Jackson hopes for action in June's major-league draft

They share the exact same name: Jeff Jackson.

They also share the exact same passion: baseball.

And they each got to put that passion to use for the exact same high school: Wauconda.

But Jeff Jackson, the dad, and a standout baseball player at Wauconda in the early 1980s, says that's where the similarities on the baseball field end with Jeff Jackson his son, a standout baseball player at Wauconda now.

"I may have gotten some records while I was playing," said the elder Jackson, a pitcher and a big hitter for the Bulldogs in his day. "But Jeff is way past anything I ever did."

And the younger Jackson isn't done yet.

Like his father, Jackson, a versatile utility player for the Bulldogs who is leading his team in just about every offensive category as the final week of the regular season comes to a close, could wind up playing baseball in college.

Dad played at Kishwaukee College in Malta, Ill., just west of DeKalb. The younger Jackson has committed to Wabash Valley College, a community college in southern Illinois where the coaches love that fact that he's a career .500 hitter in high school.

Then again, Jackson could go even a step further and play professional baseball this summer in the minor leagues.

He'll find out his fate next month when Major League Baseball holds its 2010 draft June 7-9. Some scouts are projecting him to go anywhere from the eighth to the 15th round.

"That would be a dream come true," Jackson, a catcher, infielder and outfielder, said of getting drafted. "It's always been my dream to play in the major leagues someday. I've been waiting my whole life for (the draft after his senior season) to happen."

Jackson has seemingly been on the scouts' radar screen for almost just as long.

Traveling all over the country for tournaments and showcases for years, Jackson has sparked wide interest with his unique combination of size and speed.

Most major-league teams look for players who can run a 60-yard dash, theoretically the distance between home plate and second base, in under seven seconds. At 6-feet-3 and capable of running a 60-yard dash in 6.6 seconds, Jackson is a gem.

"If the situation is right, I would definitely sign (a professional contract)," Jackson said. "But right now, I'm trying not to think about it too much. My dad handles most of that stuff and he doesn't tell me all that much.

"He just wants me to focus on playing the game and having fun."

Clearly, Jackson has obliged.

His numbers are sharp all the way around. He leads Wauconda with 33 hits, 29 runs, 12 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs and a .478 batting average. And he's done it all even though many pitchers try to avoid him.

He's been walked a team-high 21 times.

"Jeff is a very talented kid, but I think this is just as much about how you get out of something what you put into it," Wauconda coach Bill Sliker said. "Jeff is a very, very hard worker. I mean, this kid is constantly practicing the game of baseball, constantly thinking about it, always trying to stay a step ahead of everyone else. He really puts the time in. He takes extra hitting, he stays after practice to work on things. He works on baseball a great deal and it's paid off."

At first, it paid off in the form of a Division I scholarship.

Jackson initially made a verbal commitment to play baseball at Arizona State. That was last year.

But since then, the coaches who recruited him there left, and that left Jackson at a crossroads. He decided to look elsewhere, and that's when he started realizing that the community college route might be for him.

He felt it gave him more flexibility for his future.

"When you go to a community college, you can play for a year and then re-enter the (major-league) draft the very next year. But when you're at a four-year school, you've got to wait until you're 21 years old to re-enter the draft," said the elder Jeff Jackson, who has coached his son's travel teams and been his son's hitting coach for years. "We didn't feel that was the best situation for Jeff right now.

"His dream is to play pro baseball. If things don't work out this year with the draft, he can go play in community college and then get right back in the draft next year."

But Jackson is optimistic his dream will come true the first time around.

Not only do the scouts know about his size, his speed, his versatility and his numbers, they know what's in his heart.

They know how important baseball is to him and how hard he works at it.

How do they know that?

They've not only heard first-hand accounts from Sliker, but they've also seen Jackson in action with their own eyes.

"I work out at my uncle's sports facility (Home Run Sports and Fitness in Lake Zurich)," Jackson said. "It's seven days a week of doing something. I go there to hit, to throw, to catch with my Dad. We're always doing something.

"A lot of scouts from around here also give pitching lessons there, so they see me there working everyday and they'll say stuff like 'Wow, Jeff, you're getting bigger, you're getting better.'

"I think they like seeing how much I work."

Lately, Jackson has been working on doing even more than just the usual.

Strictly a catcher earlier in his career, Jackson has put in the time to learn the nuances of playing the infield and the outfield in order to make himself more useful. He's also worked on his baserunning so that he can confidently try to stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

Jackson has 15 extra bases, as well as a team-high 12 stolen bases, about three times more than the next highest player on the team.

"He does that a lot, trying to stretch things out," Sliker said. "Jeff is just always hustling and he's so aware of what's happening in the game and what he can do to push it."

Jackson says he's never worried about being thrown out.

"My dad told me all the time when I was younger that the most important thing you can do when you're running the bases is hustle because you can make really good things happen when you do that," Jackson said. "He said that if you get thrown out, don't worry about it. As long as you're hustling, it's not a big deal."

For Jackson, a big deal could come soon, though.

What a proud moment that would be for the entire Wauconda baseball family, including the "other" Jeff Jackson.

pbabcock@dailyherald.com