Baldwin ? One high school boys tennis team expected its success Wednesday, but the other was a little surprised.

All in all, it was a good day for Baldwin High and Free State High.

In a quadrangular meet with Olathe South and Topeka Highland Park, Baldwin finished first with a combined record of 10-2 in six singles and six doubles matches. Free State was second at 8-4.

“We’ve still got some room to improve, but I’m happy with the progress we’ve made so far,” said Baldwin coach Troy Webb. “I know at the end of the season we’ll be one of the best teams in 4A.”

Webb’s confidence is understandable: He has three returning state qualifiers in Chris Irick (singles) and Jeff Hill and Dusty Schultz (doubles).

Irick went 3-0 Tuesday, but nearly lost to Free State’s Keith Pipkin. The Firebird sophomore was up 7-5 before Irick tied the contest at 7 and eventually won the tiebreaker, 10-8.

“I think I was kind of playing a lot smarter,” Irick said. “I didn’t make as many errors.”

FSHS coach Jon Renberger said the defeat provided an excellent lesson.

Baldwin High's Chris Irick returns a serve during a quadrangular. The Bulldogs and Free State High competed Wednesday at Baldwin.

“An experience like that is going to help pull these matches out later in the season when it counts more,” Renberger said.

Olathe South’s Ross Hougland and Irick were the only unbeaten singles players. Baldwin’s Brad Ikenberry and Edd Stansberry, and Free State’s Bryan Maygers and Jason Kroge were the only perfect doubles teams.

Unlike Webb, Renberger saw his top five players from last year’s squad graduate. So far his team hasn’t struggled as much as he thought it would — and that’s a good thing.

“Nobody has blown us off the court, and that’s huge,” Renberger said.

Free State plays host Monday to Lawrence High.