Baseball: Jackson Ware producing strong closing act for Grove City Greyhounds

Frank DiRenna, ThisWeek

April 14, 2022 at 1:23 PM·4 min read

Senior pitcher and outfielder Jackson Ware has decided to end his baseball career after he graduates from Grove City and will study business at Ohio State. He scored a 31 on his ACT.

After suffering a right patellar tendon injury during the preseason of his sophomore year, Grove City baseball player Jackson Ware was at a crossroads regarding his future in the sport.

Spring sports were eventually canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ware opted for physical therapy rather than surgery during his path to return to the diamond and the golf course for the Greyhounds.

Ware reinjured the knee during summer baseball, however, forcing him to have surgery and miss his junior season with the boys golf team.

That’s when he decided to end his baseball career after graduating from Grove City and focus on academics in college. He also is a standout in the classroom and scored a 31 on his ACT.

“I talked about it with my parents (John and Amanda). I had a bad injury my sophomore year,” said Ware, who will attend Ohio State to study business. “We talked about it and we thought about what I really want to do in life and the best thing that I want to do is go to Ohio State for school.”

Ware returned to baseball for his junior season and helped lead the Greyhounds to a berth in a Division I district final, where they lost 2-1 to Lancaster in 11 innings.

That game has motivated Ware and his teammates to advance further this season as they seek their first district title since 2014.

“The ultimate goal is a state championship,” said Ware, an outfielder and pitcher. “We have a great team. We don’t want to just get to the district final. We want to win it. We know if we win (district), we have just as good a shot as anybody of winning state.”

After going 3-2 during a spring break trip to Alabama and Florida, Grove City returned home to begin OCC-Ohio Division play and was 6-3 overall and 2-1 in the league before playing Westerville Central on April 14.

The early season included an 11-0 victory in six innings over DeSales on April 12 as three pitchers combined on a no-hitter.

Gabe Duncan went the first four innings, striking out seven, with Dennis Ritlinger-Nirider and Jayson Sharfenaker each pitching an inning.

Ware had two hits against the Stallions, including a three-run home run, and finished with four RBI. He led the team with a .458 average through nine games, with one home run, two doubles, 13 RBI and eight runs scored.

His two-run double in the fifth inning helped lift the Greyhounds to a 3-0 win over Central on April 11 at home.

“I’ve always been a big moment kind of guy,” Ware said. “I just love those moments so much. I’ve been on varsity since I was a freshman and I just live for those moments. I’m confident going into them and getting the job done is just so great. I just love doing it for the team and I’m sure anyone on the team would do the same thing in my situation.”

On the mound, the left-hander was 1-0 with a 5.12 ERA, 11 strikeouts and three walks in 13 2/3 innings.

“Jackson is having a ball for us,” coach Ryan Alexander said. “He’s having more fun this season knowing this is his last run at it and he’s had a great baseball career.”

Keegan Holmstrom was hitting .433 for Grove City, with Ritlinger-Nirider and Spencer Stoll both batting .368 and Grady Speagle hitting .348.

“We like the way our team is playing,” Alexander said. “We like the way our team is swinging it right now. We’ve had great starting pitching in all of our games. We’re excited about this group.”

Ware credits Alexander for the program’s continued success.

“He’s just a really great coach,” Ware said. “He’s very interactive and he just makes high school baseball fun. You hear a lot about kids not liking high school baseball and summer baseball, but I’ve always loved high school baseball because of him. It’s just really fun playing at Grove City. I love it so much and it really helps when you have that fun head coach that will do anything for his guys.”

