Tanner Jacko ‘swipes right’ to NEC Pilgrims baseball scholarship

Tanner Jacko, shown here walking off the mound after closing out the Tillsonburg Gemini’s WOSSAA-clinching victory, is headed south of the border to play for the NCAA Division III New England College Pilgrims on athletic scholarship. (Contributed Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

Tanner Jacko has swiped right to the New England College Pilgrims NCAA Division III baseball program.

“Just overall really excited and really grateful to have the opportunity,” said the Tri-City Giants and Glendale Gemini product from his Tillsonburg residence.

Jacko came comparatively late to baseball, finally giving in to parents’ Darren and Michelle’s urging to join a competitive sport at the age of 12. Initially reluctant due to the potential for failure, Tanner discovered he absolutely loved baseball. He trained that winter with CF Sports in London, feeling the process of learning good habits from scratch, rather than unlearning years of bad ones, helped his progress.

Jacko moved up from house league to rep ball with the Tillsonburg Otters the next season and following a COVID-19 interruption, went on to play with the Halton Badgers in Burlington, before a year with Oakville’s Ontario Terriers in the Canadian Premier Baseball League. This summer, Jacko is suiting up with the Giants in the Fergie Jenkins Showcase League, playing a majority of left field, some in right, with the odd pitching appearance. More of a contact hitter, doubles rather than home runs, he has compiled a batting average ranging between .310 and .320.

“Last time I checked it was like .315.”

The athletic atmosphere he experienced during exhibition play against NCAA competition whetted Jacko’s appetite around the possibility of playing at the college level in the United States.

“It just really made me want to go to school and have that same experience. No matter what level, university sports is university sports, it doesn’t matter where you play,” he said.

He linked up with the NCSA College Recruiting app, uploading photos, his academic record and batting cage, practice and game highlight reel videos shot by his dad onto a platform accessible to college coaches. In a way, it’s like a dating app, perspective suitors assessing the suitability of a match from afar, with the potential to move forward.

Tanner was thrilled to receive an email from Pilgrims’ coach Terry Doyle, whose 10-year career in the minor leagues as a pitcher followed being drafted out of Boston College by both the Los Angeles Dodgers (2007) and Chicago White (2008). Doyle requested a phone call in which he indicated he liked Jacko’s skillset, went over the pros of attending NEC, and the two set up an on-site visit.

“I’m not too much of a dating app guy, but I think it’s swipe right,” Tanner laughed.

NEC is located in Henniker, New Hampshire, a community of 6,200. The university is also smaller, with 800 students on campus and an additional couple of hundred served online.

“It’s a very welcoming environment,” said Jacko, a smaller-town guy comfortable with the small-town atmosphere.

His three-hour tour featured the school, its classrooms, residence accommodation he will share with a baseball team roommate, and a description of how his first year would unfold.

“He walked me through what the first year would be like for me,” said Jacko, looking primarily to play in left field, some right, with a personal interest in pitching fostered with seven or eight innings as closer in the Gemini’s 2025 run through WOSSAA to OFSAA.

“That was an awesome experience,” said Jacko. “I might pitch as well on the side.”

The fact NEC has smaller class sizes was also attractive to Jacko and his parents, lining up the intention of a degree in business marketing.

“I want a good education as well,” said Tanner, who achieved 92 per cent average at Glendale during his graduating year.

His marks were crucial to a scholarship offer Jacko believes, reassuring coach Doyle he’ll maintain the required 2.0 grade point average to keep his scholarship offer active. It includes a huge majority of the school’s $60,000 U.S. tuition fee, rendering his final cost toward comparable to attending a Canadian post-secondary institution.

“Without the scholarship, no way.”

Jacko looks forward to the opportunity with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, looking to perform well at the fall baseball season which will represent Doyle’s first true look at his skillset. The Jacko family leaves for Henniman, Aug. 19th, move-in day is August 21st and classes begin August 24th.

“I’m just happy to see what the future holds,” Tanner concluded.