Drake Signs With Western Illinois To Play Baseball

Sign me up!  Wilton senior Javin Drake signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at Western Illinois on Wednesday, November 11 at the Wilton High School media center. One of the best pitchers in the state, Drake has compiled 25 wins going into his senior season.  PIctured here are, front row, l-r: Reggie Drake, father; Javin Drake; and Melanie Drake, mother. Pictured second row: Wilton pitching coach Ed Sawvell and Wilton head baseball coach Jake Souhrada.  Photo by Ryan Stonebraker.

By Ryan Stonebraker

Sports Editor, Tipton Conservative

WILTON  — One of the most decorated Wilton baseball players in the past ten years saw all of his hard work pay off recently.  Wilton senior baseball player Javin Drake signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Western Illinois, a Division 1 program in Macomb, Illinois.  Drake verbally committed to the Leathernecks this past July.

"The sky is the limit for Javin. He is a very projectable athlete” Western Illinois baseball coach Ryan Brownlee said in a release on goleathernecks.com Wednesday. “He commands three pitches and has had great success at the high school level. We are excited to see his development over the next four years."

Drake becomes the 22nd Beaver player to continue his career at the college level and 7th to do so at the Division 1 level.

“I grew up watching a lot of those guys play. They were always my role models growing up,” Drake said. “To be talked about in the same group of guys, that’s really an awesome feeling.”

Drake joins a Leatherneck program that finished 17-33 last spring in Brownlee’s third season in charge. Western Illinois will graduate two of its top three returning pitchers after the 2016 season.  Drake along with Connor Rektorski, one of the three other players that also signed with the Leathernecks look to figure into making an early impact.

The 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher, has a 25-5 record entering his senior season with a 1.15 earned run average in his career so far. He has struck out 250 batters and walked 57.  Drake has only given up 31 earned runs in 188.2 innings. Drake is also a power bat for the Beaver.  In three seasons, he has a .484 batting average with 81 RBIs.  He has 109 hits, 22 doubles and an on-base percentage of .574.  In 272 plate appearances he has struck out only 11 times.

Drake is a two-time All-State selection by the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association including being selected to the IHSBCA Elite Team last summer.  He also was a second team, class 2A All-State selection by the Iowa Newspaper Association all-state selection as a junior.

Wilton baseball coach Jake Souhrada said that Drake throws a lot of pitches for strikes.

“He’s got a lot of pitches he throws for strikes. He has a good body type, the over-top delivery. He’s a kid that’s smart when he pitches. He knows what he wants to throw and what he wants to do to get guys out. He doesn’t just pitch. He has a plan when he attacks each batter,” Souhrada said.

“He could be a guy that plays past college if he fills in and continues to develop. Coach Brownlee at Western Illinois is very good at getting pitchers moved on, and I think that was a selling point for him,” Souhrada said.

A four-sport athlete, Drake is coming off of an All-State football season and hopes to help lead the Beaver basketball team to a deep tournament run.  

This summer, he will anocher a Beavers pitching staff that led the entire state in any class in ERA (1.01).  Drake led the Beavers with a 9-2 record, 0.33 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 17 walks. The hope is that the Beavers will be able to cap their season in Des Moines.