Tweet

Last night, former Virginia Tech centerfielder Saige Jenco, who was drafted in the 24th round of the 2016 MLB draft, made his pro debut for the Ogden Raptors - a Rookie team for the MLB parent club Los Angeles Dodgers in the Pioneer League. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored (CLICK HERE to see his MiLB page). Below is a story written by Matt Kovatch for the May issue of Inside Hokie Sports, the athletic department's monthly magazine.

---------- A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER ----------

Saige Jenco always envisioned himself as a football player, but a switch to baseball has his future looking bright

At first glance, Saige Jenco’s story looks like one that’s been told before.

Boy grows up in a football-crazed town and falls in love with the game. Boy works hard – his single mother works harder. Boy earns a scholarship to a big-time school in another football-crazed town. Boy goes on to stardom … for the baseball team?

Yes, Jenco’s journey began like many others – lots of which ended up playing out on Saturdays in beloved Lane Stadium. But for Jenco and his family, their biggest challenge from the past may well be the very reason for their biggest success in the future.

Jenco was born and raised in State College, Pennsylvania, in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, the football home of Penn State’s Nittany Lions. Like most others in that town, he got swept up in the sports culture, especially football. Family friends included Penn State pipelines such as the Johnsons, of whom Larry went on to have All-Pro seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Norwoods – Jordan just won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos last year.

Jenco strapped on a helmet and shoulder pads at the age of 5, and from that day on, he devoted his childhood to the gridiron.

“I would play year in and year out,” he said. “I played football my whole life and that was kind of my thing. I trained and played Pop Warner and was getting recruited and all that.”

Around the same time Jenco started playing football, his father was sent to jail. He was never a part of Jenco’s life, but Jenco prefers not to talk much about that situation. Instead he heaps praise upon those who were there for him, including his grandmother, his two uncles and most importantly, his mother, Lindsay.

“That’s my queen,” Jenco proclaimed of his mother. “She’s done everything for me. My mom was a single mother. She worked three jobs, sometimes four. She would wake up early in the morning and I wouldn’t see her until nighttime. She would do everything she could to keep me healthy and get me food and take me from place to place and travel to my games. She’s done a lot for me and is the strongest woman I know.”

Football is obviously not a year-round sport, so in the offseason, Jenco also ran track and took up baseball, though it was more of a way to pass the time.

“I was just playing baseball as a hobby with my friends,” Jenco said. “I would pick up a bat for the first game and I would put it down when the season ended.”

All the while, his mother was picking up work wherever she could find it, whether it be at the local market, McDonald’s, the cafeteria at the middle school, or as a teller at the bank. She would also drive special-needs kids to school and continues her work with those children to this day.

But as one might imagine, working multiple jobs is usually only necessary because things aren’t the best financially. When Jenco got to high school, the booster club began asking the families of football players for donations. That wasn’t exactly an option for Jenco and his mother, and in a town full of college professors, scientists and Penn State season ticket holders, politics soon became a factor. Football skills were secondary when playing time was determined. Those with parents who donated were those who saw the most action.

“A lot of kids with a lot of talent got screwed,” Jenco said. “It’s not my say on how it’s run now, but for a long time, it was definitely unfair when it came to playing time and how the politics worked. Especially being in a college town like that, it was kind of a money-based place. Myself included, there were a lot of kids who grew up there with the talent to play college football, but never got the opportunity. That’s changed with the new coaching staff, but that’s how it was for 20 or 30 years. My uncle played there and dealt with the same thing. I think times are changing now and it’s not a problem anymore, but growing up, that was definitely a big thing in State College.”

Despite that, Jenco continued to play both football and baseball. Even with the politics in play, he used his speed and explosiveness to become a slot back and return man on the gridiron, eventually picking up some attention from some smaller Division I schools. But it was on the baseball diamond, as an outfielder and a threat on the base paths, where he stumbled across a true opportunity. One day, Jenco happened to play against the son of the coach of the Mid-Atlantic Canes summer travel team and impressed the coach enough to earn an invitation to try out for the squad.

“I wasn’t really planning on going to college at the time,” Jenco remembered. “But I had a good game against him and got a chance to play on a travel team. That’s really when I started to take baseball seriously – when I got asked to play on a team that traveled across the country.”

It was at a tournament during his junior summer when he met the Virginia Tech coaches and the rest is history. He got an offer to play in Blacksburg and his decision to do so was cemented in the fall of his senior year when he finally gave up the love of his life to commit to baseball.

Jenco had an opportunity to go to Florida to participate in the World Wood Bat Tournament, which took place at Major League spring training facilities in front of pro scouts and against the best competition from all over the United States and Puerto Rico.

“I knew that I would be missing a couple [football] games, so I had to decide what I wanted to do,” Jenco said. “But it was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. I gave up football. It was tough. Still to this day, I struggle watching football because that was something I loved to do.”

Jenco finished off his high school career by batting .430 and leading the league in stolen bases. He would take a redshirt year in his first season at Tech, but he burst onto the scene in 2014, ranking in the ACC’s top 12 in steals, walks, batting average, and on-base percentage. Last year as a redshirt sophomore, he earned third-team All-ACC honors and was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 27th round of the MLB First-Year Player Draft.

Going pro is the dream of any ballplayer, but the level-headed Jenco decided it wasn’t the right time. It would have been to have a Red Sox cap on his head, but 27th-round picks are not guaranteed a ton of money.

“I didn’t think it was the right opportunity for me to leave,” Jenco explained. “I don’t think I was mature enough mentally and I learned a lot this summer and this school year that I can really build on before I’m ready to take on the next level. I also wanted to get closer to my degree. It was my second year playing here and I felt like I still had more to prove. I wanted to come back with my classmates and not only bond with them and get closer to my degree, but also improve on some things myself that will hopefully help me move up in the draft.”

Jenco said the draft is kind of a crapshoot, but Virginia Tech has built a track record of success in recent years, having 28 players drafted since 2010, including eight players in the top 10 rounds and three Hokies in the top three.

“I’m just doing all I can this season to get another opportunity, and hopefully when June rolls around, I’m in the same situation, if not better,” Jenco said. “Technically, I have another year [of eligibility] after this if I want to, so I still have some leverage on my side.”

No matter when he’s selected or where he ends up playing next, Jenco hasn’t forgotten the whole reason why he’s even in this situation – his mother.

“That’s why I do everything I’m doing,” he said. “To hopefully get a chance to tell her thank you in a different manner – to have her not worry about me and stress about money. I will hopefully get an opportunity to pay her back so she can relax for the next 20 or 30 years.”

For updates on Virginia Tech baseball, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Baseball