PORTLAND — Rosemary Campanella’s impressive run through the girls tennis state singles tournament came to an end Monday morning, as the Wells freshman lost to Bethany Hammond of Saint Dominic Academy in the semifinals of the tournament. Campanella, the No. 3 seed, lost to the second-seeded Hammond 6-1, 6-2 at the Racket and Fitness Center in Portland.

Campanella had won her first three matches in the tournament by dropping a combined nine games and sweeping all three in straight sets. But against Hammond, a sophomore who was playing in the semis for the second time, Campanella wasn’t able dominate the match, dropping the first four games in each set.

“She was playing a very strong player, a very consistent player who wasn’t knocked off the ball. Rosie knocks a lot of people off the ball with heavy, penetrating ground strokes,” said Kennebunk girls coach Paul Gaylord, who worked with Campanella during the season. “It just showed the experience that (Hammond) had.”

“There was tons of different strategies I was trying, and I wasn’t able to get myself into one enough so that I was able to enforce it enough to work,” said Campanella. “She was getting a lot more balls in the court than I was able to do, and that definitely made the difference.”

Campanella won her first game in the first set by holding on in deuce No. 7 before having her serve broken in the next game, which also went to deuce. Hammond then closed out the opening set 6-1.

Campanella nearly broke Hammond’s serve twice early in the second set, but lost in deuce both times. Those losses in the second and fourth games, sandwiched around a 0-40 loss while serving, put Campanella in another 4-0 hole. She won two of the next three games before Hammond finished up the set ”“ and the match ”“ with a 6-2 win.

Hammond lost in the finals to No. 1 Olivia Leavitt of Falmouth, who won her third straight singles title.

“I definitely made a few more mistakes ”“ maybe more than a few ”“ than I should have,” said Campanella. “She’s just a generally great player and I was I glad I got the opportunity to play her.”

The loss ended Campanella’s brief high school season. She played just four games against high school competition ”“ a post-match exhibition against a York player ”“ because she doesn’t attend a school with a varsity program. Campanella was able to practice with Kennebunk, but if she participated in any varsity matches it would have resulted in automatic forfeit.

The Maine Principals’ Association has since changed the rules regarding cooperative teams, and Kennebunk and Wells are expected to combine efforts next season.

“The hope is that we will have a combined team with several Wells players, including Rosie,” said Gaylord.

Campanella said she had played USTA tournaments to stay in game shape, but the singles tournament was a different experience for her.

“It was definitely different. I haven’t really played at all where there’s people so close to you and cheering you on. I’m used to the USTA kind of thing, where you’re not really allowed to talk to the players at all,” said Campanella, who had about two dozen people watching her match against Hammond up close inside the Racket and Fitness Center. “I enjoyed it, I just wish I was able to prepare for it more.”

Campanella said she usually plays better indoors, but that wasn’t the case Monday.

Gaylord said that while Campanella was upset after the loss, he hopes she’ll understand as time passes what she was able to accomplish as a freshman.

“She has a lot of maturity. She’s had a lot of adversity against her this year, not being able to play high school tennis and all. It shows a lot of inner strength,” said Gaylord. “She hits the ball so well, so clean, so hard ”“ most freshmen don’t do that. I’d say she’s almost two years more advanced than what people would expect.”

Gaylord said he expects Campanella to be back in contention for the state singles tournament title next year. Campanella said the experience she gained playing in the tournament ”“ and now knowing how she can prepare for it ”“ should go a long way in her success at next year’s tournament.

“It was a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot from it,” said Campanella.

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.