By DIANE GASPER-O’BRIEN
Special to Hays Post
A few days ago, Hays resident Mary Jacobs shared a quote on Facebook with her youngest son.
“Dreams only come true if you go for them and work hard for it!” she said, tagging Carson Jacobs along with a YouTube video featuring Miley Cyrus’ song, “The Climb.”
Carson realized a lifelong dream at 5:04 p.m. Tuesday.
Shortly after getting to practice for the Hays Larks summer collegiate baseball team, his phone lit up with an incoming call.
It was a moment for which he had been anxiously awaiting all day long.
A scout from the Chicago White Sox was on the other end of the line, saying they wanted this 6-foot, 9-inch right-handed pitcher who has thrown 99 miles-per-hour fastballs to join their organization.
A fan of the Philadelphia Phillies growing up, Carson has now changed allegiances. He will sign with the White Sox as a free agent on Saturday.
While his dream of playing Major League Baseball had become reality, it didn’t come without a lot of hard work and a few stressful days – especially Tuesday.
After being told by scouts and his college coach that he could go on the third day of this year’s draft, family members and friends gathered at the Jacobs country home just outside Hays.
Nine baseball caps sat on a shelf, representing teams that had contacted him in the last few days. In all, more than half of the 30 Major League teams had shown interest in Carson.
The nervous contingent watched as each round flashed up other names that included lots of pitchers.
Carson’s girlfriend, Megan Reilly, sat closely by his side with his mom and dad, Tom, and other family members nearby.
His older brother, Casey Jacobs, and his family had come from Colorado to help support Carson, as did his sister, Rachel LaBarge, and her family. Oldest sister Ashley Campbell was in Hays for the weekend but had to return home earlier this week. So she kept in touch with the days happenings Tuesday by phone.
At times it was deathly quiet, especially whenever Carson’s phone beeped with a text message or rang with a call.
The family jumped for joy and began celebrating after an Atlanta Braves scout called Carson and told him they were putting him on their board.
That phrase, they soon learned, didn’t necessarily mean he was getting drafted.
Round after round went by as all eyes kept glued to the television screen.
Then came a call from the Tampa Bay Rays, although reactions this time were a little more reserved.
The tension in the room mounted as more waiting ensued with no official call from the Rays or Braves.
All the while, Carson kept relatively calm – at least outwardly – as he kept in constant contact by texting with Tyler Oakes, his coach at North Dakota State University.
“Coach Oakes talked to me and didn’t allow me to get frustrated, and that really helped,” Carson said. “We talked about how God gave me the opportunity for this, and I was able to keep my composure. This is my job now. This is my career. It’s time to be a grown-up.”
Oakes said Carson was being looked at by several teams but “you just never know with the MLB draft and how it will shake out.”
“He’s a great kid, and I was hoping he would get an opportunity,” Oakes said. “I told him an opportunity was going to come, whether during the draft or post-draft, and I’m glad he’s getting a shot.”
That’s all Carson has ever wanted – the chance to prove himself.
“At one point, I said if a team gave me a plane ticket and a sandwich, I’d go,” he said.
Faces dropped as Tampa Bay at No. 603 and Atlanta at 609 chose different players. Only five selections remained in the draft, and none of those turned out to be Carson.
After the final player’s name appeared on the screen at 4:02 p.m., the Jacobs family started to break up, and Carson began getting ready for that night’s Larks game.
Little did he know that his life would change forever an hour later.
Carson said he tried not to think on the way into town about the disappointment of not being drafted.
“I thought I just need to get back to work and do my thing, start playing catch and get the feel of the baseball again,” he said.
Once Carson reached familiar territory in Larks Park, he hung out in the locker room with teammates for a bit, then headed to the field. Just inside the side gate near the dugout, he got the call from the White Sox.
In just a few minutes, he received an email informing him of his plane ticket and hotel room in Charlotte, N.C., where he will join the White Sox draft class mini camp. Then it’s on to Phoenix, Ariz., for the Summer League Classic.
It was ironic that Carson got the call at Larks Park, where he spent time as a youngster watching the hometown collegiate team growing up, played on the field with youth teams, then joined the Larks as a pitcher this summer.
He grew up saying he wanted to play for the Hays Larks and then become a Major League player. He now has realized both dreams. And Carson’s Larks playing days are over now as he heads to the next level.
Carson knows it will be a challenge to reach the Majors, but he looks forward to the climb from instructional and rookie ball to the upper levels of the league.
