Deer Lakes grad Jacob McCaskey makes leap from Cal (Pa.) to Gardner-Webb

Jacob McCaskey garnered Division II second-team All-American honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association in early June.

A well-earned honor for certain, but it was only the second biggest piece of news during a whirlwind week for McCaskey, a Deer Lakes grad who put together a superb senior season and four-year career at Cal (Pa.).

Two days after McCaskey’s All-America nod, the versatile utility player announced his commitment June 6 to Gardner-Webb, a Division I program located in Boiling Springs, N.C.

“It was a pretty crazy week,” McCaskey said Thursday from Wilson, N.C., where he is playing for the Wilson Tobs, a member of the Coastal Plain League, which is an NCAA-sanctioned collegiate wooden-bat summer league.

“Thankfully, I have the baseball season down here to help keep me calmed down. I had a game that night, so I had to stay focused. But, definitely, my phone was blowing up after the news.”

Taking advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA to student-athletes because of the covid-19 pandemic, McCaskey made the decision to enter the transfer portal after a strong senior season at Cal.

The morning after entering the portal, he began receiving messages, calls and emails from baseball programs across all divisions. McCaskey, however, set his sights on a Division I program, and he heard from Youngstown State, Virginia Commonwealth and Kennesaw State, along with Gardner-Webb, which was about a four-hour drive from his summer league location.

McCaskey visited the campus, liked the players and the Pittsburgh-connected coaching staff led by Jim Chester, who played at Thiel and made coaching stops at Seton Hill, Lock Haven and Penn State Greater Allegheny.

“Playing (Division I) was the ultimate goal, but I went into the portal pretty blind,” McCaskey said. “I just wanted to see what happens, and there always was the option of going back to Cal.”

It wasn’t easy, but McCaskey made the decision to leave the Vulcans program, where he made a significant impact.

“He got better every single year,” Cal assistant/pitching coach Joey Noro said. “He really used that covid break (in 2020) to his advantage. He worked his tail off, baseball only. He really focused on honing his craft in terms of pitching, fielding and hitting. He got bigger and stronger, put on a lot of good weight. He became a man.”

In 2022, McCaskey was the man for Cal.

He started 13 games at first base, 11 at shortstop, six at third base and five at second base, in addition to being one of Cal’s top pitchers. The constant movement did little to affect his offense, as he finished with a career-high .373 batting average with a 1.105 OPS. He tied his career-high with 10 home runs and added 13 doubles, four triples, 45 RBIs and 51 runs.

It also included a 20-game hitting streak and a .463 average with runners in scoring position.

And that was just his offensive stats.

McCaskey posted a 6-1 record with a 3.17 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts). He struck out 59 in 54 innings, and he leaves Cal as the first player in program history with at least 20 home runs and 80 innings pitched in a career. He also became the seventh player from Cal to earn ABCA All-America honors, and the first since Mick Fennell in 2015.

“It was a really tough decision leaving Cal without a doubt,” McCaskey said. “Coach (Mike) Conte and Coach (Joey) Noro have done more for me than I ever could have asked. They are more than coaches. They are family. They were with me every day of my life for four years, so it wasn’t easy leaving that program.”

That said, McCaskey is thrilled with his decision, and he’s eager to see how he fits in at Gardner-Webb, which competes in the Big South Conference and finished last season with a 24-36 record.

McCaskey said the team plans to use him as a pitcher and utility player, just like Cal did.

“I’m going to keep doing both until somebody tells me I can’t,” McCaskey said.

“But I believe that’s their plan. Once I get there, we’ll figure it out. Whatever helps the team win is what I want to do.”