Andre Dome smashed the last of his service winners. Then he turned and smacked a ball high over the fence alongside the Paso Robles High School tennis courts.

The top-seeded Arroyo Grande senior had just won his fourth league singles title by getting the best - barely - of determined second seed Julian Arnold of San Luis Obispo 7-6 (5), 6-4 in an entertaining PAC-7 League Tournament singles final that took nearly two hours.

Dome came through on a hot Friday afternoon that turned breezy late. He also came through because he beat Arnold's consistency by coming through with his biggest shots - and serves - at the biggest times.

The Cal Poly-bound Dome said afterward, “It wasn't my day today in terms of consistency. You're not always going to be good.” He smiled. “But it wouldn't be fun that way.”

Arnold took command for a short time midway in the second set with his forehand. He kept coming at Dome, even after cramping briefly in the second set, but ultimately he couldn't save enough Dome service or groundstroke lasers.

Dome said, “He played well today. He was a tough competitor. (But) I constructed the points, I didn't let him do what he wanted, which was to take over the match with his forehand.

“My serve was on today,” Dome, who beat teammate Sam Rodgers 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals, said. “That's what helped me pull through.” Arnold rallied to beat a good challenge from third-seeded Matt Will of Nipomo, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals.

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San Luis Obispo's doubles tandem of Dov Kadin and Jared Belsher also pulled through. They defeated teammates Robbie Milla and James Campbell 6-3, 7-6 (1) in the semis and then downed brothers Kyle and Devin Barker of Atascadero 6-4, 6-4 in the doubles final.

The Barkers' consistency carried them to a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-1 victory over Righetti's Randy Rhoades and Michael Midling in the semi-finals.

The Righetti pair seemed in control after Rhoades, at the net, finished the first set with a perfectly-placed forehand right between the Barbers.

Midling kept hitting sound groundstrokes from the back row, Rhoades kept putting away volleys and overheads at the net, and the Righetti tandem was up 5-4 in set two with Rhoades serving for the match.

The Barkers broke him at love, and the match turned there. The brothers simply didn't miss much the rest of the way, and they took eight of the next nine games after that break.

Midling and Rhoades gave it a good run. They got to the semi-finals by upsetting brothers Mike and Brian Hicks, the top-seeded duo from San Luis Obispo, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the preliminaries Thursday.

As for Dome, he said he won mainly because he followed a nice pattern. “I'm usually able to get points when I most need them,” he said. “I'm just thinking about that point, nothing else. I'm in a zone.”

With Dome leading the tiebreaker 2-1, Arnold didn't put away an overhead and then, with Dome caught out of court, missed wide with a backhand volley.

Dome nailed a forehand winner to go ahead 6-4. Arnold staved off set point, but then Dome struck a cross-court forehand winner to take the set.

Dome made sure Arnold missed a chance to break early in the second set. Down 15-40, he pounded an ace. Dome eventually pulled the game out for a 2-1 lead with a forehand winner. Arnold, verbal as usual, barked at himself to, “Get it away from his forehand!”

Arnold cramped up briefly after breaking Dome to square the second set at 2-2. He picked up his forehand quality thereafter, and Dome's briefly declined.

Dome, however, bailed himself with aces while facing game point for breaks in each of his next two service games. Dome held both times.

“Come on wind, help me out here!,” Arnold implored after falling behind 0-30 on his serve. Arnold rallied to deuce from 15-40, but Dome rifled two forehands by him and broke.

He lost the first point on his serve. Then finished off the match with an ace, a forehand passing shot, a good first serve that Arnold hit long and then a service winner.

Next is the CIF Southern Section Team and Tennis Tournaments. The team tourney starts Tuesday. The individual tournament starts May 10 at Carpinteria.

There was some confusion after the semi-finals. Will, who had left after his loss to Arnold, drove back for a potential third-place match that never took place. The PAC-7 League bylaws say that, “The third-place finisher shall be the first alternate,” for the sectional individual tournament, but does not say whether third place is determined by regular season finish or the league tournament.

Will will be the first alternate, based on the third seed he earned during the regular season. There was no third-place doubles match Friday. Milla and Campbell will be the first alternates because of their higher finish during the regular season.

The top four league tournament finishers earned all-league honors.

Softball

St. Joseph 5, Cabrillo 0

Kailey Snyder pitched a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts at St. Louis de Montfort, and the Knights (7-3, Los Padres League, 13-10 overall) wrapped up a playoff spot.

