On Friday, Nov. 11, 2011, Council Rock North senior Jake Drossner was recognized at a special news conference for signing a letter of intent to accept a baseball scholarship to the University of Maryland.
Jake Drossner – University of Maryland (Baseball)
Final list of colleges: Maryland, University of North Carolina, Virginia, Florida
Reasons for choosing Maryland: “I just thought as soon as I got there that Maryland was a great fit, not only for athletics, but it’s a great academic school. I wanted to be close to home, and that was a part of my decision. My parents can come watch me – it’s only three hours away. I also wanted to play in the ACC. I felt that it was a great conference, and I could succeed in that.”
What was the progression that led you to playing collegiate baseball? “It’s always been my dream to play Division One baseball. It all started when I got called up to play varsity my freshman year. I got the experience, and it all came down to my sophomore year when I was playing for a couple of tournament teams in North Carolina and Florida. I just started to get calls from coaches. I always wanted to play Division One. When I started getting those calls, it felt great because I knew I was going to play somewhere.”
What was the recruiting process like for you? “It was a little stressful, especially with a lot of coaches calling you, but it was a good feeling because when you hear those schools calling your name, it gave me a lot of confidence. It was a hectic summer, but it was good.”
Coach Matt Schram says: “Jake going to Maryland is big in this day and age when everybody now has 12-month baseball, indoor baseball, personal training baseball and that sort of thing. There just aren’t a lot of kids in our school and even in our league who are signing with a big-time school like this. I’m going to use the word monumental because it’s just not heard of around here.
“Jake is a student of the game. He works meticulously on his mechanics, and he knows how to pitch. He’s still young, and he’s getting better at it. I have seen him play since he was eight years old, and he’s really turned into what I would call a mechanical machine. He understands the value of good mechanics and conditioning, which is also real important – what he is doing on his days off between games. I know what he does here with us in our program. We have the greatest pitching coach, and he has these guys conditioning all the time. On top of the conditioning, he not only throws school baseball, but he goes into the summer leagues, and he just finished throwing (fall ball) this week. For him to be in condition enough to throw this long speaks about his work ethic in terms of his days off and how he works out and how he keeps himself in shape to throw.”
About Jake:
Favorite movie: Never Back Down
Favorite music: Drake
Favorite food: Chicken parmesan
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