Baseball:

By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor

At first glance, one might wonder two things about 18-year old Zach Jacobs.

Does he live in Huntington or Newport Beach, and is he a surfer or skateboarding enthusiast?

In reality, this innocent looking kid is a baby-faced assassin on a pitcher’s mound.

But it sure didn’t start out that way.

Jacobs was cut early on during the summer before his freshman year, but eventually got the chance to compete for the JV team.

His first opportunity was a contest at West Covina High School.

A Saints’ coach asked Jacobs what position he played and the 14-year old, 5-foot-4, 115-pound athlete said, “I can play anywhere you need me, but I like to pitch.”

Jacobs went three innings that day, retired all nine batters he faced, struck out four and did the job in just 22 pitches.

The Saints baseball program was coming off a 2015 season that saw San Dimas go 31-1.

They had a number of key players that graduated and a few others quit, which left several openings for longtime co-head coaches, Mark Chiappelli and Mike Regan.

Jacobs acknowledged in a phone conversation Monday evening that his expectations coming in was to play on the freshman team in 2016, JV in 2017 and that he hoped he’d get to finish out his prep career with two seasons on the varsity squad.

But Jacobs was thrust into the tense world of varsity baseball his freshman year and he’s never looked back.

That season, Zach went 5-1, with a 4.01 ERA.

He led the Saints in innings pitched (57 2/3) and complete games (4), and Jacobs was one-win back of ace, Lorenzo Llorens, who led the program with six victories.

San Dimas had a down year in 2016 thanks to a 2-11 start to the season, but the Saints would finish on a high note, winning 13 of their final 15 games.

They were able to capture the Valle Vista League championship, which is something they did in all four years that Jacobs was a member of the Saints.

In 2018, San Dimas shared the league crown with Northview.

Over his final three years at SDHS, Jacobs grew seven inches to 6-foor-1 and put on nearly 40 pounds.

Most impressively, though, Jacobs finished his magnificent run at San Dimas with career school records in wins (35), innings pitched (289 2/3) and strikeouts (220).

His 27 career complete games was seven better than second-placed Peter Lambert and Jacobs’ nine shutouts was second to Peter Lambert’s 12.

Zach’s 13 wins in 2018 tied him with both Jimmy and Peter Lambert for the single-season record.

How did Jacobs become one of San Dimas’ greatest pitchers?

It all started at home.

His father, Brian Jacobs, trained Zach in their backyard.

From a young age, Mr. Jacobs taught his son to be fundamentally and mechanically sound.

They also spent a lot of time making sure Zach wasn’t predictable on the mound, and that included the mixing up of times he’d look at a base runner and varying his time to the plate.

It was for those reasons and many more, including Zach’s tireless work ethic, that both Regan and Chiappelli credit for Jacobs becoming a star well before many thought that was possible.

He went from relying on two pitches to four, and his velocity has gone from the low 70’s to just south of the 90-mile-per-hour range.

What also makes this kid a killer is his baseball IQ and a maturity beyond his years.

Jacobs said his mentality has always been to get batters out as quickly as possible, and it’s been a big key in both his success and longevity in games.

Over his career at SDHS, Jacobs threw more innings in three of the four years, except for his sophomore season.

Lorenzo Llorens’ 63 (IP) was seven more than Jacobs.

While having more career strikeouts than anyone in San Dimas history, Zach was also very comfortable in trusting his defense to make plays behind him.

Throughout the interview, Jacobs would regularly deflect personal credit for his success to his teammates, coaches and his father’s influence, including the stellar play in the field by former shortstops D’Andre Smith and Joseph Bahna, as well as speedy center fielder, Art Ruiz.

“I never cared about racking up huge numbers of strikeouts,” Jacobs said. “I just wanted to do my job in the most efficient way possible and give my teammates and I the best chance at winning games. I felt like they always had my back and I’m very appreciative of all they did. Coach Regan and Coach Chip have contributed so much to my success and I’ll always be grateful to them.”

Aside from his record-breaking career stats, Jacobs also added a no-hitter over Rowland and a nine-inning shutout over Upland to his resume.

Initially, there weren’t many college programs interested, but after committing to UC Riverside during his junior year, he got a number of offers, including the University of North Carolina.

