Miles Baldwin of Dos Pueblos handed San Marcos standout Kento Perera his first Channel League loss, sparking the Chargers to a 10-8 Channel League boys tennis win on a blustery Thursday at the DP courts

Perera rallied from 4-5 down to take a 6-5 lead. Baldwin stayed strong and held serve at 40-30, sending the set into a tiebreaker. He prevailed 8-5 against the three-time league singles champion who is headed to Stanford,

“Kento has been great his entire career at San Marcos. He battled today, especially down 4-5, but couldn’t seem to win the critical points after that,” San Marcos coach Jarrod Bradley said. “Miles served brilliantly, played a nearly flawless set, and deserved to win.”

DP coach Liz Frech said “Baldwin battled relentlessly” in the hour-long set. “Both players slugged the ball and painted the lines.”

The Chargers got another big win in singles from Mason Dochterman to take a 4-2 lead in the first round

In the first round we went 4-2 with critical wins from Miles Baldwin and Mason Dochterman.

Baldwin stay energized  and defeated Daniel Newton, 6-3, and Dom Stefanov, 6-1, to complete a perfect day. Dochterman defeated Newton to go 2-1 in singles.

In doubles for DP, Andrew DeAlba/Vincent Villano, Christian Hodosy/Ryan Hodosy, and Kellen Roberts/Ryan Rennick, “did incredible jobs in taking two sets each with solid volleys and serves,” said Frech. “I am impressed with this tenacious team, who gave everything they had with grit and determination.

The Royals got a sweep by their No. 1 doubles team of Dan Coulson and Alexi Gill (6-3, 6-0, 6-2.).

“Dan and Alexi played great against a deep team. They served at a very high level today and won several important sudden death points,” said Bradley.

The Royals lost four sets by a break or less in the match, three of which were wins in the last round.

“In big matches, winning the close sets are critical and Dos Pueblos was just a little bit better than us today,” Bradley said. “Our guys battled but just couldn’t get back over the hump after the first round. Kudos to Liz and their guys. We’ll use this as motivation to improve and finish the year strong.”

Dos Pueblos is 4-1 in league and 7-5 overall while San Marcos is 3-1, 8-3.