How Jackson HS baseball continues success year after year
MASSILLON, Ohio — We play for each other, not with each other. That simple phrase sums up what sports and teammates should be to each other. And it has served Jackson’s baseball team well over the years. Since 2014, the Polar Bears have won seven Federal League Championships (2014-19 and 2022), six district championships (2014-19), two regional championships (2014 and 2017), and two state championships (2014 and 2017). The purple and white were also Associated Press poll champions in 2016 and 2017 while winning a league record 55 straight Federal League games, which ended in the 2021 season. Jackson head coach Bill Gamble, who has been the mentor of the Bears the past 13 years, explains the secret to the team’s success.
“We take a holistic approach,” said Gamble, who is married to his wife Mandy.
They have four kids, Tyson, Tatum, Tucker, and Skylar.
“We have the community involved, that is our 401K, so to speak. Our parents participate, our coaching staff works with the travel kids. We have a good handle on our program, and that is what is unique to our system. We have a direct connection.”
Youth program leads to varsity success. Jackson assistant coach Dan Rodriguez works with the youth program, and he gets to know the families in the program. Gamble said this is a co-curriculum. Kody Gonzalez, president of the Jackson Diamond Club, wrote the Diamond Club oversees four programs: the high school program, the youth travel program, the youth community program, and our tournaments.
“Between all three programs, we have just over 800 kids playing baseball,” wrote Gonzalez. “In our two youth programs, we have 35 teams from T-ball through 13-year/14-year-olds in our community program and another 16 teams in our youth travel programs.”
The travel teams have two teams at every level, 9-year to 14-year-olds, and 18u team.
“The relationship between our youth and high school program could not be stronger,” wrote Gonzalez. “Coach Gamble and his staff work closely with the youth directors to help create curriculum, teams, practice plans, ideology, uniforms, and just about everything else that we do.”
Coach Gamble and Rodriguez explained how the coaches are picked to coach the youth baseball teams.
“We strike a delicate balance with a coach coaching his own kid,” said Rodriguez. “We pick coaches who have good baseball backgrounds. At the 14u level, we hire someone to coach the team.”
Coach Gamble, who graduated from Perry High School and Erskine College in South Carolina, added, “Usually, by the time a player reaches the 14u level, most parents do not have enough knowledge. They do not know what they don’t know. Prior to this level, we have coaches’ meetings once a month; we create a library of videos they can watch on Jackson Baseball’s YouTube private channel. They can watch videos at any time. “Our youth program constantly grows in a good environment. We invest in our coaches and reinvest at every level. This practice building is a good investment for the community.”
Jackson Facilities
Jackson baseball players have an incredible facility to practice in year-round. A facility that the baseball team shares with the softball and lacrosse teams who practice as well. “This is an investment in the community,” said Gamble, whose father is an assistant coach on his staff and coached him in high school. “This facility is a K-12 program. The facility enables us to have a long-term plan for our kids. This facility was built in 2019.” In addition to the indoor practice facility, the baseball field installed an artificial turf infield and lights.
The Fruits of Their Labor at the Varsity Level
Year after year, the Polar Bears are picked to win the Federal League. Coach Gamble discussed how the team deals with the pressure year in and year out.
“We have what we call the standard,” said Gamble. “The standard is the standard. We don’t play against our own standard. We have certain expectations. It is how we grade ourselves. Base two is the heartbeat of the program. It is what we play against. Baseball can have a lot of negative demons to battle. We fight in the moment for the next pitch.”
Gamble discussed the presence of social media and maintaining positive mental health.
“We work with the kids on mental health,” said Gamble. “We work on breathing techniques, controlling the heartbeat and adrenaline. We put the kids in situations during practice to make them uncomfortable. We compete in a tough environment where everything is competitive. We also practice yoga once a week, where we can clear our minds and body. We are calming everything down. We can’t always control everything. It is the psychology of competing. This is calming.”
Coach Rodriguez added that social media can be loud.
“We can’t control what people say. We can’t respond. The best response is no response. We need to block out opinions. When it is personal, block it out. Only answer questions from a coach or player. This is where the motto ‘We play for each other and not with each other’ comes into play. When you grow up playing with each other, you know how to play with your teammates and pick each other up.”
The varsity team has two teams, a purple (A team) and gold team (B team). The B team plays other non-Federal League varsity teams so the players can stay fresh and get good quality reps in. Overall, the program has placed five players in professional baseball – Kyle Mottice, Sam William, and Glen Richardson. Most recently, Dillon Dingler was drafted in Round 2 by the Detroit Tigers, and Kyle Nicholas was drafted in the second round by the Miami Marlins.
“These guys come back and work out in the summer,” said Gamble. “When a 10-year-old is here working out and training with a player on a Double-A team, it makes it believable and normalizes that they can be drafted too.”
This Year’s Roster
This year’s team features 13 letter winners and seniors. The roster consists of seniors Jack Blauner, Ian Blood, James Bossart, Aiden Castile, Griffin Cochran, Chris Collins, Max Lombard, Logan Mytinger, Aidan Nemet, Charlie Null, Hogan Sedlock, Garrett Wright, and Nick Zito. Juniors on the team are Kyle Andrews, Kyle Benson, Kyle Carey, Eric Freetage, Isaac Hynes, Jaden Metcalf, Carter Mottice, Carson Pastorius, Jake Sweetnich, Brandon Truex, AJ Wertz, and Zach Woit.
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