The Knights sewed up a post-season berth by sweeping the season series from the Conquistadores (5-5 LPL with two league games left).

Snyder's batterymate drove in all five runs. Caitlin Voss hit a three-run home run in the third inning and a two-run double in the fifth. Lindsee Holloway barely beat out a two-out hit in the seventh to ruin Snyder's no-hit bid.

Morro Bay 18, Santa Maria 2

Kim Dauer one-hit the Saints (2-9 LPL) at Santa Maria. The Saints' run was unearned. Alyssa Gutierrez had the home team's hit.

Hannah Johnson hit a three-run triple for the Pirates (6-4, 15-9). Dauer, who struck out eight and walked two, went 2-for-2 at the plate. Cori Gacad was 2-for-3 and scored a run. Chelsea Duclos went 2-for-5.

Templeton 2, Lompoc 0

Kat Hicks pitched a one-hitter against the Braves in a Los Padres League match-up. Lauren Lopes broke up the no-hit bid with a single in the seventh. The Braves (6-4 LPL) had base runners with four walks, but were not able to score.

Jeana Carrillo took the loss, allowing one run in the first and another in the fifth. She had one walk and three strike outs.

Lompoc will next play on Tuesday at Cabrillo.

VCA 14-30, Cuyama 15-12

A 14-run second inning and an 11-run fourth highlighted the Lions' victory in the second game of a Coast Valley League twinbill split over the host Bears.

Caitlin Salinas was 5-for-6 in the second-game victory, while Krista Hall had three hits.

The teams combined for 21 errors in the two games, with the Lions accouting for 14 of them.

Siobhan Dyer was 2-for-2 with four RBIs in the first-game loss.

Baseball

Cabrillo 7, St. Joseph 6

Zach Pecyna slugged the game-winner, a three-run home run in a six-run Cabrillo fifth inning at St. Joseph.

Matt Hartin was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for the Knights (6-4 Los Padres League, 11-11) who lead 6-1 going into the top of the fifth. Cabrillo pitcher Bobby Engler improved to 6-0 on the year.

The Conquistadores (7-4, 12-12) moved into third place in the LPL. St. Joseph dropped its fourth straight league game and fell into a tie for fourth with Templeton.

Templeton 6, Lompoc 5

The Braves (7-3 LPL) fell into a first-place tie with Santa Ynez, which lost a 4-2 non-league game against Mission Prep Friday.

Lompoc fell on the road , despite out-hitting Templeton 8-7. The Eagles moved to 6-4 in LPL games. Brandon Alonzo and Dalton Rouleau doubled for Lompoc. Ryan Bower was the Braves' starting pitcher. Dave Bennett relieved in the fifth.

Righetti 7, Nipomo 3

The Warriors (7-8, 11-12) took advantage of four Nipomo errors. They scored four unearned runs.

Chris Rivera and Sam Halop tripled for Righetti as it completed a sweep of the Titans (4-11, 11-12) who fell out of the PAC-7 League playoff race.

Four PAC-7 teams go to the post-season, and the Warriors are in fourth place. They have a crucial season closing three-game set with fifth-place Atascadero that starts at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Righetti.

Mason Sperakos was 2-for-3 for Nipomo. Manny Reyes and Will Frederick were both 2-for-4. Matt Limon doubled.

SLO 16, Arroyo Grande 10

Robby Nadalsky went 5-for-5 with a two-run homer and seven RBIs to lead the Tigers to a PAC-7 victory over the host Eagles at POVE Stadium.

Colt McLaughlin went 2-for-3 in the losing effort for the Eagles (10-7-1, 15-10-1), while K.J. Calderone was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Cory Onaga hit a three-run homer for the Eagles in the first inning, while Lucas Kephart had a grand slam in the sixth.

VCA 12-16, Cuyama 13-8

Valley Christian earned a split in a Coast Valley doubleheader at Cuyama.

The Lions surrendered nine runs in the fourth inning of game one and were unable to climb all the way back. With one out, VCA committed three straight errors, then the Cuyama bats came alive. Mike Calderon was 3-for-3 for the Lions with two runs batted in, while Drew Schettler had three hits with two RBIs. John Dupe had two hits and two RBIS and

In game two VCA scored seven runs in the fifth of a five inning game to pull away after trailing 8-7 after two innings. Thomas Stoddard had three RBIs with two hits, Matt Kiger knocked in three with two hits, Calderon and Dupe had two RBIs each and David King had two RBIs without the benefit of a hit.

May 3, 2008