Crixell and Jorge Salinas would run around his backhand and pound forehands that would prove too much for Hutchinson to handle. In the end Salinas and Martinez won the first match for Harlingen with a score of 6-2, 6-3.
On the court next to them was Steve Wright, probably the best player on their team, playing in the #1 singles spot. Co-captian Jorge Salinas would notice the battle was getting emotionally heated after some very questionable calls from Brownsville player Angel Macias and called for line judges for that match. "I didn't wanna take any chances on our final match this late in the season. This was for the championship and we've put in way too much effort to let it slip away due to gamesmanship. So, I called for line judges", said Salinas. The calls would still be questionable from Macias but he would be over ruled by even the line judge from his own team. Macias, with his incredibly powerful backhand, would not have the consistency to keep up with Wright. The Harlingen warrior would run Macias all over the court, taking early control of the middle. The final score would see Harlingen taking the #1 singles match 7-6, 6-3.
Alex Martinez would bravely attempt to play #2 doubles with an injured wrist, but would have to retire. This gave Jake Andarza of the Brownsville team the second victory of the night.
The score would now be tied 2 to 2. It all would come down on the shoulders of the #3 doubles team of Carlos Galindo and Steve Brewer. They would face formidable foes in Kenneth McCleary and Jesus Ontiveros. Harlingen would find themselves having to claw their way from a 1-4 deficit in the first set. Such was their conviction and belief that they would come all the way back and win the first set in a tie breaker. The score was now 7-6. All the players and interested spectators were now glued to this match. All were holding their breaths. All were cheering on their teams.
The Harlingen team would find themselves down, once again, in the second set with the same score of 1-4. The Brownsville cheerleaders were loud and confident. Knowing that they had come back from the same score in the first set gave Brewer and Galindo back their belief, however. Brownsville would not win another game as the mighty Harlingen duo took the set 6-4. The final score was 7-6, 6-4.
Harlingen co-captain Jorge Salinas would "high five" captain Joey Sermino and they would simultaneously cheer, "We're going to Dallas!" to the smiles of the rest of the team. Congratulations went all the way around and the Browsville #1 team would be very gracious hosts. Jim Crixell would even agree to try and give Harlingen a "warmup" match prior to Harlingen's trip up to the Texas Sectional Championships (In other words: the state championships).
The Harlingen team has endured injuries and illness (Joey Sermino's injured ribs after a fall, Gabe Elizondo's sprain of his latisimus mucles on his side, Jorge Salinas sprained shoulder, Sam Martinez severe bout with the flu, etc) to be the final team left standing. RGV Tennis.COM congratulates these athletes who have sacrificed and worked hard to get where they are. All these men represent the Harlingen HEB Tennis Center...where champions train!
Contact Information:
Harlingen Tennis Center: (956) 428 - 2092
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