Baseball, Basketball
Favorite athlete: Mike Trout
Favorite team: Philadelphia Phillies
Favorite memory competing in sports: Winning the 2013 PIAA Class AAAA Baseball State Championship
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: “Our catcher called out a play with a color in it, and another teammate shouted across the field, ‘Coach, Kersey can’t understand the play because he’s actually colorblind.”
Music on iPod: Rock, Country, Hip Hop
Future plans: Attend Lehigh University for Business and Engineering
Words to live by: “Great moments are born from great opportunities.”
One goal before turning 30: To start my own business and coach baseball and basketball in my spare time.
One thing people don’t know about me: I play the guitar, the piano and the drums in my free time.
By GORDON GLANTZ
If it is true that you only get one chance to make a first impression, then Chris Kersey hit one out of the park with North Penn baseball coach Kevin Manero.
It goes back to when Kersey was in ninth grade at Pennbrook Middle School. The only player of his age on the Nor-Gwyn American Legion squad coached by Manero, Kersey didn’t need to reach too deep into his skill set as a future engineer to compute the shortest distance between two points.
Instead of going home, 30 minutes in the other direction, he literally crossed the street to Hostelley Field and passed the time by doing some schoolwork.
Seeing this from a teen, as opposed to zoning out with ear buds or pecking away on his phone, let Manero know what kind of young man he was going to be coaching – first for Nor-Gwyn American Legion and then North Penn, beginning the following year.
“I first had the pleasure, and it was absolutely a pleasure, of coaching Chris as a freshman in the Nor-Gwyn American Legion program,” said Manero. “He immediately struck me as a heady kid and a very hard worker. His focus on his academics and his readiness on the field never waned between that time and now.
“Chris gets it, and so do his parents. They really are a strong model of how a high school student-athlete should be handled. Chris was always his own advocate, he always had the big picture in perspective, and his approach was always team first. He got everything he could out of his physical attributes, and his awareness, focus, and intellect on the field took over from there.”
The big picture of the Univest Featured Male Athlete of the Week reveals an incoming freshman at Lehigh University’s prestigious IBE (Integrated Business and Engineering) program who will enter the five-year, double-major challenge having graduated 25th in a class of more than one thousand at North Penn.
“I feel like I’m self-motivated,” said Kersey, adding that North Penn’s size provides a more “diverse” environment than some other schools with smaller student populations. “The last couple of years, I put in some late nights and a lot of hard work.”
The rationale was simple and reflects on the “getting it” and the “big picture” that Manero spoke about.
“I figure the more I put in now, the better off I’ll be later in life,” said Kersey, crediting his parents, Lee and Oonagh for instilling the work ethic in him at a young ago.
“My parents had a big influence on me, and I want to thank them for it. They preached that to me ever since I was young.”
Beyond the baseball diamond, where he played a lead role in the Knights’ Cinderella run to the state title a year back, Kersey is the complete package.
He found time to contribute to the basketball team as a backup point guard and took part in the school’s Key Club and National Honor Society. He also delves into music as a self-taught guitarist and pianist.
“I have been playing guitar ever since seventh grade,” he said, adding that he is “all over the place” in his tastes, ranging from Guns N’ Roses to current pop songs. “It is a passion but more of a hobby on the side.
“I’m pretty much self-taught. I took lessons for about six months, but with sports and everything, I didn’t really have time. I have been teaching myself ever since, and I started teaching myself piano in ninth grade.”
The same year he played his way into the big picture for Manero, making a first – and lasting – impression.
Overcoming Adversity
Kersey’s story is not without its share of adversity.
In eighth grade, perhaps because sports were taking too much of a toll on a body still growing, he sustained a stress fracture in his back.
As a high school sophomore, the injury returned with a vengeance and kept him off the hardwood during basketball season.
“My back basically buckled,” he said, adding that the gradual pain he was feeling proved ominous. “I knew the same thing was going to happen. I had a long legion season (in the summer and fall).”
While dealing with torn ligaments in his ankles, he still returned to test his body during the baseball season, starting about the half the games at third base for Manero.
Looking back, Kersey credits the four weeks of required rehab for bolstering his strength and keeping him injury-free as an upperclassman.
“I have gotten stronger,” he said. “Physical therapy is a lot core work. I have had no real trouble since.”
As a junior, adversity again arose when the North Penn squad seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
A few seniors, for various reasons, didn’t finish the season.
