Sophomore Day a big success for No. 13 Gulf Coast

PERKINSTON — No. 13 Mississippi Gulf Coast closed out the regular season and celebrated Sophomore Day in a big way Tuesday.

The Bulldogs beat East Central 8-1 to finish as MACCC runners-up. They'll play in the NJCAA Region 23 Championship starting April 24 in Ellisville.

"I've seen this group of sophomores grow a lot," Gulf Coast coach Sam Blackburn said. "I've seen them improve their games and grow as young men. That's a lot of fun for me to see, and it was great to see all the sophomores get a chance to compete and play well for us today."

Gulf Coast (10-1, 9-1 MACCC) won all three doubles courts 8-2 to seize control of the match.

Gonzalo Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA) won his No. 1 singles match 7-6, 6-1, and Vicente Faria (So., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria de Fonseca Benevides) won 6-0, 7-6 at No. 2.

Moritz Stroebel (Fr., Metzingen, Germany/Theodor-Heuss-Schule Reutlingen) and Ryland Buford (Fr., Gulfport/Gulfport) won their courts without dropping a game.

Gonzalo Cotter (So., Valencia, Spain/IVLA), Vicente Faria (So., Lisbon, Portugal/Escola Secundaria de Fonseca Benevides), Jeremiah Layton (So., Brookhaven/Brookhaven) and Smith Walker (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) played their last matches at Perk.

"They led to a good team win today, and I know that they're gonna continue to lead us along a great success for this next month and a half," Blackburn said. "We've got a lot more tennis to play until the end of the season."

Results

Team: Gulf Coast 8, East Central 1

Doubles

No. 1: Vicente Faria-Moritz Stroebel (GC) def. Jeronimo Arango Restrepo-Luis Alejandro Rios Hernandez, 8-2

No. 2: Gonzalo Cotter-Ryland Buford (GC) def. Tate Baucum-Luke Bruntlett, 8-2

No. 3: Jordan Mitchell-Connor Hartfield (GC) def. Cade Cooley-Thomas Sumrall, 8-2

Singles

No. 1: Cotter (GC) def. Arango Restrepo, 7-6, 6-1

No. 2: Faria (GC) def. Rios Hernandez, 6-0, 7-6

No. 3: Stroebel (GC) def. Cooper, 6-0, 6-0

No. 4: Buford (GC) def. Baucum, 6-0, 6-0

No. 5: Jeremiah Layton (GC) def. Bruntlett, 6-0, 7-5

No. 6: Cooley (EC) def. Smith Walker, 6-4, 6-0

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