By Gerardo Bolong
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

KENNEWICK - Wyatt DeMulling was slamming the tennis ball with a such a mighty force with accompanying accuracy that he could have left imprints at the Tri-City Court Club and Kamiakin High School in the 2014 WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/Les Schwab Tires 3A boys singles state tennis championship.

DeMulling, from Highline High School in Burien, controlled Mercer Island's Henry Smith in two sets, 6-2, 6-3, to complete his tournament with a third place finish on May 31.

On Fri., May 30, the Pirate ace smoothly stroked past Patrick Luangrath of Glacier in a 6-0, 6-0, whitewashing, Later in the day, he faced eventual fourth-pace finisher Jared Madison of Bellevue. His Wolverine opponent got the drop on the Highline athlete with a first set 6-4 win. DeMulling regained the offensive with a hard fought 7-5 second set victory before taking charge in a 6-1 third set triumph. In the winners bracket semifinals he played hard before losing a 6-2, 6-2, semifinal decision to eventual champion Connor Garnett of Interlake. Next came his victory against Smith for third place.

Interlake junior Garnett made it a perfect three for three at state, including a 2A championship in 2011-2012, sweeping away the competition on the way to a third consecutive title.

Garnett beat Lakeside's Daniel Park, 6-2, 6-4, in a dandy of a championship match.

In the doubles, Matt Seifert and Ben Elliot of Mercer Island defeated Islander teammates Brian Hou and Charlies Williams, 6-3, 6-4, in the championship match.

Mercer Island ran away with the team title at 29 points. Bellevue and Lakeside tied for second at 14 points each while Interlake took fourth at 10 points and Bainbridge claimed 8.