Rojas into semi-finals at 38th Lewis IRT Pro-Am in Sioux Falls

Jose Rojas comes back from a game down to upset 3rd seed Alvaro Beltran, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, in the quarterfinals of the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 38th Annual Lewis Pro-Am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. In the semi-finals, Rojas will play IRT #2 Rocky Carson, who beat Janson Allen, 11-3, 11-0, 11-2, in the quarters.

On the other side of the draw, IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk will play 4th seed Daniel De La Rosa in the semi-finals, after defeating 8th seed Marco Rojas, 11-3, 11-1, 11-7. De La Rosa advanced with a win over 5th seed Felipe Camacho, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7.

Rojas didn’t just come from a game down in his match against Beltran, but he also fought back in games three and four, as well as game one, although he didn’t win that game. In game one, Beltran had leads of 5-0 and 8-2, and Rojas closed the gap to one at 8-7. However, Beltran was able to hold Rojas there, and close out game one 11-7 with Rojas skipping a forehand pinch shot from the service box.

Game one took a long time to play, but game two went by quickly, as Rojas got up 5-2 and didn’t look back, winning 11-3.

Game three was streaky, as Rojas scored the first two points, and then Beltran got the next eight to lead 8-2. Rojas then scored nine unanswered points to win 11-8. Beltran had a good opportunity to stop the run at 8-8, when Rojas ended up on the floor and had to push himself out of Beltran’s way towards the back wall. Any good shot by Beltran at that point wins him the rally, but he left the ball up on a forehand pinch shot, and Rojas picked himself up off the floor and kept the ball in play. On the ensuing shot, Beltran skipped a backhand pinch, making the score 9-8 for Rojas.

Game four was like game three in that Rojas got the first two points, but Beltran got to eight first with a lead at 8-4. Again, Rojas came back, scoring five points on consecutive rallies to lead 9-8. This time Beltran did get a side out, and was able to level the score at 9-9.

But it was Rojas who broke the tie, and then got to match point with soft backhand pinch shot that was flat into the front left corner. Rojas won it on his first match point after he drove serve to the left and Beltran skipped his backhand serve return.

The IRT Network live streaming on Saturday begins early with the doubles quarterfinals at 9:30 and 10:20 AM followed by the doubles semi-finals at noon and 12:50 Saturday. The singles semi-finals are scheduled for 3:20 and 4:20 PM Saturday with the final on Sunday at 11:00 AM. The and the final to follow the singles final on Sunday. All times central.

2016 38th Annual Lewis Pro-Am, January 21-24
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Quarterfinals

1) Kane Waselenchuk d. 8) Marco Rojas, 11-3, 11-1, 11-7
4) Daniel De La Rosa d. 5) Felipe Camacho, 11-7, 11-7, 11-7

6) Jose Rojas d. 3) Alvaro Beltran, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9
2) Rocky Carson d. 7) Jansen Allen, 11-3, 11-0, 11-2

Semi-finals

1) Kane Waselenchuk v. 4) Daniel De La Rosa
2) Rocky Carson v. 6) Jose Rojas

IRT Doubles

1) Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson - BYE
8) Jeremy Best & Alejandro Herrera d. 9) Lee Connell & James Landeryou, 15-10, 15-12

5) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz - BYE
4) Jansen Allen & Tony Carson - BYE

3) Jose Rojas & Marco Rojas - BYE
6) Charlie Pratt & Cliff Swain - BYE

7) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado d. 10) Jordan Barth & Justus Benson, 15-7, 15-8
2) Felipe Camacho & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

IRT Doubles - Quarterfinals

1) Alvaro Beltran & Rocky Carson v. 8) Jeremy Best & Alejandro Herrera
4) Jansen Allen & Tony Carson v. 5) Jake Bredenbeck & Jose Diaz

3) Jose Rojas & Marco Rojas v. 6) Charlie Pratt & Cliff Swain
2) Felipe Camacho & Daniel De La Rosa v. 7) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado

Follow the bouncing ball….