The Denhart brothers of Northampton ended up in the Western Massachusetts Individual Tennis semifinals almost by accident.
Charlie, a senior, stepped in as a substitute to play with Jack, a sophomore.
They were the No. 4 seed and had a bye in the first round. They beat teams from Ludlow and Monument Mountain to survive the first weekend.
“It wasn’t really expected,” Charlie said. “We didn’t really expect to play together at all.”
Their games meshed well, though. Jack plays conservatively and places his shots, whereas Charlie aims for power.
“It’s kind of different from skiing,” Charlie said. “It’s a little bit the opposite in tennis. I go harder for shots and get them a little less frequently.”
They’ll match up with David Bogdanis and Ben Schneider from Longmeadow at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Longmeadow Tennis Courts.
Bogdanis and Schneider are the top seed and only lost three total games in the tournament.
“I think they’re the top doubles team in western Mass.,” Charlie said. “We’re going to give it all we’ve got. We don’t really have anything to lose.”
Neither does Northampton’s other doubles team.
Galen Winsor and Jake Duggan reached the semifinals as an unseeded pair.
They beat third-seeded Alec Morgado and Dennis Lelic of Belchertown 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in the quarterfinals after surviving Westfield’s Matt Roberts and James Knapik, the sixth seed, in the second round.
Amherst Regional senior Allison McCann finds herself on the other end of that spectrum.
The defending champion is unbeaten on the season and didn’t lose a game in the first two rounds of the tournament.
“It’s nice to have gone through it before,” McCann said. “I’ve played in it the past three years. I know what I’m expecting going into it. It’s not as nerve-wracking as it probably could be.”
She’s matched up with fifth-seeded Suzanne Elfman in the semifinals, also at 9 a.m. at Longmeadow.
The pair played on April 28, and McCann prevailed 6-1, 6-3.
“I’ve played her quite a few times. I know her pretty well,” McCann said. “She has a forehand. I’m going to try and keep it deep, play around, keep it to her backhand.”
Should McCann advance, one of her potential finals opponents is Belchertown’s Meghan Bernard, who is 16-0 this season for the undefeated Orioles.
Bernard, the third seed, will play Minnechaug’s Haley Gurski in the other semifinal.
“I haven’t thought about any second matches,” McCann said.
She won’t be the only Hurricane flying the singles banner Saturday.
Andy Zyskowski advanced to the boys final four and will see Longmeadow’s Sam Freedman, the 10th seed who beat Minnechaug’s Matt Gurski in the quarterfinals.
“He does a variety of things,” Amherst coach Dan Herbst said of Zyskowski. “He can be very aggressive, but he can also draw the opponent to the net and pass over them. He has a very diverse game.”
Zyskowski faced Gurski on Thursday and lost 7-6, 7-5.