South senior earns $1,000 scholarship

South softball coach Erin Dodson attests that the impact senior catcher Kristen Jesberger has on the Rebels’ program is immeasurable.

The Positive Coaching Alliance agrees.

Jesberger was recently awarded a $1,000 TripleImpact Competitive College Scholarship from the Cleveland chapter of the Positive Coaching Alliance.

Jesberger was one of five recipients, the others being Dakari Parish-Baker (Toledo Central Catholic), Jamalys Rodriguez (Bard High School and Early College), Ethan Stishan (LaBrae) and Macy Taylor (Elyria).

The scholarships are awarded to recipients who “are being recognized for making a significant positive impact in their schools, on their teams, and in their communities by demonstrating a commitment to making themselves better, their teammates better and their sports better,” according to a PCA news release on the scholarships.

“It’s a really cool honor to win,” Jesberger said. “I’ve been working really hard in my high school career to not only improve my physical aspects, but my mental aspects of the game. To be honored as a Triple-Impact competitor is a great honor to receive.”

Jesberger is the epitome of the term “student-athlete.” As a junior, she hit .427 with 13 doubles, 21 RBI and only seven strikeouts in 92 at-bats. She was an all-Western Reserve Conference selection after guiding the Rebels to a 20-6 record as the team’s catcher.

Jesberger and her teammates went 4-3 on a recent trip to Tennessee over spring break.

“Kristen is the glue that holds this team together,” Dodson said. “She’s a fouryear starter.”

But Jesberger is more than an athlete. In the classroom, she holds a 4.3 grade-point average. Additionally, she has a Super Score of 32 on the ACT and scored a 1320 on the SAT.

She’s planning to go to John Carroll after graduation to major in international business, with an eye on going to law school.

“She’s more of a success off the field than on it, which says a lot because of how successful she is on the field,” Dodson said.

As part of the scholarship process, some of Jesberger’s teammates wrote testimonials to the scholarship committee about their friend’s impact on them both on and off the field.

Teammates Hannah Blasinsky and Riley Frizell joined Jesberger at the awards banquet, as well as Dodson.

“They were there to support me, which was really nice,” said Jesberger. “I got my picture taken with (former Cleveland Brown) Joe Thomas. He talked about his experience in athletics. That was cool to hear.”

While Jesberger is excited about playing softball at John Carroll and furthering her education, she’s more so looking forward to her senior year of softball, where she and her teammates hope for a WRC championship and a long tournament run.

“I feel we can go far,” she said. “We have a fantastic team with some very talented players who work well together. I’d like to win the district and see where we can go from there.”

SUBMITTED Kristen Jesberger, a senior at South, was recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Positive Coaching Alliance. She is shown at the awards ceremony with former Cleveland Brown Joe Thomas.