GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley Bulldogs boy’s varsity tennis team hosted Corning on April 7 and were expected to battle to the end as they did three weeks prior in a narrow 5-4 victory over the Cardinals.

While Gridley (5-6, 4-3 Butte View League) needed to win all three doubles matches to eke out a victory against the Cardinals (3-9, 2-7) in March, the boys fared better in singles this time. Starting with junior Cole Leishman’s 6-4, 6-1 dispatching of sophomore Erick Pintor and ending with sophomore Eric Ramirez’s 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ahrem Leon, the Bullldogs led in the match tally, 4-2.

Juniors Jeremy Longmire and Spencer Davis had already won their singles matches when they paired up to take their doubles match, too, 8-3 in a meet-clinching win over junior Francisco Ruiz Jr. and sophomore Wyatt Wade. The top-seeded team of Leishman and sophomore Ryan Woolery then tacked on an 8-6 win over sophomore Hayden Carter and Pintor.

Senior Taylor Johnson and freshman Cesar Ortiz were paired together for the second time this season and won for the second time. This time, it was 8-0 over Leon and junior Caleb Newland. Johnson is now 5-0 in doubles play, including two wins by way of forfeit.

Gridley coach Bob Moffitt said he was surprised but pleased with the level of success his team has achieved.

“After our first encounter, I was frankly scared they were going to exact their revenge in the rematch,” Moffitt said. “I’m very proud of the boys for continuing to work hard to improve. Their efforts on the practice court led to success in their matches. It’s always nice to see hard work pay off. We will see just how much more we need to improve when we see Orland.”

He wouldn’t have to wait long.

Orland (12-3, 8-0) and Gridley moved up their match from April 12 to April 8 because of Spring Break. Orland dismantled the Bulldogs three weeks earlier, 9-0. The meet was important to Moffitt because it set the stage for the work Gridley would undertake for the rest of the season.

“We knew how to block the ball and backspin it, but we hadn’t really tackled topspin,” Moffitt said. “That meet showed us we were behind the best of the league in that regard, and we set about overcoming that deficit.”

The Bulldogs showed improvement but also showed they still have a way to go as Orland beat them again. This time the tally was 8-1. Ortiz and Ramirez combined for their fourth doubles win this season, prevailing 8-5 over Orozco and Morales. In singles, Longmire was once again a tiebreak kid and lost his bid for extra frames as he fell 7-6 (7-2) in the second set against Jose Garcia. It is the 18th tiebreak of the season for the Bulldogs.

Coach Moffitt seemed unconcerned about the final results.

“I’m thrilled to see the improvement that the boys made today,” Moffitt said. “For Jeremy to come back from a first set drubbing to take his second set to a tiebreak was really something. And to see Cesar and Eric play well together again and emerge victorious was also excellent to see.”

With the penultimate week in the books, Gridley stands at 5-6 overall. Their final regular season game will be Tuesday, April 19 against Oroville (9-2, 5-2). The two schools played March 24 and Oroville won 9-0. But four of the singles matches went to a tiebreak and Davis and Longmire took their doubles match to extra frames before losing 10-8.

“We were incredibly competitive against Oroville the first time,” Moffitt said. “We keep adding skills to our repertoire. Hopefully it’s enough to put us over the top this time.”

Oroville is second in the Butte View League play behind Orland and Gridley is third. The top two teams will play in the North State California Interscholastic Federation Playoffs that start April 21. Orland has already qualified.

Butte View teams will begin the league playoffs on April 22. Las Plumas High in Oroville will host the two-day affair.