One Armed Player Makes State Tourney

Mark Story, Lexington Herald-Leader columnist — Fri, 27 May 2011 16:29:18 +0000

As a high school sophomore, Jacob Raleigh made a vow to himself. After Raleigh was part of a Letcher County Central doubles team that lost in the first round of the 2009 Kentucky state tennis championships, he promised he'd get back to the state tournament before his high school days were over. Back then, Jacob would never have dreamed what a challenge that would be. Nor the magnitude of the accomplishment once he pulled it off. The Jacob Raleigh who played in the '09 state tennis tourney was a hard-serving left-hander whose game was built on power. Back then, it would have seemed unnecessary to note he had two arms.