2017 IRT Lewis Drug Pro-Am Round of 16

Two upsets in the Round of 16 at the International Racquetball Tour (IRT) 2017 Lewis Drug Pro-Am in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and victims had the same surname: Rojas. Alejandro Landa defeated 4th seed Jose Rojas, 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-5, and Andree Parrilla prevailed over Marco Rojas, Jose’s younger brother, in five games, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-3. Landa and Parrilla will now face off in the quarterfinals Friday night.

Top seed Rocky Carson won in three straight games, as he defeated Samuel Murray, 11-6, 11-7, 11-1, with Murray seeming to tweak his back early in game three. He took an injury timeout for it at 5-0 down, but continued to play, although not with quite the same vigour he had in the first two games, when Murray was often diving to get the ball and keep the rally going.

Second seed Daniel De La Rosa also won in straight games, beating Jose Diaz, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8, although it looked like things wouldn’t be so straightforward early in game two, when Diaz was up 6-0. However, De La Rosa ran ten straight points to lead 10-6, and closed out the game, 11-7. Credit to Diaz, as he didn’t quit, and even had a small lead in game three at 5-4. However, De La Rosa again responded by running four consecutive points to lead 8-5, and he went on to close out the game, 11-8, and match 3-0.

Jose Rojas looked like he was in control in game one against Landa, although Landa did keep it close, and even had a lead late in the game at 8-7. However, Rojas closed the game out with four unanswered points, 11-8. But the match flipped around in game two, as Landa took an early lead 7-2, and went on to win comfortably, 11-3, ending the game with a backhand kill shot from his shoulder.

Landa’s momentum continued in game three, as he went up 6-0, and cruised to a 11-1 win. Game four was close early, as they went back and forth, and were tied at 5-5. However, Rojas didn’t score another point, and only served once before Landa got to 10-5. Rojas did fight off three match points, but again he couldn’t score on his serve. On the fourth match point, Landa hit a drive serve to the right side that cracked out for an ace.

Fourth seed Alvaro Beltran dropped the first game of his match against Lee Connell, 13-11, but he was in control of the match from there on, winning the next two games comfortably. Beltran also had a comfortable lead in game three at 7-1, when Connell made a late comeback. Connell cut the lead to 7-5, but didn’t get any closer than that, as Beltran closed out game at 11-7 with a winning backhand shot that Connell couldn’t catch up to as he’d just made a great get on the right side of the court.

The IRT Network has the quarterfinal action from Sioux Falls all Friday night, and will is also putting the matches on their Facebook page, and you can watch them there even after they have been completed. They will have matches all Saturday starting with the IRT Doubles quarterfinals at 9 AM Central.

2017 IRT Lewis Drug Pro-Am, January 19-22
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Round of 16 - Friday

1) Rocky Carson d. Samuel Murray, 11-6, 11-7, 11-1
8) Mario Mercado d. Jordan Barth, 8-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-0

5) Jansen Allen d. David Horn, 11-8, 7-11, 11-6, 11-3
4) Alvaro Beltran d. Lee Connell, 11-13, 11-1, 11-3, 11-7

Alejandro Landa d. 3) Jose Rojas, 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, 11-5
Andree Parrilla d. 6) Marco Rojas, 11-6, 6-11, 11-7, 4-11, 11-3

7) Sebastian Franco d. Robert Collins, 11-0, 11-7, 11-3
2) Daniel De La Rosa d. Jose Diaz, 11-2, 11-7, 11-8

Quarterfinals - Friday

1) Rocky Carson v. 8) Mario Mercado - 5 PM
4) Alvaro Beltran v. 5) Jansen Allen - 7 PM

Alejandro Landa v. Andree Parrilla 6 PM
2) Daniel De La Rosa v. 7) Sebastian Franco - 4 PM

IRT Doubles Round of 16 - Friday

1) Rocky Carson & Jose Diaz - BYE
8) Alejandro Herrera & Alejandro Landa v. 9) Scott McClellan & Thyler Thielen - 8 PM

5) Sebastian Franco & Mario Mercado v. 12) Jordan Barth & Justus Benson - 8 PM
4) Jansen Allen & Samuel Murray - BYE

3) Jose Rojas & Marco Rojas - BYE
6) Felipe Camacho & Robert Collins v. 11) Bradly Rogers & Art Spelts - 8 PM

7) David Horn & Andree Parrilla v. 10) Matthew Majxner & Richard Wagner - 9 PM
2) Alvaro Beltran & Daniel De La Rosa - BYE

Follow the bouncing ball….