Jacobs stuck with UC Riverside, though, and he’s very happy to play for former Angels closer, Troy Percival, who is 11th all-time in career saves (357), and was part of that World Series championship in 2002 over the San Francisco Giants.

As he did to begin his prep career, Jacobs also had a slow start to college ball.

In his first two outings, Jacobs had consecutive losses at UCLA and Cal Baptist.

But another trait Jacobs has always had is his ability to get better as the season went along, and 2020 was no different.

He picked up his first career D-1 victory in a 1-0 shutout at St. Mary’s on February 29.

Jacobs surrendered just three hits, didn’t walk a batter and struck out nine.

A week later, he allowed just one earned run over seven innings in a 7-3 victory over Holy Cross.

Jacobs didn’t walk a batter and fanned three.

In his first four starts before COVID-19 ended everyone’s season, Jacobs was 2-2, with a 2.57 ERA in 28 innings pitched.

He walked two and collected 15 strikeouts.

What kind of kid/student is Zach Jacobs?

He graduated San Dimas High School with a 3.8 GPA, but being the humble kid he is, Jacobs pointed out that he hadn’t taken any AP classes, almost his way of saying it’s not as impressive as it might sound.

Literally every person we talked to in preparation for this story went out of their way to say what an amazing job Candyce and Brian Jacobs did in raising their son, and how ‘great’ of a family Zach comes from.

Even though he’s since graduated, Candyce Jacobs still helps to raise money for the baseball program.

“My dad worked so hard with me so I could understand both the physical and mental side of the game,” Jacobs said. “He taught me to pound the zone when I was younger. He always said walks are runs. And my mom taught me to respect everyone, keep focused and don’t get sidetracked. She made me humble. I love and appreciate both of them a lot and they know that.”

And speaking of humility, when asked about his enormous legacy and the number of records he broke at San Dimas, Jacobs said he never really paid attention to stats other than the Saints wins and losses. “It was all about us and not me,” he went on to say.

Jacobs is also very thankful for each teammate that ever wore a SDHS uniform with him, as well as Regan and Chiappelli.

“Pitching at San Dimas changed my whole career,” he said. “Chip has taught me so much, including my mechanics and stamina, but also my mind set and giving me things to read. He and Coach Regan challenged me to be the best version of myself every day and it made a huge difference. The reason why I’m enjoying the success I’m having is because of their dedication to coaching. They do a phenomenal job with their kids at San Dimas.”

Even though he only got four starts in 2020 at UC Riverside because of the pandemic, he’s also very grateful to Percival.

“I just try and soak in everything he says and apply it on the mound, because he has so much credibility with all the pitchers from all he accomplished over his long and highly-successful career.”

Thankfully, the NCAA is giving spring sport athletes the ability to have 2020 wiped out in terms of their eligibility, which means Jacobs still has four more years at UCR.

These days, Jacobs is working on adding muscle to his lean frame, as well as competing in an indoor baseball league in Pasadena and working at Dick’s Sporting Goods.

It’s that work ethic and the fact that he’s still got some growing to do that has his former coaches and teammates thinking one day Jacobs might be pitching in front of tens of thousands of fans at the MLB level.

What makes his success so special to those who love Zach Jacobs is the fact that he did it the right way, which means he worked his butt off to become one of the most successful high school pitchers in San Gabriel Valley history.

Quotable:

San Dimas co-head coach, Mark Chiappelli: “The whole mental aspect of the game separates Zach from many players. His four years at San Dimas were exceptional, but it didn’t start that way. He went from being this undersized kid to our ‘dude.’ We saw a lot in Zach as a freshman, just in terms of having things most pitchers don’t have. He was good at a lot of little things for a kid to master, like runner control, varying times to the plate, looks at second base. Most pitchers fall into a rut and become predictable. Zach had a lot of that preprogrammed into him. I knew his dad did a lot of that in the backyard and he taught Zach a lot of little things that kids don’t grow up with. He was a competitor his freshman year. We threw Zach against good teams. He didn’t have overwhelming stuff as a freshman, but he had poise. The reason he had so many complete games is because of the mentality that you finish a game you start and it’s something he did better than anyone (over his four-year career).”

