MACON, Ga. — We're already in the midst of July, enjoying the summer months. We are focusing on our athletes in training who are not taking any days off.
Our athlete of the hour is a college baseball standout.
Jackson Cherry is our athlete in training.
In the spring, Cherry is a starting outfielder for the Mercer Bears and is a crucial part of their success.
This past season the orange and black wrapped up a season with 33 wins. And during that campaign, Cherry carried a .339 batting average with 41 hits, including a dozen long balls.
He had a perfect fielding percentage on defense, with 55 put-outs in the outfield. For his efforts, the red-shirt sophomore received Southern Conference Player of the Week honors and All-Conference Second-Team accolades after overcoming Tommy John surgery last season.
"It's definitely been a journey. I've kind of been injury prone the last couple of years, so I'm super grateful to my trainers and coaches for being able to work with me and give me the proper training and conditioning. It was awesome to have a great season and see all my hard work and perseverance come through. This season with Mercer and right now with the Bacon that's fighting every day, so it's pretty cool," Cherry said.
Cherry joined the Macon Bacon roster a few weeks after the Bears wrapped up their season in conference tournament action. And his presence was immediately felt especially being so close to Mercer and fellow Bears teammate Antonio Brown.
"I know last year Tony played for the Bacon, and he was always talking about how fun it was and how great the coaches are. After the Mercer season, I wanted to come out and play as soon as I could and meet some new friends and build up more relationships. It was an easy transition and really fun," Cherry said.
He says his immediate goals are to improve his defense while continuing his success at the plate while primarily using a wood bat, sharpening his skills with the Bacon to continue getting better at the game he loves so much.
It's an energy the Bears program has instilled in him.
"I think it's the attitude and effort we put into it in the fall where our foundation is set. Even in the summer, we come in and bust our butts during conditioning and early morning weights in the fall, and long, tedious fall practice, aka ways, makes me confident in my team seeing the hard work we put in every day," Cherry said.
Meanwhile, Cherry and the Bacon are starting a two-game road trip before returning home on Saturday for mascot Kevin's birthday bash at historic Luther Williams Field, hosting the high point high toms with a 7 o'clock first pitch.