After calling his parents from Larks Park, it didn’t take his mom long to announce on Facebook that “my baby is now a White Sox!”
Her Facebook page this morning showed more than 500 responses and comments congratulating Carson and his family on his big news.
No doubt, one of the favorite comments for this mom is the one from her 6-foot-9 baby, reading “I love you, momma.”
Carson’s unique journey to MLB
It all began in T-Ball in Hays back in the late 2000s.
“Like any little kid who likes sports, I grew up wanting to play professional sports,” Carson said. “For me, it was always baseball.”
He excelled as an outfielder and first baseman while getting a little pitching duty all throughout youth baseball. Once he reached high school age, he grew from a 5-foot-11 freshman to 6-6 his senior year.
Following his junior year at Thomas More Prep-Marian High School, Carson played for a competitive team out of Wichita, where he became noticed by scouts from Wichita’s Newman University.
Newman, an NCAA Division II school, began contacting Carson, and he decided to sign with the Jets during the fall semester of his senior season.
It turned out to be a good decision. A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, and the spring seasons for American athletes in the class of 2020 were canceled.
Many youngsters didn’t ever get a chance to play college ball because of those canceled senior seasons.
After a summer of playing for the Hays Eagles, Carson took off for Newman. Another turn of events proved fortuitous when the Jets had him listed as a right-handed pitcher despite the fact that he had signed as a position player.
“I was a freshman and didn’t want to ask questions,” he said. “I liked to pitch. I was OK with it.”
There was a change in coaches at Newman by the time Carson got there, and after what he called an “OK” freshman season, he had a breakout summer season for the Newton Rebels in 2021. He set the record for both the Rebels and the Sunflower League for most strikeouts (78) in a single season.
That’s when Carson began to really learn the importance of networking.
The Rebels coach saw great potential in Carson and told him to get to the next level, he should consider playing for Gateway Community College in Phoenix, Ariz., which was being coached by Rob Shabansky, the pitching coach for USA Baseball.
So Carson packed his bags for Arizona, where he ultimately earned a scholarship to North Dakota State.
All the while, Carson kept growing – and getting stronger. From that 6-6, 175-pound high school senior season, Carson now is listed at 6-9, 235 pounds.
Following his junior season at NDSU, he agreed to come home and play for the Hays Larks this summer.
Carson had one year of eligibility remaining at North Dakota State and wants to finish his degree in elementary education and maybe coach someday.
“That’s the first thing I asked him,” Carson said of his conversation with the White Sox scout, “if they would pay for my schooling, and he said, ‘Yes.’ ”
Coach Oakes said he would have loved to have Carson back on his team this coming year but is always happy when his players reach the next level.
“Carson has extreme upside and project ability,” Oakes said. “The sky is the limit for him. Getting in the White Sox organization and getting to work, he’ll have a chance to continue to tap into his potential. I couldn’t be happier for him and his family.”
Ah, Carson’s family.
This 21-year-old is wise beyond his years while acknowledging that he wouldn’t be where he is now – or where he plans to go – without his faith in God and huge support from his family.
Carson’s mom shakes her head while talking about the time Carson told them he wanted to transfer from Newman to Gateway.
“Tom and I were on vacation, and Carson calls and tells its he wants to play ball in Phoenix,” Mary said. “We were wondering, ‘What is he thinking, giving up an NCAA Division II scholarship to go to a community college with no scholarship and no housing?’ But we told him if that’s what he wanted to do, it was his responsibility to figure it out. By the time we got home, he had had a zoom meeting with the coach and found two roommates.”
As it turned out, the move to Arizona proved to be another gateway to Carson’s journey to the Major Leagues.
“I chose to leave Kansas to follow a dream of mine, and my parents – although they were a little iffy at first – allowed me to do what I love,” Carson said of his parents, who have missed very few of his games his entire career. “And for my sister to come support me today, knowing she’s about to have a baby, is incredible.”
He was referring to Rachel, who was due to give birth to her third child on July 16. Her dad picked her up at their Wichita home Monday, and her mom had planned to take her home today.
As has become custom for the Jacobs family, plans changed. Rachel gave birth to another baby boy at Hays Medical Center at 4:07 this morning, making a threesome for her and her husband, Justin.
It’s a week the Jacobs family will never forget. And it’s a sure bet that family, including the newest member of the Jacobs clan, will soon be wearing White Sox clothing in support of their favorite baseball player.