4.5 Sectionals Thumbnail Sketches

Sectionals is just a coupla' weeks away, so let's have an early look at how the flights are shaping up. Nice to see some folks from other cities putting their two cents worth in. It's all in good fun and a little trash talk makes things even more interesting. Sorry..I did this hurriedly. There may be even more misspellings, errors and bad grammar than usual!!!

Flight One

Dallas

Rusty Branch has again assembled a solid squad that will be favored to take their flight. He's doing it the old fashioned way this time. No "ringers", no self-rated players, no youngsters (I believe the youngest guy is 34). What he does have is a solid lineup with no holes. It was just twelve months ago when Eugene Davis was fighting for his life to put away Ricardo Martinez and secure a 4.0 win for his Springpark squad. He squeaked through and in no way did I think he'd be the top singles guy on a Branch team just a year later. That result was deceptive however: Davis had played singles in every match in the heat and was probably not at his freshest, and Martinez has proven to be a capable (though not elite) 4.5 singles player. Still, it will be a step up for Davis this year. The rest of the roster is filled with guys who've been to Sectionals a half dozen times. Brent James will be a really solid singles guy. Rusty himself can still play singles. I like Rusty, by the way...he once paid me a backhanded compliment after dismantling me two and three at Sectionals one year: "You're better than you look." I'll take any compliment I can get. Kern/Slezak, Huffman/Wescoup, Rusty, Donnie Pollard, Paul Kiron, Herget, Sumrow...they're all here and the doubles will be solid across the board.

Houston Wild

Hasker is good enough to have a spot on the roster of any team up in Dallas, and would start for almost all of them. The kid loves challenges and will get them if teams go straight up against the Deucebags....and why wouldn't they? The rest of the roster is filled with players who are unproven at this level. James Bui was amazing for the Deucebags in city playoffs, but he doesn't have what I call a "Sectionals-level" win under his belt all season. His best win is probably against Quack Bui or Simon Jim. The competition will be two notches tougher than Quack or Flad Patterson were. But Dat is talented and will have a chance to make his mark in Dallas. I watch some of the Deucebags doubles guys and I'm not wowed. All of them have some strengths, but the weaknesses seem a bit more pronounced than some of the players on the elite teams in Dallas. Guys with big games, like Trey Dugas, will have to be "on" for things to go well for this team. We saw earlier in the year when Tran and Trey beat Odion and Sumrall that it CAN happen, but it will be hard to string enough of those together to make this team a factor.

Amarillo

I don't know squat about these guys. The only thing I remember is that Shannon Burdett was on the Amarillo 4.5 team that went to Nationals, I believe that was back in '97 or '98. That's the team that was defaulting lines and yet still winning until they flew some people in for the semis/finals on Sunday. They've got only seven 4.5 rated players on their roster this year and I would be surprised if they do any damage at all. But every year there are unknowns who emerge...

Corpus Christi

These guys just keep coming back and back every year. They ought to just book their hotels now for 2010. Through the years they've had pretty good success, too, making it to Sunday on more than one occasion, if my memory is correct. A respected 4.5 observer told me that he's picking this team to make it to Sunday, as the wild card. I think this is based on his feeling that they may "fatten up" on Amarillo and the Deucebags, but he also told me there is a guy or two on the Corpus team that should not be underestimated. Little can be learned from the regular season in some of these cities. I think Peter Marsalek is a new player who will add a spark to this team and had some good wins against them last season, including one against the much-discussed Maingot. Marcos Villareal is back and he will help. Elizondo, Elizondo, Shandy, Cone, Whitehurst...they're all here, all another year older, but will be good enough to be favored in their matchups against Amarillo and Houston Wild.

Flight Two

Austin

Love him or hate him, it all starts with Chad Case. Just take a look at his results from 2007 when Mike Davis' crew made it to the National semis. Eleven absolute blowout wins in state until Odion took a set from him in the state finals. Then three more destructions at Nationals until he lost in the semis. Until someone takes him down he has to be considered the top 4.5 in the state, but he'll certainly have a target on his back. From what I understand he's a quicker version of Ted Pumma, with loopier groundstrokes. There appears to be a gaping hole at number two singles, at least based on their two matches with Old School, however, Lemke is a capable singles player. Rumor has it that Jones is their second best player, and he snuck in his second match against the Howitzers, so he's eligible. Rockey could play there if necessary, I imagine. If Creel doesn't make the trip the doubles will be weakened, but Schlotterback, Bowman, Seidensticker, Allen, et al are all capable doubles guys.