Kersey, a junior co-captain, helped to rally the troops for the magical run to the state crown.
“Two (seniors) left the team - one got kicked off and another was ineligible,” said Kersey. “We were able to build off of that and join together. We were all able to step up and make up for it. We all realized that we were going to have to step up, and we were all able to do that.”
The way it all happened made it that much more memorable, forming a lasting bond with the group that believed in miracles.
“I still talk with the guys all the time,” said Kersey. “We got into the district playoffs as the last seed. We pulled off a couple upsets in the first few games with some phenomenal pitching performances. We lost our last two games in districts, but it didn’t really matter at that point because we already qualified for states. We got to states and won four straight.
“We hit our stride at the right time. We still talk a lot about this. Our chemistry was the most important thing. Everyone bought into it. We had adversity with last year’s team. As a team, we overcame that adversity.”
Cold to Hot
Kersey’s ability to deal with adversity came in handy this past season, as he started off slow at the plate, his average hovering around an uncharacteristically low .250.
Manero kept him in the lineup, either at leadoff or in the all-important three hole, and he repaid the confidence by ending the season on a tear, going out with a .400 average and a .571 mark with runners in scoring position.
“I hit one of those spells,” said Kersey, who was not blaming the harsh winter for his slow start, acknowledging that everyone was in the same situation. “I just let things play out, and I got into a rhythm by the end of the year.”
Kersey also handled being moved from shortstop to third base, flopping with Jared Malone, with aplomb. He made zero errors – as in zilch -- at the hot corner.
“(Manero) called us in and told us each what our strengths were,” said Kersey. “He said that Jared had the better arm but that I was good at charging balls at third. He said he was going to switch it up, just to see what happens, and we both capitalized.”
Looking back, Kersey feels that playing Legion ball for Nor-Gwyn as a ninth-grader helped his maturation all the way through his career, and this year when he dealt with the slow start and position change.
“I think it helped a lot,” he said. “It was a demanding schedule. We either practiced or had a game every day. The reps were there, and it paid off in the end.”
This may explain why, despite troubles at the plate early in his senior season, he didn’t slack off with the glove.
“I didn’t let it bother me on the field,” he said. “I keep them separate.
“(At the plate) I was just trying to put in play and put pressure on defenses.”
Added Manero: “His make-up as a player and his head for the game enabled him to captain the infield when he played shortstop, and enabled him to always put together disciplined and very tough at bats. Even when he wasn’t getting the hits (early in the season), every at bat was tough on a pitcher. His total offensive numbers at the end of this season and last are a result of that very disciplined and tenacious approach in the box.”
No Regrets
Kersey received a lot of interest to continue playing at the Division III level and gave it serious thought.
But when Lehigh accepted him in the IBE program, which spawns some of the world’s top engineering consultants, he had to make a choice.
“I got into a good program,” he said. “I felt that would set me up for a good future.
“A few coaches reached out about playing baseball, and I gave some consideration to that. There were some strong programs, but I had to consider my academics and the right route to take for my future.”
Longtime Lehigh coach Sean Leary knows of Kersey, but there are no assurances that he will make the squad as a walk-on.
How many walk-ons the team takes in a given year depends on open roster spots and positional needs.
“He told me that I would have the opportunity,” said Kersey. “I’m definitely going to try. I want to still play baseball. It has been such a big part of my life. If (walking on) doesn’t work out, I may play club baseball or something.”
And if it’s the end, it’s the end. He moves on with no regrets.
“I tried to treat everyone with respect,” he said. “I’m proud of that, too. I am always willing to hear what anyone has to say.
“I have to thank my parents for supporting me throughout this whole thing. Before I could drive, they were always there, taking me to games and contributing to my work ethic. And all of my coaches at North Penn and Nor-Gwyn helped me with my success – in high school, in the school and the community.”
Said Manero: “Chris is a great kid and a great teammate. I’m not sure I have a coached a kid more respected by his peers than Chris has been over the years. Between the lines, he leads by example. The way he carries himself and conducts himself inside and outside the lines serve as models of a truly admirable student-athlete. Chris has the ability to have more success ahead of him on the diamond, but we also all get to that point when our playing days will come to an end. When that does happen for Chris, there is no shortage of positive qualities he has a person, and that his going to make him incredibly successful in life on and off the field.”
