Mon, Nov 09 2009
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Published June 23, 2009 01:41 am - “He’s got a wonderful desire to compete. I saw that when he was in the seventh grade,” Lakeside tennis coach Bob Walters said of Jake Kerosky. A Tom Harris column: Promise fulfilled 5 years ago, Bob Walters saw something special in Jake Kerosky. And the Lakeside senior proved him to be a prophet this spring TOM HARRIS Star Beacon “He’s got a wonderful desire to compete. I saw that when he was in the seventh grade,” Lakeside tennis coach Bob Walters said of Jake Kerosky.
Five years later, as a senior at Lakeside this spring, Kerosky was every bit as tenacious, just as unwilling to concede defeat, still ready to do battle on the tennis court, regardless of the score. The son of Nick and Joan Kerosky was often behind early in his matches, but until his opponent secured match point, it was always too early to count the Dragons’ No. 1 out. “Jake is a unique competitor,” Walters said. “Whether he was winning or losing, healthy or sick, you could never tell by just watching him play. He just has great consistency on the court.” Undaunted when down, Kerosky overcame the early disadvantage on several occasions to help lead the Dragons to a 10-8 (6-4 Premier Athletic Conference) record, while compiling a 17-7 mark at first singles and earning a berth in the Division I district tournament. Kerosky’s season didn’t end until Maxi Mullaly of Shaker Heights beat him, 6-0, 6-4, in the district tournament. Kerosky would have qualified for the Division I state tournament with a victory in that match. In recognition of his impressive performance this season, Kerosky has been named the 2009 Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year. Kerosky has a tremendous ability, according to Walters, to thwart his opponents by sizing up their strengths and weaknesses, and finding effective strategies to attack them. He is willing to spot his opponent a couple games, even the first set at times, while he determines the best way to counter. “For the most part, I don’t care if I get down 0-3 or 0-4 in first set” Kerosky said. “When it happens, I just have to ignore it and figure out ways to start winning. I’m always working on ways to beat my opponent. Especially if he’s only got one or two shots, I can figure out what I’ll be able to do against him. For instance, if he’s strong against drop shots, I’ll start trying to give him more high shots.” Coaches can’t do a lot of coaching during a tennis match, but the time Walters and Kerosky have between sets is well spent. “Jake has the ability to come up with strategies,” Walters said. “And he is very coachable. During changeovers we talk about the things Jake might do, and he is able to go out and implement them.” Kerosky enjoys breaking down his opponent’s game in order to determine which of his weapons will be most effective. “It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “You can’t do all the same things all the time. You’ve got to have different strategies and be able to change what you’re doing. It makes it a more unique game.” His ability to overcome an early deficit was nowhere more apparent than in tournament play. At the Brush sectional tournament, in the match for the second seed, Kerosky defeated Alex Denesis of Revere, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. The next week at the Oberlin district tournament, Kerosky dropped the first set of his first-round match with James Oliver of St. Ignatius but came back to win, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. In the second round of the district tournament, Kerosky lost to Ethan Dunbar of Cloverleaf, 6-0, 6-1, in what he said was “my toughest match of the year.” The longer the season goes on, the harder that final loss becomes. Kerosky began district play knowing he had a reasonable shot at getting to the state tournament. “I had a good draw at district,” Kerosky said. “I probably had a state draw. But for some reason, my confidence was low in the final match with Mullaly.” Kerosky began getting serious about tennis when he was in the seventh grade. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the game before that; his older brother, Zack, was a standout performer at Lakeside. 
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