Going into his team's season, the third-year coach said his women's doubles team of Michal Wolf and Tonya Strouse would be in contention for a state championship. On Saturday, they delivered.
Wolf, a sophomore from Hughesville High, and Strouse, a freshman from Central Mountain, scored a 6-2, 6-3 victory over a duo from Northampton County Community College to clinch the Pennsylvania Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. In addition, Strouse finished second in women's singles following a hard-fought 4-6, 7-6 (7-4 tiebreaker), 4-6 loss.
"I knew the caliber of play that was in the league and I saw that these girls were above that and I knew they'd have a pretty good shot at taking the championship. Expectations were met," Baum said.
Remarked Mike Stanzione, College coordinator of athletics, "That's fabulous. That was great effort for them."
Looking ahead to next season, Baum sees nothing but good things.
"We have everybody coming back except (Wolf), so we should have a real stacked team next year. Hopefully everybody comes back, and I think they will," the coach said.