photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Lawrence's Jack Bauch watches the ball in a tennis quad at Gardner Edgerton High School on Wednesday, April 1, 2026, in Gardner.

Jack Bauch wasn’t sure if he’d be playing tennis his senior year of high school. After surgery to fix a herniated disk last summer, he hadn’t played tennis since the end of his junior season.

“I’m still recovering,” Bauch said. “It’s been nine months. I couldn’t move for three months — they told me to be stationary.”

Bauch decided to try out for the team and made it, and is now one of two seniors on the varsity team, the other being Julian Bricker. Bauch, having spent the most time on varsity, determined when he joined the team that he had to make the effort to be a leader for the rest of the group.

“Once I realized I was going to be on the team, I realized that I needed to step up and do what some of the seniors had been doing since I was a freshman,” Bauch said. “I thought it would be a lot of pressure, but since coming back I’ve felt like the team is really close, and there’s not a lot of pressure on me to do well. We’re all just out here having a good time.”

Bauch is pulling the team together for photos, talking to his teammates between games and keeping things lighthearted. Even as someone who is a veteran leader of the team, Bauch doesn’t let the game get too serious.

“Fun is the goal. We have a really good group of guys this year,” The van rides are fun. We get here, we’re messing around the whole time and keeping it lighthearted. It helps us win the matches.”

Last year, Bauch competed as the team’s No. 2 singles player. This year, he’s working at the No. 1 doubles spot. Lawrence coach Stephen Hudson likes to let seniors pick whether they compete at singles or doubles, and for his final year at Lawrence, Bauch wanted to be on a doubles team.

Bauch is a social guy — it’s what makes him a good fit as the leader of the team — and he wanted to spend his last tennis season on the court with a partner. So far into the 2026 season, that partner has been Koh Brewer, a freshman. Bauch has enjoyed the partnership on the court this season.

“I want to have a friend on the court,” Bauch said. “I get lonely when I play singles, and it’s less fun. With my partner, I can make jokes throughout the match. We’re just laughing and having a good time. I didn’t get that same experience with singles, and I like to have fun. I have the most fun playing doubles.”

Fun is the name of the game for Bauch in this final year with Lawrence, and he’s making sure to make the most of it. From not even knowing he’d be able to play to now enjoying his time on doubles, Bauch is having plenty of fun.

“Being able to play tennis this year, it’s really an amazing experience,” Bauch said. “I love being out here with the team and having a good time. I’m not really hell-bent on winning or losing, I just want to have a good time with my team.”