Last Tuesday afternoon, Jake Lee made his dream of playing baseball at the collegiate level a reality. By signing on the dotted line, Lee made his commitment to play for Danville Community College (DCC). Lee will be studying Precision Machining. After his two years in Danville, Lee intends to transfer to Virginia Tech to finish his degree and also try to be a walk-on onto their baseball program. For now, Lee is focused on finishing his senior year at Tunstall on a high note.

“The way I play is going to be different,” said Lee. “I don’t have to worry about playing to show a school that I am good enough to play for them. I can play my own game now. Hopefully, I can do a lot better than I have been in the past couple of seasons; now it’s going to be more fun instead of trying to look good for somebody.”

DCC has a extraordinary history when it comes to baseball. Last year, DCC was the 2016 NJCAA Region X DIII Conference Champions for the first time in program history. The team is led by head coach John Bailey, who has been with the team since 2002 and has tallied more than 400 wins. Lee will have some familiar teammates like Tyler Hilton, who also committed to DCC in December. Both will also join THS alumni Tyler McClanahan, who recently transferred from Averett University.

“Me and Hilton have gone through so much since fourth grade and it’s not going to change now,” said Lee. “We’re going to take it and use it to our advantage. We know each other and we’re trying to take it to the next level.”

The THS head coach, Barry Shelton, has known Lee since he was in middle school. Shelton was one of his biggest supporters when Lee had an heart transplant in 2012. Shelton has been astonished how far Lee has come and said it was a pleasure to coach him over the years.

“He had the work ethic and the want to be back on the baseball field,” said Shelton. “He had the heart to work through all of this. As his coach, this past fall and winter, there are days where I see Jake and I kinda feel like he looks a little tired. A lot of times, as a coach, you don’t know what a person is going through internally. Sometimes I wonder about the heart transplant, ‘does it work on him?’ or ‘is it getting him down?’; but he has continued to put forth the effort. He’s been a workforce in the weight room and on the field.”

“We’re just extremely proud of him for all that he has accomplished,” added Shelton.

Not only is Lee a first basemen, but he is also a pitcher. Despite pitching in only one game last season, there is a good possibility that Lee could see more time on the mound since pitchers McClanahan and Caleb Thompson are gone.

On the field, Lee wears a special chest protector made by Evoshield. The purpose of the item is to keep Lee’s heart in beat if there were ever a line-driven hit toward his chest.

Although Lee has to take extra caution on the field, he says he is optimistic about a new start at DCC.