Everyone needs to know a little bit about Jason Carter. Now, I am a lucky trainer in that I couldn’t really tell you who my hardest working athlete is. I had a tremendous group of guys and girls who gave incredible efforts each and every day, and who are still busting their butts at my gym in my absence. But, Jason needs some special recognition, because I could not be more proud of him.

Jason just graduated from Central Catholic High and committed himself to trying to walk on at Lincoln College, which was his school of choice for reasons beyond baseball. Lincoln has a good baseball program, but Jay had gone previously unnoticed by their coaching staff. Discouraged, I urged him to continue his hard work, and to control the things within his power. He could have given up like many will during this transitional time, but he receded into his training, busting his butt in my swelteringly hot gym and running 400m sprints around a blazing hot track. Not many athletes put in this kind of summer work, and he did so not knowing if he would even get a payoff.

As he continued to push and push, his pitching prowess started to increase. His fastball is now exploding, and he is always sending me messages about his performances. They were steadily improving, despite the fact that he didn’t get as many opportunities to pitch his Senior year as he would have liked. It would have been way easier to bow out, get an education and move on from baseball, than to sprint balls-t0-the-wall around a track on 100 degree days. Jason’s that kind of guy. The fastball and slider now have more life than ever, and he’s got the guts to throw them hard and down in the zone.

I got a message the other day – “7 innings, 11ks against a team with a record of 17-2. Got a call from Lincoln after the game, and they offered me a scholarship.” I couldn’t tell you how happy this made me, to see a kid reach out and take what he wanted, all through hard work. He has earned every penny of that scholarship money, and he will be a leader on that team. “A Resolute Man Will Find A Way” – these are words that were passed on to me by a professor in college, and I have had many great young athletes grab hold of them this past year; Jason is one of them.

I have two graduating seniors from Central Catholic High who are going on to play baseball in college. Jesse Heaton is headed up north on a scholarship to St. Scholastica, and now Mr. Carter is signed on a scholarship to Lincoln College in Illinois. Jay and Jesse train together, so look forward to big things from both of them. Here they are featured under the squat rack…

Jesse and Jason push each other, and are a great team of elitely-conditioned, dedicated athletes. It’s an honor to now wish both of them good health (hard workers don’t need luck) as they head off to play in college.

I want to give a big shout out to two of my athletes who have made some headlines recently…it’s always great to see the young guys succeeding – with or without my help!

Jesse Heaton

Jesse, an infielder/pitcher, is a Senior at Central Catholic High. He was selected, among hundreds of applicants, as the winner of the Presidential Scholarship – the most prestigious scholarship offered at St. Joseph’s (Indiana) College. Aside from getting a lot of interest to play college baseball, Jess truly a high-character individual, which is undoubtedly why he landed such a big (valued at $100,000+) grant. He will find success in whatever he chooses down the road.

Eric Fight

Eric, a Junior outfielder at Normal Community High School, just received a top-40 ranking in the newest Prep Baseball Report grading system of high school prep prospects. Eric is ranked as the 38th best Junior-Class prospect in the state of Illinois. He has been moving steadily up the rankings as he has gotten bigger, faster, and increased his throwing velocity. Good things lie in store, as he still has two full seasons left in high school. You can read PBR Showcase report on his ranking, including his scouting report, Here.