Central Section title worth the wait for Chowchilla tennis

Ricky Padilla had a lot of time to think.

The Chowchilla tennis team’s No. 1 had his Central Section Division IV title game singles match delayed by rain with a third-set tiebreaker deadlocked 3-3.

With his team trailing Selma by a point after the conclusion of the five other singles matches and a four-day delay until the match could be finished on Monday, the pressure mounted for the four-year senior.

Trailing 6-5 when action resumed, Padilla fought off match point and rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory. He had little time to relish the moment, however, immediately jumping into a No. 1 doubles match. Padilla and partner Danny Aguilar secured a straight-sets victory to help Chowchilla win two of the three doubles matches and secure the school’s first boys tennis championship with a 5-4 victory over the Bears.

“There was a lot of pressure, because I knew if I lost we’d have to sweep the doubles,” Padilla said. “It was kind of good and bad, because I was sick on Thursday, so I used the time off to try and get better.

“I just did my best to stay calm when I fell behind and I was able to fight back in it. Winning the title is an unbelievable feeling. We made it to the Valley Championship my freshman year also but lost. This is the perfect way to finish up my career.”

Padilla is the first to admit he didn’t see the championship coming.

The Redskins boasted five seniors, but few with experience beyond junior varsity. Still, the tight-knit group jelled quickly and finished second in the North Sequoia League to earn the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

Chowchilla’s only league blemishes came against top-seeded Yosemite, which the Redskins expected to see in the title match. No. 5 Selma had other plans, pulling the 6-3 upset in the semifinals.

“We really knew nothing about Selma coming into the match, except that they had beaten Yosemite,” Redskins assistant coach Alisha Taylor said. “On that alone we figured they’d be really good, but I think it helped that neither team knew each other.

“The other big help was that we got to play the match on our home court. The kids really played well in front of their home crowd.”

The Redskins’ No. 5 and 6 singles players, Elias Lopez and Jose Torres, joined Padilla with singles victories to set up a best-of-three doubles scenario to decide the title. Padilla and Aguilar won 6-4, 6-3. After a relatively easy 6-1 opening-set win by Torres and Francisco Hernandez, they were pushed in the second set. Torres and Hernandez took the second set 7-5 locking up the school’s first blue banner in boys tennis.

“All three doubles matches ended at relatively the same time, so there was a little hesitation while we figured out who had won,” Taylor said. “Once we knew, the kids were excited. There was some joy. There were some tears. Basically a full season’s worth of emotions were let out.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2015 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Central Section title worth the wait for Chowchilla tennis."