San Dimas co-head coach, Mike Regan: “He was a workhorse. His freshman year, he was on varsity by default, because of all the kids who graduated or quit. But he came in and did so many things well. He held runners tremendously. He’s very advanced holding runners and has a knack for it. He was also very skilled at picking off runners. During his freshman year, we played against Woodbridge in the playoffs and I think they made it to the finals. We went into that game knowing they were beasts and not feeling like we had much of a shot. But he competed and while he took some lumps, Zach just continued to battle and you could tell this kid was going to be something special. He is without a doubt one of the best pitcher’s in the history of San Dimas baseball.”

Northview baseball coach & VVL rival, Dan Roddy: ”As an opponent, you don’t look forward to facing him. He is GOOD! He has very good high school velocity, good command of the strike zone and three pitches for strikes. As a competitor, he is fierce. He backs down to no one and wants the ball. He comes across as a soft spoken, easy going young man, but when the ‘bell rings,’ he puts his game face on. As an opposing coach, pitchers like him, is what you don’t want to see. As a teammate, you hope for many players like Zach.”

San Dimas assistant principal, Rita Kear: “Zach was an amazing athlete and student. He started games as a freshman and I loved watching him grow into the outstanding young player that finished his senior year. He is one of those athletes you just know is going to do great at the next level, and more importantly, he’s also a person that makes a difference in his community. We are all proud to call him a Saint!”

Former San Dimas star/current USC player, D’Andre Smith: “Zach is so successful because he has a feel for what he’s doing at all times. He’s always been that way. He’s a really competitive guy and he doesn’t care about who’s in the box, he’s gonna throw his best pitch every single pitch.”

Former San Dimas star/current Mt. SAC player, Art Ruiz: “I’ve been teammates with Zach since we were 11 years old. Playing center field behind him was fun and easy, because I knew what was going to happen and trusted him with where the ball was going to be pitched and knew where to position myself. The way he approached pitching was just going after batters. He’s one of the smartest IQ baseball guys I’ve been around. He would scout opponents and remember all their strengths and weaknesses and just go after them. He was never scared of anyone or any situation in a game.”

Zach Jacobs Career Stats at San Dimas:

2019: 10-2, 1.62 ERA, nine CG, 3 SO, 1NH, 82 1/3 inn, 13 walks, 78 strikeouts

2018: 13-3, 1.27 ERA, 9 CG, 3SO, 1 save, 93 2/3 inn, 12 walks, 77 K’s

2017: 7-2, 1.12 ERA, 5CG, 2SO 2 Saves, 56 IP, 8 walks, 36 K’s

2016: 5-1, 4.01 ERA, 4CG, 57 2/3 IP, 19 walks, 29 k’s

Career: 35-8, 1.89 ERA, 27 CG, 9 SO, 3 Saves, NH, 52 walks, 220 K’s.

Jacobs at UCR in 2020 Before COVID-19:

2-2, with a 2.57 ERA, 28 innings pitched, 2 walks & 15 strikeouts

San Dimas Career Pitching Records:

Wins:

Zach Jacobs, 35, (2016-2019)

Kevin Ponzo, 29, (2006-2009)

Peter Lambert, 24, (2012-2015)

Jimmy Lambert, 16, (2012-2013)

Innings pitched:

Zach Jacobs, 289.2, (2016-2019)

Kevin Ponzo, 211, (2006-2009)

Peter Lambert, 167.2, (2012-2015)

Strikeouts:

Zach Jacobs, 220, (2016-2019)

Peter Lambert, 216, (2012-2015)

Kevin Ponzo, 190, (2006-2009)

Jacob Castillo, 140, (2013-2015)

Complete Games:

Zach Jacobs, 27, (2016-2019)

Peter Lambert, 20, (2012-2015)

Jimmy Lambert, 10, (2012-2013)

Shutouts:

Peter Lambert, 12, (2012-2015)

Zach Jacobs, 9, (2016-2019)

San Dimas Team Records:

2019: 23-5 overall, 10-0 in Valle Vista League games)

2018: 27-5, 9-1

2017: 21-6, 9-1

2016: 15-13, 12-3

2016-19: 86-29 overall, 40-5 in Valle Vista League games.

** San Dimas won four VVL titles, but shared the league crown with Northview in 2018.

To view Zach’s photo gallery, click on the Facebook link here: (1) Facebook