Locals come out winning

The War by the Shore, also known as the 14th annual Balboa Bay Club

Junior Tennis Tournament began Monday, but the action is sure to heat

up today.

Most of the top seeds had first-round byes Monday, but all the

seeds in all the singles divisions will play today.

Much of the action on the first day of the tournament took place

in the 12s and 14s in both boys and girls, which had full fields.

Nine local players from Newport-Mesa competed in the boys 12s and

four advanced to the round of 16.

Joshua Lorentzen of Newport Beach, the No. 1 seed, showed off his

skills with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Daniel Nguy. Also from Newport

Beach, Daron Arnold was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Mikey Zablan. Corona

del Mar’s Omeed Ghassemi defeated Mark Saad, 6-0, 6-0. The other

winner was Newport Beach’s Erik Heimstaedt, a 6-4, 6-2 victor over

Bret Mathews.

In contrast to the large local contingent in the 12s, just one

player pulled off a victory in boys 14s Monday, Parker Rhodes. But

the good news for Rhodes, which came in the form of a 6-3, 6-2

victory over Adam Gassin in the round of 64, was followed by a bout

of bad news. Rhodes was ousted from the tournament in the round of

32, falling to top-seeded Raymond Sarmiento.

In the girls 12s bracket, five local players advanced to the round

of 16, which will be contested today. Hailey Hogan of Balboa was a

6-2, 6-0 winner against Katrina Elizes. Newport Beach’s Kelli Feeley

won 7-5, 7-5 against Brianna Ashley Steinmetz. Meghan Chomeau, also

from Newport Beach, was a 6-1, 7-6 winner against Alex

Yates-Robinson. Melissa Matsuoka advanced with a 6-0, 6-0 win over

Teresa Macias. Last but no certainly not least, top-seeded Cierra

Gaytan-Leach was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Madeline Jaeger.

In girls 14s, nine local players will take part in today’s round

of 32. Five of them advanced on Monday, the other four had byes. Two

all local matchups will see Sasha Dunlap a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Mysa

Sangria, battle Michelle Atkins, who had a first-round bye, and

Christina Schwartz, a 6-4, 6-2 victor against Kelly Snyderman, battle

Kendall McClure, who had a bye. All four players hail from Newport

Beach.

Other advancers in girls 14s Monday included Elizabeth Van’t Hof

(7-5, 7-5) and Kelli Kawabe (6-4, 6-4).

Four locals advanced Monday in girls 16s, joining nine who had

byes to put 13 locals in the round of 32. Brittanny Sturgess of

Newport Beach was a 6-1, 6-3 winner against Melissa Stringfellow.

Andrea Zamucen advanced when her opponent didn’t show to the

tournament. Jill Casserly of Newport Beach was a 6-2, 6-0 winner

against Jill Levin. Carolin Claure of Newport Beach had no problem

with Marisa Maxwell, downing her 6-0, 6-0.

Other winners on the first day of tournament action included

Spencer Reitz (boys 18s, 6-0, 6-0) and Joseph DiGulio (boys 10s, 6-3,

6-2).