Ware also returned to the golf team for his senior season, earning second-team all-league honors with a 78.5 average. He helped the Greyhounds win their first league title since 2005 as they shared the OCC-Ohio championship with Pickerington North at 17-3.

fdirenna@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekFrank

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Baseball: Jackson Ware producing strong closing act for Grove City

AFP
Stock markets diverge as traders weigh future Fed cuts
Stock markets diverged on Thursday as investors digested US inflation data that supported the case for another interest rate cut next month, while worries over Donald Trump's presidency clouded optimism.US inflation data showed that consumer prices rose in line with forecasts, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again next month.
AFP
Israel warfare methods 'consistent with genocide': UN committee
Israel's warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, a special UN committee said Thursday, accusing the country of "using starvation as a method of war".Israel's warfare practices in Gaza "are consistent with the characteristics of genocide", said the committee, which has for decades been investigating Israeli practices affecting rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Associated Press
Lawmakers stage Māori protest in New Zealand's parliament during fraught race relations debate
A vote in New Zealand’s parliament was suspended and two lawmakers ejected on Thursday when dramatic political theater erupted over a controversial proposed law redefining the country’s founding agreement between Indigenous Māori and the British Crown. Under the principles laid out in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, which guide the relationship between the government and Māori, tribes were promised broad rights to retain their lands and protect their interests in return for ceding governance to the British. The bill would specify that those rights should apply to all New Zealanders.
Yahoo Finance
Disney earnings beat as streaming profit tops estimates
Disney reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines as its streaming business swung to a profit.
Associated Press
UK set to create new pension megafunds with aim of unlocking $100 billion for investment
British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is set to announce plans later Thursday to merge dozens of pension funds with the aim of unlocking tens of billions of pounds for investment and boosting the U.K.'s sub-par economic growth. In comments released by the Treasury ahead of her speech to finance leaders in central London, Reeves will say that the creation of so-called “megafunds” will represent the “biggest pension reform in decades.” In her first so-called Mansion House speech, an annual ritual for British chancellors of the exchequer, Reeves will say that the changes could help unlock 80 billion pounds ($100 billion) for investment.
Reuters
Qatari Emir arrives in Turkey to meet Erdogan, discuss cooperation
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani arrived in Ankara on Thursday to chair a Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee meeting with President Tayyip Erdogan, after which the sides are expected to sign off on investment-related accords. Turkey, which fiercely criticised Israel over its offensives in Gaza and in Lebanon, does not deem the Palestinian militant group Hamas a terrorist group, and some of its political officials regularly visit Turkey. Erdogan and al Thani will hold a bilateral meeting and then will chair the tenth meeting of the Turkey-Qatar High Strategic Committee.
Reuters
Futures muted ahead of economic data, Powell speech
The producer price index (PPI) reading for October and weekly jobless claims data are expected at 8:30 a.m. ET. "These numbers (PPI) better reflect corporate pricing power than the consumer price data, the tone should be consistent with a December rate cut," said Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management. Traders are broadly pricing in an 82.3% chance of a 25-basis point interest rate cut at the Fed's December meeting, according to CME FedWatch.
Associated Press
Mastermind of foiled Hong Kong bomb plot to target police is jailed for nearly 24 years
The mastermind behind a foiled bomb plot during anti-government protests in Hong Kong in 2019 has been jailed for nearly 24 years in the city's first case brought under an anti-terrorism law. Ng Chi-hung, who had previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit the bombing of prescribed objects under the anti-terror law and possession of arms or ammunition with intent to endanger life, was sentenced to 23 years and 10 months by a Hong Kong court on Thursday. Judge Judianna Barnes said the plan was vicious and was a declaration of war on society.
Reuters
Biden to bid farewell at APEC and G20 under Trump's shadow
President Joe Biden heads to South America on Thursday for a curtain call with global leaders after over 50 years in U.S. politics, but the man he tried and failed to keep from returning to power is likely to be the focus of many meetings: incoming U.S. President Donald Trump. Biden will hold private meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the heads of Japan, South Korea and Brazil during the summits of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, in Peru and the Group of 20 leading economies, or G20, in Brazil. The meetings over six days are not expected to yield any major new agreements, senior Biden administration officials said, even as they are likely to touch on trade, security and global alliances.