San Antonio

I watched some of the San Antonio team play last year at Sectionals and they were not that strong in singles, having to use Vince Giordanelli and other non-elites in key matches. They lost Louis Strawn from that team but have added Hilderbrand and Doyal among others. Doyal made the semis of a recent major zone in Open, straight setted the much discussed and DQ'd Burke Marold in another major zone, bageled Brett Sticker, etc. He will be a tough out. San Antonio seems to have the edge over everyone in the flight at line two singles. Clearly, John Trautmann will/can be used in singles as well. I don't see the doubles depth/strength on this team that seems to be present on some of the other teams. Arringdale/Miller are decent, but will be underdogs to many teams in Dallas. James Regmund did not get his two matches in.

Waco

Waco shocked some people last year (including yours truly), and may again have the chance to sneak up on some people. They may still be trying to solidify their roster (are they ever gonna' play their league?) and are reportedly trying to add some out-of-towners. That may be problematic, but time will tell. Luedtke and Rivera are still there, Mike Doty is a solid veteran. Andy Price has a doubles win earlier this year against Max Dunaev. Zane Martindale...who is he? Chris Fernandez? Another guy with no record. I haven't had time to Google these guys, but unknowns would worry me, but I'm sure Mike Miller and Mike Davis will know everything about these guys come August.

SETX

Quite a flight huh? Vernon and Mills will be a solid doubles combination, but this roster doesn't appear to have the strength of some others. I know they have a young singles guy that may surprise, and Abshire is feisty. Hunckler has been a solid performer in the past but is not having his best year. Dupelchin is decent. Anderson has Sectionals experience. But this team does not have the talent to advance out of this killer bracket.

Flight 3

Houston

They dominated locally and do have the talent to win the whole thing. My first question would be: Is David B. making the trip? Sure, they've got a ton of guys who can play singles: Omon, Odion, Ted P., even Sumrall showed he's a quality player in straight setting Steve Phan. But one extra stud can make a huge difference and can even further strengthen the doubles lineup. The depth here is ridiculous. It was less than twelve months ago when Andres Ballesteros and David Huffman were the deciding match sending their team to Nationals. Now I'm wondering if they'll even get on the court. Playing time will be at a premium. John Day has returned from injury and I would think he and Burrmann will be a partnership once again if Day is at full strength. Will they be vulnerable after the layoff...has Burrmann lost a step in the few years since I last played him? Based on what I've seen he doesn't appear to have faltered at all. Tim Green will be in the lineup, and I'd have to think that Sumrall and Tam have more than earned a spot. Lombardi is solid. Will the 3M's: Morgan, Martinez and Morton, find their way onto the court? How about Phong Regent?

Fort Worth

I have to admit I haven't looked at this team closely at all this year. Jerry Pham has been around forever and will find his way into the singles lineup at some point. Rob Hurley has been playing singles, but lost to former Houstonian Eric Bedient, who's pretty good but not "Sectionals-level". Darrell McCallum is one of the funkiest doubles guys in the state, but last year really looked like he'd lost a step and gone down a notch. Mark McHenry is a great guy and has really turned himself into a doubles player over the last 7 or 8 years. Robert Barrie will again be tough in singles...he straight setted Justin Huffman and Alejandro Sanchez last year. Cocanougher (Sr.) can still play. Are there any unknowns set to emerge from this roster? If not, I don't see this team being a big factor.

NE Texas

Chris Leach is back, for the umpteenth time. Mark Michaelson is on the team...he and partner Gary Bowles had a win against Green and Benzon earlier this year (neither of the Northeast Texans cracked a smile the entire match) but Bowles is not on the Tyler team for Sectionals. Jason Gound will capably man one singles spot. Serge Figueroa has been around forever and will find his way into the doubles lineup. Shannon Strickland and Bill Tankersley will play...but this team seems weak to me. The more I look at this bracket the more I think that the Hurricanes will be able to use a lot of the guys on their roster. (If I were captain, of course, I'd be scared shitless of all of these guys, but from the outside looking in they don't look at all fearsome).

Abilene

Okay, here's where it gets fun. We've all heard about the McMurray connection. Several of the players on the Abilene team are playing at the college level. Adam Cherry has shown himself to be dangerous in recent major zones. Trance Rosenquist and Ed Leija have some good stuff on their resumes. This team is dangerous. They're only 10 men deep, including our own Smitty, but the 4.5 format does not put a premium on depth. Chris Bumann was clearly easing up, I would think, in his second match at the qualifying tournament. We'll see how good McMurray's number one is in a coupla' weeks.

I'll give my "picks" at a later date, but clearly the Austin-San Antonio match is the one to watch. Houston-Abilene could be fun, too.