Boys tennis: Brandon Ball leads Wadsworth to sweep of Brunswick

WADSWORTH — Brandon Ball didn't get the test he was eagerly anticipating, but he got the desired result.The junior left-hander downed Brunswick's Cotton Meade 6-2, 6-0 at first singles Thursday as the Wadsworth boys tennis team cruised to a 5-0 non-league win over the Blue Devils, who were minus normal No. 1 singles player Tyler Berg due to a minor knee injury.Berg, who earned All-Gazette honors last season as a junior, downed honorable mention pick Ball 6-1, 6-1 a year ago before Ball and Vincent Gambaccini teamed to win a postseason doubles match over Berg and Ben Kraft. Berg tweaked his knee Wednesday in a match against Nordonia, but is expected to play today in a Greater Cleveland Conference match vs. Medina and Saturday in the Medina Doubles Tournament."Coach (John Hutchinson) told me (Berg wasn't playing) after they got here," Ball said. "I was looking forward to today. I thought it would have been a good match. I've gotten a lot better from last season to this season. It would have been fun to play him again and see what I could do better this time."Ball dropped the first game against the hard-hitting but error-prone Meade, who moved up from second singles, but regrouped to win 12 of the last 13."I played well," Ball said. "I was focused on being consistent and letting him make mistakes."Playing No. 1 for the first time, Meade had some great moments but also had a lot of double faults and unforced errors. When he got his initial second serve in, however, his opponent was shocked by its velocity."I was surprised by that one," Ball said. "His serve was fantastic. It challenged me to do anything with it."Though he lost one game after being up 40-15 and failed to take advantage of several opportunities at deuce, Meade, also a junior left-hander, enjoyed the experience."It was fun to play another lefty," he said. "I've been told my serve is really tough to pick up, but to see a serve from the other side was crazy."The game plan was my serve is my biggest weapon. When I get it in consistently, I'm OK. That's how I was able to take that first game."Meade, who normally takes a bit off his second serve, tried to do that a few times against Ball, but he paid for it. As a result, he felt he had no choice but to go for broke."Because he's a lefty, his forehand was where I normally hit my second serve," Meade said. "That was pretty scary. I definitely had to go for it. I tried (to take off some pace) a couple times and he punished me for it."All the matches were pretty one-sided, as Wadsworth's Gambaccini downed Carter Adriance, who normally plays No. 3, 6-0, 6-1 at second singles and Henry Thomas posted a double bagel at third singles against Dyson Shumaker, who usually plays second doubles. The Grizzlies' Robert Beatty and Cam Gorog downed Nathan Angus and Kenny Dean 6-1, 6-3 at first doubles and Luke Oliver and Jack Johnson dropped just one game to Ben Weers and Josh Owen at second doubles."My serve was good today," Gambaccini said. "I was really trying to get to net. A lot of serve and volleying was my goal."I stuck with the plan," he added of playing Adriance instead of Meade. "I wanted to keep working toward sectionals. You don't want to underestimate anybody. I kept working hard."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.Wadsworth 5, Brunswick 0Singles — Brandon Ball (W) d. Cotton Meade, 6-2, 6-0; Vincent Gambaccini (W) d. Carter Adriance, 6-0, 6-1; Henry Thomas (W) d. Dyson Shumaker, 6-0, 6-0. Doubles — Robert Beatty/Cam Gorog (W) d. Nathan Angus/Kenny Dean, 6-1, 6-3; Luke Oliver/Jack Johnson (W) d. Been Weers/Josh Owen, 6-0, 6-1. Records — Brunswick (3-6), Wadsworth (6-4).