College baseball player invited to Pro tryouts.

Jacob has received an invitation to the California Winter League (CWL) this coming January 2023 to participate in a 5 week professional baseball tryout! He will be evaluated by professional scouts, coaches, MLB professionals and staff for a draft opportunity to play on a professional baseball team. The deadline for him to commit and submit his $3,200 player fee, to participate in these Pro tryouts, is January 1st. While Jacob has a full time college class schedule, he has also been holding down a near full time job and working odd jobs on the side, all to help cover as much of the expenses that come with an opportunity like this. The $3,200 fee he is raising money for is only part of the cost involved. He greatly appreciates any help that family and friends are able to provide, all to support his pursuit of playing professional baseball. Thank you & God bless- NOW here’s a story he wrote to tell you a little bit about his journey…

My journey began playing little league baseball...

I should start by saying I’ve been playing baseball since I could run, and that’s as long as I can remember. My dad has been my number one coach since the beginning, and he gave my brothers and me a deep passion for the game, especially me. I’ve always cared about the result of my play, and yes, I was the little kid crying on the bench after I grounded out because I hated not performing well; I took it to heart and was ready to practice as soon as the game was over. I'm still like that to this day. I wasn’t the all-star in little league, that’s for sure, but my dad always told us the younger years spent working on our craft would prepare us for high school ball...

On to Chatfield to become a Charger...

My older brother Austin made JV as a freshman, so I felt like I had to live up to the same expectations. I was grateful that I did. Then, I continued to play varsity for the next three years and had the best junior year of my high school baseball career. I've learned it’s all about relationships when you make the team; it’s about how much you can trust your brothers playing with you, and I had both brothers as teammates and a best friend as a head coach too. Then Covid hit my senior year in the Spring of 2020. All of my best friends were on varsity that year, and we were convinced we would win a state title for our high school. Unfortunately, we never got the chance. Our season lasted all of one game. One win, of course, but one game nonetheless. It was bittersweet, and looking back, we were all so thankful for that one freezing game in early March that year.

Next part of the journey, college ball...

My dream forever has been to play professional baseball. I had an incredible opportunity coming out of high school to play college baseball for Mesa Community College in Arizona. I was recruited as a two-way player for the Mesa T-Birds. I knew this would be a great stepping stone to playing professional baseball, and I took it! Freshmen year was not easy; it was one of those "hit you in the face, and you had to decide if you were going to get back up for sophomore year" types of years. Thankfully I kept working hard and listening to my coaches, and I was able to secure a sophmore spot that next year, still as a two-way player. I am beyond grateful because my sophomore year, the 2021/2022 season, was my life's most incredible year of baseball. I was able to create bonds with young men I’ll call my best friends for the rest of my life. You spend every day together until sundown doing something we all loved, something that was all of our dreams. It was time to transfer, and Metro State University of Denver was where I chose to continue my college education and athletics. However, after being unable to transfer enough of my credits to MSU to continue my baseball career there this year, I struggled, wondering why God had put this roadblock in front of me. After spending time in prayer and thinking about my situation and the bigger picture, God put it on my heart that my baseball journey wasn’t over. That's when the door opened to an opportunity for me to play in the California Winter League, January 19th- February 19th, to be evaluated by MLB scouts and their organizations and professional independent baseball leagues. Participating in this once-in-a-lifetime tryout will allow me to learn, showcase, and compete alongside MLB minor league players and other Independent Baseball pros. I believe my consistent training and dedication to perfecting my positions in this sport over the past 15 years have prepared me for this opportunity. While training, working full-time and balancing a full-time college schedule this semester, I am still falling short of what it requires financially to participate in this program. I would greatly appreciate your support in helping me attend the CWL this January 2023. My deadline for all fees is January 2nd, so I’m trying to finalize my commitment by December 31st. Thank you!

Thank you & God bless,

Jacob