Jackson Paradise just wrapped his travel baseball for the summer of 2019, but now, he will have one final showcase at the end of the year.
Paradise, an incoming senior at Hauser, has been selected to play in the Baseball Factory Under Armour National Pirate City Tournaments Dec. 27-30 at Pirate City, which is the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training facility in Bradenton, Florida.
"The players down there (in Florida) will be all around the United States from the East Coast and West Coast and everything in between," Paradise said.
The road to being selected to the tournament wasn’t a given. Paradise had to get recommendations from coaches and participation in tournaments.
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From there, he received a letter in the mail stating that he was selected as a participant in the Baseball Factory Under Armour Evaluation at the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne. While he was there Sunday, he was selected as the top performer of all the high school participants. The event that Paradise went to on Sunday had more than 20 participants.
Baseball Factory Under Armour tours the country and helps players further their game and get discovered easier by college coaches. Notable Major League Baseball players that have ties to the program include Bryce Harper, Justin Verlander, Kris Bryant, George Springer and Francisco Lindor.
Paradise is well on his way in getting his name out there. He has received interest from St. Francis. He also has spoken to Indiana Wesleyan and several NAIA schools.
"I’ve talked to the coaches a whole lot and went and visited there back in October," Paradise said. "It’s a really nice campus, and me and the coaches connected really well."
Paradise is a multi-sport athlete, playing basketball and baseball for the Jets. In his junior baseball season, the shortstop-pitcher batted .400 with 29 RBIs and led the state with 45 stolen bases for a team that finished the season ranked No. 1 in Class A.
Paradise is anxious to begin his final high school sports season.
"I’m excited for both seasons, especially being my senior year," Paradise said.
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Name: Jackson Paradise
School: Hauser
Grade: Senior-to-be
Sports: Baseball and Basketball
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