Jake Wilson can make an impact several different ways on the baseball diamond.
A solid contact hitter, the speedy outfielder has collected a .301 batting average and impressive .370 on-base percentage through his four years with the Bowling Green State University Falcons.
He's also utilized that speed to make himself a threat on the basepaths. His 12 steals tied him for the team lead last season.
As dependable as he's been at the plate and on base, the New Lowell native's calling card is really his defence.
Wilson is regarded as one of college baseball's best defensive centrefielders.
"The one thing that the Great Lakes Canadians (club) team I played with when I was in high school taught me is defence is priority No. 1," the 22-year-old said when asked if his defensive side of the game is one of the things he takes most pride of his in his game.
"They'll never take you out of the lineup if you're great defensively, so I've taken a lot of pride, put in a lot of hours making my defensive game the way it is," Wilson added.
Wilson's prowess in centrefield certainly hasn't gone unnoticed. He has been named to the NCAA's Mid-American Conference All-Defensive team the last two seasons, posting a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in 2018.
Last season, he committed just two errors while recording 137 put-outs.
"No one specific," Wilson said when asked if he patterns his game after any major league player, "but just doing the same things I did in high school with the Great Lakes Canadians and just trying to perfect it."
It's been a tough start to the MAC season for the senior outfielder and his teammates. The Ohio school sits last in the conference with a 1-11 record and is in the midst of an eight-game losing streak since the baseball schedule kicked off in mid-February.
"It's our first time being outside since October," said the six-foot, 180-pound outfielder, whose older brother, Zac, was an outfielder at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Mich., and was named the school's male senior athlete of the year in 2018.
"I do expect us to be a lot better as the season goes on," Wilson said. "I'm excited to see what we'll do in the future."
Wilson hasn't let the tough start get to him. With this being his final season of college baseball, he's determined to turn things around.
"This is my last year. I just want to have fun, make some memories with my teammates and win a conference title," he said.
One of the Falcons captains the last two seasons, he's relished the leadership role and helping his younger teammates.
"I take a lot of pride in my leadership position and trying to lead guys in the right direction," Wilson said. "Hopefully lead guys so that when I'm not here they'll know what to do and able to be successful when I'm gone."
A .300 hitter in two of his first three seasons, Wilson is off to another good start at the plate this year. In 12 games, he's hitting .292 with a pair of RBIs and a stolen base.
"It's something I'm proud of what I was able to do during my years here," he said of hovering above the .300 mark. "I want to continue to do that and hopefully I can do it for my last year here."
This coming off 2019 season where he batted .303 at the plate and led the team in doubles (11) and triples (2) over 46 games. He also scored 25 runs and hit a homer and drove in 12 runs.
"I'm more of a get on-base kind of guy," said Wilson, who is studying exercise science and earned academic all-MAC honours last season. "I'm not a big home-run hitter like you see in some guys, but I've been trying to work on staying relaxed and staying calm at the plate and just let the numbers take care of themselves.
"I haven't been really trying to do much at the plate. Just trying to stay relaxed, stay calm and don't force anything."
His overall game has drawn the attention of scouts. Wilson was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 39th round of the 2016 Major League Baseball Draft.
While he didn't sign with the Red Sox, he's eligible for this year's MLB draft, though right now his focus remains on helping Bowling Green on the field.
"The goal is to win a conference championship with my team here and move deep into the playoffs with my college team," he said. "My personal goal is to get drafted again. Right now, I don't want to think about that. I just want to live in the present time and win some college games with my teammates."
When that comes to an end, he hopes to move in the direction of living out his childhood dream.
"Being able to play professional baseball has been a dream of mine since I was a kid," said Wilson, who in 2017 was named the MAC's freshman of the year and freshman all-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. "Just like playing college baseball has been a dream, I'm happy I'm able to make one of those dreams come true and hopefully I can make the second one come true as well."
