In the past year, Lake Central junior Andrew Walsh has invested an inordinate amount of time working on his game.
His hard work appears to be paying off at No. 1 singles.
Walsh competed in off-season tournaments and worked with personal coach John Morris and personal trainer Kevin Yergy, who helped him with his core strength and agility. The goal was to polish his game and gain a competitive edge.
“My game definitely has improved from last year to this year,” Walsh said.
Motivated by an embarrassing two-set loss to Lowell’s Luke Fleming in the championship match of last year’s Crown Point Sectional, Walsh recognized there was a lot of work to be done.
“That loss drove me to win,” Walsh said. “Coach Morris taught me how to take the defeat and help use it to motivate me and improve my game. He told me it’s a lot like a fight. It’s how you come back and respond to it.”
Walsh has experienced quite a turnaround.
Earlier this season, he played Fleming again, losing a close first set before rallying for a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 win.
“Beating him helped restore my confidence, because he’s a really good player,” said Walsh, who also credited his parents (Elizabeth and Robert) for their encouragement when he lost confidence.
Lake Central coach Ralph Holden said Walsh’s game has developed steadily since he began playing as a freshman.
“I’ve never had a kid — boy or girl — play No. 1 for me four straight years,” Holden said. “And unless we have a really good player move into our school district before next season, it looks like Andrew will.”
Holden said Walsh (7-4) has earned everything he’s gotten.
“He’s improved his serve, defense, forehand and his game overall,” Holden said. “He has a slice backhand that’s effective, and he gets to a lot of balls. His conditioning has improved and he’s gotten stronger.
“I’ve been very happy with what he’s done.”
Holden is hopeful other Lake Central players see the strides in Walsh’s game, that it works, and start patterning themselves after him.
By the time next season, Holden expects Walsh to be even better.
“The best is yet to come,” he said. “He’ll be tough to beat and will be a tough out. His play will be dictating a lot how our matches go.”
While Walsh is optimistic about the future and wants to play in college, he’s concentrating first on this season.
“My one and only goal is to win the sectional title and lead our team into the regional against Munster,” he said.
Walsh, who has a 3.4 GPA, has an interest in sports medicine.
He’s staunch Kentucky basketball fan — two of his uncles went there — and Walsh’s dream job is to serve as a physical therapist for the Wildcats.
John O’Malley is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
Top 5
Last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Munster (1)
2. Valparaiso (3)
3. Highland (4)
4. Chesterton (2)
5. Bishop Noll (5)
Players of the Week: Munster’s No. 1 doubles team of Frank Wolf and Zack Schmidt went 4-0, including wins over Penn and Culver.
