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Oswego East junior Jacsen Tucker is the Record Newspapers baseball Player of the Year · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Oswego East junior Jackson Tucker is the Record Newspapers Baseball
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  Speaker 1: Player of the Year. Written by Joshua Welga, this article
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  Speaker 1: is being read by an automated voice brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by Everlett Jackson. Tucker put his words into action like
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  Speaker 1: he did in previous years. The Oswego East junior shortstop
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  Speaker 1: sat down with his dad before this season to write
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  Speaker 1: down personal and team goals. The outline quality hits, reaching
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  Speaker 1: his maximum potential, and showcasing both sides of his offensive game,
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  Speaker 1: power and speed as tangible pursuits. It helps me stay
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  Speaker 1: locked in and focused, Tucker, said, the number five ranked
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  Speaker 1: player in Illinois class of twenty twenty seven by Prep
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  Speaker 1: Baseball Report. In the preseason, Tucker delivered a historic spring.
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  Speaker 1: Tucker set Oswego East records for single season and career
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  Speaker 1: home runs. The Oklahoma State commit batted point three to
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  Speaker 1: seventy nine with a one point three six zero ops
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  Speaker 1: with thirty nine hits, including twelve homers, twelve doubles, thirty
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  Speaker 1: three RBIs, thirty seven run scored, and twenty seven stolen bases.
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  Speaker 1: Named All State by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association,
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  Speaker 1: Tucker is the Record Newspapers Player of the Year. Really
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  Speaker 1: happy with how it went for me, Tucker said, I
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  Speaker 1: came into the year with high expectations for myself, and
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  Speaker 1: I can say I met those. Tucker opened eyes on
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  Speaker 1: the national scene last summer with two homers in a
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  Speaker 1: single game in prep baseball's Future Games. His spring started
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  Speaker 1: with a bang. On a spring break trip to Jacksonville,
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  Speaker 1: the season's first week, Tucker hit a homer to dead
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  Speaker 1: center that caught him and his coach by surprise. I
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  Speaker 1: don't think it's landed yet. Oswego East coach Brian Schaefer said,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes you are in awe of his physical ability. Long
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  Speaker 1: and lean at six foot five, Tucker's physical ability was
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  Speaker 1: recognized at a young age. His dad, Geradio, played both
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  Speaker 1: baseball and basketball collegiately at Southern Illinois. Tucker played baseball, basketball,
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  Speaker 1: and football growing up, but locked in on basketball and
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  Speaker 1: particularly baseball by middle school. He quickly moved up to
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  Speaker 1: varsity baseball. After hitting point five zero zero at JV
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  Speaker 1: ten games into his freshman year, we were in a
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  Speaker 1: lot of close games, not putting the ball in play,
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  Speaker 1: and thought, what do we need to do to bring
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  Speaker 1: a spark Jackson was just crushing it at JV, so
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  Speaker 1: we thought give him a chance. Shaefer said. He quickly
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  Speaker 1: solidified himself. I think the first week he hit three
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  Speaker 1: home runs and two triples and were like, he's ready.
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  Speaker 1: Tucker's glove too at shortstop has played and has stood
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  Speaker 1: out to Shaefer since the start. We have been spoiled
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  Speaker 1: having him for three years. With some of the plays
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  Speaker 1: he makes, Shaefer said, I have other coaches come up
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  Speaker 1: and say, I can't believe he made that play backhanded
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  Speaker 1: across the diamond. Those are special type plays, and it's funny.
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  Speaker 1: He does it so frequently and it looks so effortless
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  Speaker 1: when doing it. I've become numb to it. I've seen
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  Speaker 1: it so much. Tucker made it a point of emphasis
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  Speaker 1: this past year to add strength. With a taller frame,
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  Speaker 1: He's learned it's harder for him to put on muscle.
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  Speaker 1: He lived in the gym and adopted a heavy protein
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  Speaker 1: diet with chicken and steak to add the right kind
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  Speaker 1: of pounds. That work translated to results. Tucker tripled his
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  Speaker 1: home run production from his sophomore year and raised his
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  Speaker 1: batting average by fifty nine points. In a game against
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  Speaker 1: West Aurora, Tucker hit one of four Oswego East Homers
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  Speaker 1: in a single inning. Schaefer too has seen the personality
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  Speaker 1: and competitor in Tucker come out. Since he was a
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  Speaker 1: quiet freshman. He has come into himself leadership wise. That
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  Speaker 1: has been the biggest development piece is his leadership, being
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  Speaker 1: able to be vocal with the guys, to coach guys
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  Speaker 1: on the field. Shaefer said, Personally, he's one of the
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  Speaker 1: most outgoing, happy, go lucky guys I have been around.
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  Speaker 1: He really is a pleasure to have in the dugout.
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  Speaker 1: Tucker is also a competitor that drives his teammates to compete,
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  Speaker 1: and it's helped him to have a teammate like Dominic Batista. Batista,
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  Speaker 1: a UIC recruit and a potential high draft pick this summer,
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  Speaker 1: was a teammate of Tucker's for three seasons. Batista's return
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  Speaker 1: from a broken handmate bone was a huge lift to
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  Speaker 1: Tucker and the Wolves the last month of the season.
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  Speaker 1: It's helped a lot having him around, Tucker said, the
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  Speaker 1: kid is good at baseball. We learned a lot from
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  Speaker 1: each other. We are kind of in the same position.
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  Speaker 1: Him coming back helped a lot with the lineup. I
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  Speaker 1: saw a lot more offspeed mix of pitches when he
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  Speaker 1: was out. When he came back, I was seeing steady fastballs. Tucker,
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  Speaker 1: like Batista, will be on scouts radars in the next
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  Speaker 1: year leading up to the twenty twenty seven MLB Draft.
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  Speaker 1: He plays in the summer with the Can's Midwest national team.
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  Speaker 1: He admitted that him and Batista have talked about making
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  Speaker 1: it big like Oswego East Alum's Noah Schultz and Ashton
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  Speaker 1: Izzy playing professionally. I think he'll have a great summer
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  Speaker 1: playing for the Canes national team, playing all over the place,
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  Speaker 1: turn it into a buzz, Shaeffer said. Next year he
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  Speaker 1: stays focused, stays healthy throughout and ready to go. He'll
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  Speaker 1: continue to improve baseball wise. He'll go through the circus
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  Speaker 1: he got to watch this year. He's in a position
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  Speaker 1: because of dom that he knows how to handle it,
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  Speaker 1: which most guys don't.