AFP
Russia shuts Moscow's famed gulag museum
Russian authorities ordered the closure from Thursday of Moscow's award-winning Gulag History Museum, dedicated to the victims of Soviet-era repression.In 2021, authorities ordered the liquidation of Memorial, the Nobel Prize-winning NGO that records victims of both Soviet repression and allegations of human rights violations by the current regime.
Reuters
Analysis-Crypto industry pushes for policy sea change after Trump victory
The crypto industry is pushing for an ambitious raft of policies that would promote the widespread adoption of digital assets and considering who best to promote them, as they anticipate a cryptocurrency-friendly regime under President-elect Donald Trump. While crypto companies were already anticipating a lighter touch with a new administration, Donald Trump's decisive victory and a projected Republican sweep of Congress pave the way for a dramatic and lasting crypto policy overhaul. Trump courted crypto cash with promises to be a "crypto president," and industry executives say he now has a strong mandate to deliver.
AFP
London mayor says Trump attacks due to his ethnicity and religion
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has accused Donald Trump of repeatedly criticising him because of his "ethnicity" and Muslim faith, in comments likely to renew his long-running feud with the US president-elect.Trump then accused Khan -- the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital when he was first elected in 2016 -- of doing a "very bad job on terrorism" and called him a "stone cold loser" and "very dumb".
CNN
Trump’s Pentagon pick aims for clash with top military leadership
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth has railed against women in combat, voiced support for troops accused and in some instances, convicted of war crimes, and advocated for the firing of the military’s most senior officers accused of supporting so-called “woke” policies.
CNN
Lavish gold-domed penthouse in New York city on sale for $25 million
The gold dome atop 170 Fifth Avenue is actually a two-story apartment — and now it’s up for sale
Yahoo Finance
The 'DOGE' jokes are easy, but Musk's new side hustle is Tesla's biggest advantage yet: Morning Brief
Taking Musk's government efficiency department as a joke underestimates what he might do with this newfound power.
AFP
Iran tells UN nuclear chief it won't negotiate under 'intimidation'
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Thursday that Iran will not negotiate under "intimidation" as he held crunch talks with the UN nuclear chief weeks before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office.The IAEA chief described his meeting with Araghchi as "indispensable" in a post on X. Araghchi was Iran's chief negotiator in talks that led to a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, abandoned three years later by Trump.
Associated Press
A Russian man stands treason trial on charges he filmed military equipment for Ukraine
A Russian man faced trial on Thursday on charges of high treason for a video he had allegedly sent to Ukraine's security services, the latest in a growing series of espionage cases amid the fighting in Ukraine. The Volgograd District Court began hearing a new case against Nikita Zhuravel, who is currently serving a 3.5-year sentence for publicly burning a Quran in front of a mosque. The new charges against Zhuravel are based on allegations that he filmed a trainload of military equipment and warplanes in 2023 and sent the video to a representative of Ukraine’s security agency.
AFP
Uganda TikToker convicted for insulting president
A Ugandan court has convicted a 21-year-old content creator for calling for the public flogging of President Yoweri Museveni on video-sharing platform TikTok, a state prosecutor said on Thursday. In July, another 21-year-old TikToker was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting Museveni, who has ruled Uganda with an iron fist since he toppled president Milton Obote in 1986.
Reuters
EU lawmakers seek change to deforestation law and back delay
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Parliament sought on Thursday to water down a ban on the import of commodities such as beef and soy linked to deforestation, and backed a one year delay to the new rule, in a fresh push-back against the EU's environmental agenda. The European Commission proposed a 12-month delay until Dec 2025 last month after complaints from a group of 20 EU countries, some companies and countries such as Brazil and Indonesia. The parliament's vote for changes adds to uncertainty over the EU deforestation regulation (EUDR) as lawmakers will now have to enter negotiations with EU governments to find a compromise.
CNN
Thousands evacuated as parts of Spain hit with nearly a month’s rainfall in one hour
Severe thunderstorms and torrential rain have once again battered coastal Spain, causing flooding and evacuations just two weeks after the country experienced deadly flooding in Valencia and other nearby communities.

Latest Stories