The baseball program surpassed a milestone this off-season with ten players, one junior and nine seniors, committed to play baseball at the collegiate level.
“Our program has always been able to get guys into college. I played in the program myself and I was able to play college baseball,” said varsity baseball head coach Robinson Mateo, a Wilson 2012 alum. “Having a deep 2025 class has challenged me to get as many of those seniors into college. Not just for academics, but also for being able to continue to play the game that they love.”
With 13 seniors on the team this year, Mateo called his 2025 class “special” for their relationships formed. “These guys have been playing together since their freshman year and they are more than just teammates, they are family.”
The complete list of 2025 commits are as follows: Gabriel Betancourt to Montgomery College, Simon Corbin to Macalester College, Ethan Fox-Fernandez to Vassar College, Freeman Hunt and Zander Leckszas to Dickinson College, Jackson Loomis to Denison University, Owen Stone to Emory University, and Etan and Evan Rosario to Shepherd University.
“It says a lot about the dedication of the Jackson-Reed players and coaches. The players do not let any challenges, whether on or off the field, hold them back,” said Leckszas. “Every year I’ve played it has been a different experience, but the main constants have been great coaches and a brotherhood within the team,” added Loomis.
Leckszas is the second player in his family to go through the JR baseball program and get recruited to a college. His older brother, Kai, graduated from Jackson-Reed in 2022 and currently plays at Georgetown University.
Junior Nelson Hayes joined the list of JR players committed to Georgetown’s baseball program. Hayes is the first Tiger to commit to a Division I program since Kai Leckszas three years ago.
“I give a lot of credit to my coaches over the years, who were crucial in getting me in front of Georgetown as much as I have and supporting me throughout the process,” said Hayes. “These two seasons have been some of the most fun I’ve had in my life.”
Since joining the varsity program, Mateo said Hayes has come a long way. “We knew he had the potential to play Division I baseball, it was just a matter of time with his development,” said Mateo. “He was young, so we knew that when he matured a little bit more, he was going to be a huge piece to our success.”
The program wanted to get college decisions largely out of the way before the season started, in order to prevent distractions for players and so they wouldn’t have to worry.
“I know how that waiting game feels. It’s very uncomfortable, especially when you don’t know where you’re going,” said Mateo, noting the weight of uncertainty weighing throughout the off-season.
As defending city and state champions, a distraction free season is important, as the program has constructed a schedule filled with nationally recognized competition. The Tigers will play twelve private schools total and six schools in a row to begin the season. The team feels that the work put in over the summer, fall, and winter workouts has led to earned confidence.
“I have a lot of confidence going into the spring, and I think all the other guys do as well. We are better than we have been in a long time,” said Leckszas. “Now that we have won a [state title] before, we know what it takes to do it again. We will make sure to do anything possible to make that happen.”
