If Christy McLean was a baseball player, one might say she came up as a young slugger who always swung for the big blast, but like many big hitters, if she didn’t hit a home run, she often struck out.

A strategic baseball player hits to all fields, and once this Olympian senior tennis star learned to hit a ball to open areas of the court, she vastly improved her game.

For her accomplished performance this season, Christy McLean is the 2020 Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Girls Tennis Player of the Year.

Olympian tennis coach Norb Leinhard remembered when he first saw McLean shoot rockets off her tennis racket.

“Christy started coming to my summer tennis camp when she was in kindergarten and even in grade school, she tried to hit the ball as hard as she could,” recalled Lienhard. ”When she was a freshman, her forehands and serves were incredibly hard hits. When she was on, she was unbeatable, but when she was off with her accuracy, she had some tough outcomes.”

McLean - who was a manager for Leinhard’s high school team when she was an eighth grader - took the necessary steps to get better in competitive tennis.

“I changed my game plan and learned different techniques with the racket to hit different shots,” she said. “I didn’t have to power everything.”

Along with Leinhard, McLean credits JT assistant coach Brent Reabolt for telling her to take a breath when he saw her getting frustrated, and to use her body and feet more. “I started to come to the net more often, and after I got my opponent going one way, I hit the ball to the other side of the court.”

A four-year varsity starter, McLean moved from second singles to first singles her junior and senior years. Her 34 career wins ranks fourth in school history, and she also has the third best all-time winning percentage. A district qualifier all four years, McLean was the team MVP as well this past season.

“Christy was mostly matched against district- seeded players every year and she held her own, winning her share of matches,” said Leinhard.

Her victories multiplied as she improved her footwork and “moved around the court more,” according to Leinhard. “She really matured and learned from her losses.”

Selected a tri-captain this year, McLean led by example. The first player at Jim Thorpe’s practices and the last to leave, she also played club tennis for three years at Winning Touch in Allentown.

“Coach Andrea Drabenscot at Winning Touch helped me use my footwork to approach my shots better than I had been, and to move to one side and hit to the opposite side.”

McLean’s interest for the sport came early from her father, Dennis, who played the game, and also from watching tennis matches on TV when she was just five years old. “My dad helped me a lot by taking me out to practice with him whenever he could,” she said. He was also a volunteer coach for Jim Thorpe, and we would work on my game before matches.”

“I just love the environment of the game, too, and the competitiveness I have inside myself every time I step on the court.”

Ironically, what McLean considers to be her best match this season was one that she lost to Blue Mountain’s Lauren Gumaer, the sixth seed in the D11 tournament.

“It was very competitive, and that’s what I like,” she said. “I was at the top of my game. I had no double fault serves. My power shots and backhands were all working. She was just a little better, and beat me in a close third game.”

McLean also played center field for the Olympian softball team for four years and played for Storm, a tournament team from which coaches, Keith and Steve “helped me be the best athlete I can be.” Her support team includes her Uncle Ed, who never missed one of her matches.

McLean has been offered a scholarship to play tennis at Lock Haven University, where she intends to major in health and physical education.

“I’m so happy for her,” said Leinhard. “She worked so hard to improve her game. She was a quiet leader of our team and a great kid, too, besides being very humble about her success.”

When asked if she will leave Jim Thorpe with any regrets, McLean said there was one.

“I was disappointed that because of the pandemic, we only got to play 12 of our scheduled 18 matches.” she said. “But, I’m still glad we got to have a season.”

And it was quite a season she did have, one that has awarded Christy McLean the title of Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Girls Tennis Player of the Year.