LYNN — The University of Dayton baseball team has a new commit – and he can sling it.
Jack Zimmerman, who graduated from St. Mary’s this year, will play for the Division 1 program representing the Atlantic 10 Conference.
He delivered a stellar senior season, finishing the spring with 99 strikeouts, 14 earned runs allowed, and a 1.70 ERA. He was named Most Valuable Player of the Doug Mullins Memorial Tournament and Catholic Central League Pitcher of the Year.
Originally slated to play Div. 3 baseball at Salve Regina University in Rhode Island, Zimmerman now heads to Ohio for his next chapter.
“It feels awesome. Going to a school like that – it’s just amazing,” said Zimmerman, a left-hander who stands at 6-foot-4.
When asked why Dayton was the right choice, Zimmerman pointed to its business school as a strong selling point, in addition to the connection he felt with the coaching staff.
“Academic-wise, it’s just a really great business program. I’ve done a lot of research into it and they have great professors there and a lot of people go on and do great things,” he said. “On the baseball side, the facilities are incredible. Coach Jayson King is a really good guy. I was talking to some of their pitching coaches and their assistant coach Pete Sass. All of them know their stuff and are great people, which made this choice easy.”
Zimmerman only recently appeared on Dayton’s radar, and said the opportunity came out of the blue.
“Over the summer, I’m playing in a men’s league. This one person who played pro for the Chicago Cubs — his name is Calvin Graves — he played under Coach King when he coached at Franklin Pierce University,” Zimmerman said. “They stayed in contact and he reached out to Coach King, and told him a little bit about me. We sent some video over, then Coach King was around the area, so he came and watched me pitch and liked what he saw. I went out for a visit and ended up making the commitment.”
When Dayton gave him an offer, Zimmerman said he couldn’t turn down the opportunity to fulfill his dream of playing Div. 1 baseball.
“I was committed to Salve Regina, so this really came out of nowhere,” he said. “Dayton said the decision was up to me –if I wanted to start at Salve or be here – but once they offered, I always wanted to play Division 1 and wanted my goal to come true. It’s always been my dream since Little League to play D1.”
The jump from high school to Div. 1 is a big one, but Zimmerman said he knows what he’ll need to do to compete at the next level.
“I have to put on a lot of weight and get my strength up. Velocity is something that’s important, so I have to get my velocity up a little bit, but that’s going to come with weight gain and strength,” he said. “Speaking with the coaches, they’re putting together a nutrition program and the dining halls there are really nice, so I feel like I’m not going to have an issue with that.”
Zimmerman said he’s thankful for his time at St. Mary’s and credits the program for helping him become the player he is – especially in terms of his mindset.
“They’ve prepared me really well. The mentality was one of my issues starting out at St. Mary’s, but over the course of the years, it’s improved a lot because of the coaching staff there,” he said. “Everyone there is great and they all know what they’re doing.”
