Our 9th best hitter in the 2017 Valley League season is New Market’s Jake Washer, from East Carolina!
Jake was on the leaderboard for many categories with the following statline for the Rebels:
| VBL | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG |
| 2017 | 33 | 132 | 36 | 45 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 34 | 16 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0.341 | 0.417 | 0.523 |
| Play | 3 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.111 | 0.200 | 0.111 |
Jake finished 10th in batting average, 8th in OPS, 9th in slugging percentage, tied for 9th in total bases, tied for 3rd in RBIs, tied for 3rd in home runs, tied for 10th in doubles, and tied for 3rd in runs. Jake’s best game was on June 18, against Purcellville, when he went 4-5 with 3 runs and an RBI. He also hit 2 home runs on June 25th. The league named him 1st team All-Valley at catcher.
Baseball America named him the 7th best prospect in the league, citing his strong offensive summer, his strength, and his ability to work with pitchers.
Jake is another player who came to the Valley for at-bats, as he redshirted for the Pirates in 2016, and batted only 15 times in 2017. (He went 2-15.)
Jake did play in the Coastal Plains League in 2016- for the Holly Springs Salamanders- and performed thusly:
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | K | SB | CS | Avg | OBP | SLG | |
| 2016 | 31 | 102 | 8 | 27 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0.265 | 0.336 | 0.324 |
As you can see, Jake improved his numbers across the board from one summer to the next.
With his hitting performance as a catcher, Jake should have a shot at pro ball in the future!
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