Spring Class 3A State Champions: '94, '95, '98, '01, '02, '03, '04, '08, '09, '12, '15
Summer Legion Varsity State Champions: '61, '97, '02, '03, '04, '08, '10, '12, '13, '14, '15
An Illustrious Climb to the Top of the Mountain…
…A Quarter-Century of Nationally-Historic Excellence
>>> 1958 - 2015 >>>

Jake Nelson Commits to Top Division I Scholarship at New Mexico

Reds’ ace Jake Nelson spent his first day as a senior in high school securing his future for life after the Eaton pinstripes, verbally committing to a major scholarship from Division I University of New Mexico.

As the Reds’ ace the past couple of seasons, Nelson has started on the mound in nearly every big game for the Reds.

As a sophomore, Nelson was the Reds’ first baseman and singled in the tying run in one of the Reds’ greatest late comebacks to defeat Faith Christian in a must-win game to advance to win the 2012 State Championship. That summer, with the Legion State Championship Game on the line, Nelson was handed the ball, and threw a 58-pitch complete-game no-hitter to shut down Thompson Valley and send the Reds into another dogpile. Nelson was nearly perfect, allowing just one walk in the no-hitter, earning himself State Tournament MVP honors.

By spring 2013, Nelson was again starting every big game, defeating Faith Christian and leading the Reds to a 23-0 record entering the Final Four. In the State Championship Game, Nelson again got the ball and left the game late with the Reds still on top. This past summer, the Reds were able to get through NCBL Districts in convincing fashion to save Nelson back for the NCBL Semifinals, where Nelson again defeated Thompson Valley, allowing just one run while scattering five hits and striking out 7 in the 9-1 victory that propelled the Reds to go on to win the NCBL Championship for the 2nd time in Nelson’s 3 varsity summer seasons. Then with a very rare shot at perfection, the Reds carried a 39-0 record into the Legion A Varsity State Tournament, and Nelson shut down Boulder en route to leading the Reds to a perfect 42-0 record.

Next fall, Nelson will be heading to another team that knows something about championships, as in 2013 New Mexico won the Mountain West Conference by a league-record 7 game margin, winning all 10 series en route to a 25-5 conference record and into the NCAA National Tournament, finishing ranked higher than teams such as Stanford and Texas. New Mexico’s season ended with a one-run loss against Arizona State followed by another one-run loss in 13 innings as they narrowly missed qualifying for Super Regionals.

Nelson was recruited by University of New Mexico’s pitching coach Dan Spencer, a National Pitching Coach of the Year and two-time National Champion as the pitching coach at Oregon State during their back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007.

Nelson’s arsenal consists of a fastball with late movement, a knuckle curveball, a straight change-up, a split change-up, and a cutter. He also carries with him a near-4.0 GPA and superior ACT score.

Nelson is pitching for the Braves’ scout team this fall, and he will lead the Reds onto the field in 2014, attempting to earn his 4th State Championship Ring.