Panthers fired up over Cook

[corner-ad id=2][corner-ad id=1]Yellow Jackets senior’s signing brings smiles to Birmingham Southern

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

OXFORD — Somewhere in the Birmingham Southern baseball world there are coaches firing up a celebratory cigar today because the Panthers got one of their men.

Oxford’s versatile Jake Cook signed to play baseball with the Panthers Tuesday in the school’s Sports Arena.

The story goes that right before the Panthers hit recruiting trail the coaches categorize their prospects and write the names of their five impact targets on premium cigars to be fired up when those players sign into the fold.

Jake Cook’s name was on one of those cigars, which by the time you read this will probably be down to the ash.

“They told that to me when they came to the school one time,” Cook said. “(Head coach Jan Weinberg) told me he had it above his mantle and that whenever I signed and decided I was going to Birmingham Southern he could smoke it then.”

Cook was the Jackets’ ace pitcher and had what coach Wes Brooks considered his two best outings in his final two games of the season.

He was 16-6 with a 2.87 career ERA with 128 strikeouts in 126 innings.

“I am excited to have Jake join our program here,” Weinberg said. “In addition to being a very good pitcher who we feel can come in and compete early in his career, we are more excited about Jake as a person.

“He fits the mold of our successful players. He is a great person, talented, motivated and successful. We are looking forward to him helping us continue our championship ways here on the Hilltop.”

Cook has been told he has an opportunity to be a starting pitcher next season with his prospects as a position player evolving. He can play anywhere in the infield.

One thing the Panthers will get is a resilient player who’ll do whatever it takes to get on the field. Two seasons ago he came back from twice dislocating the elbow of his non-throwing arm to pitch in key area series and this year he bounced back from breaking an ankle in his final football game to start on Opening Day.

“God’s gift to me was the ability to play baseball and I just want to go out there and do the best I can,” Cook said. “If I don’t push myself as far as I can go then I’m not using the ability He’s given me the right way, so I feel I should go out there and give all that I have every single game.

“Everything’s big. You never know what’s going to happen next, so you have to play your hardest and your best whenever you get the chance to.”

Cook had the same approach as a reliable receiver on the Yellow Jackets’ football team, but the sport isn’t expected to part of the equation at Birmingham Southern. That’s OK with the baseball coaches, as they’d like to keep him as their own Human Victory Cigar.

The Yellow Jackets’ senior not only was an ace on the mound, but also an ace in the classroom. He has a 3.88 GPA and will graduate with honors.

Cook said his decision was “pretty easy” to pick the Panthers over several other contacts and offers.

“They stayed in touch with me so much and told me their plan for me, which excited me,” he said. “The education standpoint of it is another reason I chose them, because I can go there and get a top-notch education.

“When choosing from an athletic standpoint, it wasn’t the fact they told me how great I was — I mean they told me over and over how badly they wanted me — but what got it for me was when they came to see me play and one of the coaches told me something he could help me work on to get me better. He was just straight-up honest with what he could fix and how that was going to make me better.

“The coaches there make it exciting to start this new journey because they make you feel at home and it’s a place where I can grow. I look forward to keeping the traditions they have going and help the team win more championships.”

Mike Pruitt contributed to this report.

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