Article written by Luther Kinsey of fetchyournews.com
Photo Courtesy of Luther Kinsey
Fannin County Senior Jack Gobble took center stage on Tuesday as he signed his National Letter of Intent to further his education and baseball career at Cleveland State Community College located in Cleveland TN. The Cougars are coached by Mike Policastro and have a 2018 record of 36-17 overall. The most recognized teams that the Cougars face are Bryan College, Piedmont College and Jackson State Community College. Policastro and the Cougars have an impressive 20-7 home record and really liked what they have seen in Gobble.
Gobble, the senior catcher for Fannin Co. has been raised a Rebel starting at 5 years old when he first took the field as a tee-baller and has remained a Rebel through his high school career. Jack spent several years on the travel baseball circuit playing for teams as Team Elite, East Cobb Blacknights and Barrett Baseball. In 2012, Coach Scott Pischota(former Major League player) took Gobble and his team to experience the atmosphere of Cooperstown Dreams Park in Cooperstown New York. Jack Gobble and his teammates were all inducted in to the American Youth Baseball Hall of Fame that was founded by Coach Lou Presutti.
The stats for Gobble are proof that as he has continued to play that he deserves the opportunity to continue his career at the next level. Gobble made is debut as a starter on Varsity for the Rebels in his Sophomore year and put up a .211 batting avg., a .263 slugging percentage and over his Junior and Senior years those numbers improved. In his Junior season, Gobble had a batting avg. of .276 with a slugging percentage of .345. As the catcher gobble had a .971 fielding percentage. His Senior year he came out shining with a .341 batting avg. Gobble had 11 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and brought in 22 RBI's. Behind the dish, he had a .980 fielding percentage and threw out 50%(15 of 30) of the runners that attempted to steal the next base.
In 2017, Gobble was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year and chosen as 2nd Team All Region. Coach Ayers has nominated Gobble for the 2018 All Region and 2018 All State teams that are chosen by High School coaches across Georgia. Coach Ayers also atated that if Jack plays his cards right, we could very well be watching Gobble play for a major D-1 program in the future. An interesting fact on Gobble that will probably surprise a few people is that Gobble has played the Violin for 10 years and really enjoys picking it up and having a little fun with the bow.
Jack's parents Mike and Althea Gobble are excited that their little boy has grown up and has chosen to go to the next level as a student and as an athlete. Family, friends, teammates and coaches look forward to seeing what the future holds for this awesome young man.