MARIETTA,
Ga. – Sometimes kids never want to grow up, and sometimes kids want
to grow up too fast. For Jacob Bukausakas, it’s the latter. Bukauskas,
a 2015 grad, is planning on graduating in 2014 so he can move on to
play college baseball at North Carolina a year early.
“I
committed last year, probably two or three weeks after my freshman
year ended,” explained Bukauskas. “I got the school I wanted to
commit to very early so I chose them quick. I didn’t wait around a
long time for the process to drag out. Me and my family weren’t
interested in sitting and waiting for something better to come along
(and) I knew I wanted to go to North Carolina.
“I
decided to go and make my decision final two weeks ago. We had been
thinking about it for a while. They weren’t really pressuring me,
(but) at the end of the day I was going to go to school anyway (and)
miss the draft. So it’s just going to speed up the process. I’m
going to go to school a year early and just hope it puts me in a
better position for the draft. (I’ll have) less pitches on the arm
and more college professional help.”
The
6-foot-1, 175-pound right handed pitcher is currently ranked No. 10
on Perfect Game’s High School Class of 2015 National Rankings, and
is ranked No. 1 overall in Virginia. He’s attended numerous Perfect
Game events including the 2013 Junior National Showcase, where he hit
93 mph on his fastball, and the 2012 PG National Games, where he was
awarded the Most Valuable Pitcher for the East squad.
“Well
I’ve been going to Perfect Game events for about a year and a half
now,” added Bukauskas. “It’s fun. Perfect Game is where I got
my first exposure so I really appreciate all that Perfect Game has
done for me.
“I
threw the first three innings of my game (at the Junior National
Showcase). I threw to a great catcher (and) It was a great event. I
went last year so I was excited to be back….. (The 2012 PG National
Games) was a fun event. I loved being out in San Diego. It was
probably my favorite event I have done. I hope I can make it back out
there this year.”
Bukauskas
was awarded district pitcher of the year both his freshman and
sophomore years at Stone Bridge High School.
“I
had a pretty good year. I had over 100 strikeouts (in) 70 innings,”
said Bukauskas about his high school season. “We figured out a way
to win every game. Every game was almost in extra innings. We had a
good pitching staff. Me and my friend Devon Perez threw every other
game. Everyone knew when they were playing Stone Bridge they were not
going to score.
“I
got district pitcher of the year last year. As a freshman that was
fun to do. I had a really good year last year. We had great defense
and were always in the position to win games. This year it could have
went a lot of different ways. Devon Perez could have gotten it too. I
guess it just fell my way but it could have gone either way.”
Bukauskas
said his strongest pitch is his slider. It used to be his fastball
earlier this year, however his stamina is wearing down and his
fastball is not at his strongest. He says the slider is “a good
strikeout pitch.”
Bukauskas
is playing with the Evoshiled Canes 16u team this summer at the 2013
WWBA 16u National Championship. He said he’s very close with the
guys and would love to play on this team again next summer, but isn’t
sure if he will be able to since he will be getting ready for North
Carolina.
“In
my opinion this is probably the best organization in the country,”
said Bukauskas. “We have guys from everywhere and almost everyone
on this team is committed and the guys who aren’t will be soon.”
The
Evoshield Canes program started in 2007, and their goal is to help
kids get into college for baseball.
“A
lot of these guys are already committed to college so our goal is to
develop them so they can play when they get to college, try to win a
job early in their careers,” said Canes North Director Jeff Petty.
“We feel like if we play at a high level with these guys we’re
providing them an opportunity to get better, so when they go to
college they’re prepared. Some of them have pro careers ahead of
them as well. We’ve had about 60 guys drafted in the last six
years. So a lot of guys that play for us we try to get them ready for
that too.”
The
Canes 16u team has done well offensively in the WWBA 16u National
Championship averaging .319 collectively as a team. Danny Blair is
7-for-16 with two triples and three RBI. Stephen Scott is leading the
team in RBI with five.
The
Canes have managed to give up only nine runs so far over five games.
Logan Allen, Andrew Noviello, Jeff Harding Jr., Dylan Cyphert and
Bukauskas all pitched shutouts during their time on the mound. Cody
Morris struck out 10 batters over four innings, and Bukauskas struck
out nine over four of his own.
“I
didn’t have all my great stuff,” said Bukauskas about his
performance against Gator Baseball Academy on Monday. “I’ve
thrown about 110 innings this year. I had about 80-percent of what I
normally have, but I figured out a way to still get people out and
ended up throwing four shutout innings.”
“JB
came out, (and) threw the ball well,” added head coach Gregg
Conner. “We limited him to about 75 pitches yesterday. He had
command on all three pitches. Hopefully we get far enough to use him
again.”
The
Canes have secured their spot as No. 1 in their pool, and play Miami
Pro Instruction on Wednesday before they move on to the playoff
rounds.