After a strong showing on the mound during the spring and early summer months, Bellevue West right-handed pitcher Jaxon Jelkin chose to forgo junior college and accept a Nebraska baseball scholarship instead. He will be a late addition to the Huskers’ Class of 2021.
“It’s pretty exciting!” Jelkin told HuskerOnline.com about his decision to become a Cornhusker in college. “Obviously, I had a pretty successful spring season, so some opportunities opened up for me. Being scouted and having people at my games changed things with my recruiting process.
“Once I got the offer from Nebraska, it was pretty clear what the right thing to do was. This is home to me, so I felt like [committing to Nebraska] was what I wanted to do. So, that’s what I did.”
The 6-foot-5, 175-pound Jelkin was on Bellevue West’s team in the spring and is now playing for DC Electric which is their summer legion team. They have played approximately a dozen and 1/2 games so far this summer.
“I got my Nebraska offer yesterday, right after I got done pitching against Papio-South,” Jelkin shared. “They’ve been in contact with me for quite awhile, though. At the beginning of the season, they told me JUCO was a good path for me, but they kept in contact with me throughout the season and I was really successful. So, they went ahead and put an [scholarship] offer on the table.”
NU head coach Will Bolt and recruiting coordinator Lance Harvell both watched Jelkin pitch in person the week leading up to offering him a scholarship.
“In the spring, I was pretty successful,” Jelkin said, while adding, “I finished with around 50 innings with 80 strikeouts, and only giving up 20 or 30 hits. I’ve just felt dominant on the mound all year. There’s tons and tons of talent in the state of Nebraska for baseball and any time I was on the mound I just felt dominant.
“I have a typical four-pitch combination of a fastball, changeup, slider and curveball. I have a pretty lively fastball. I usually sit in the low-90s. I have a sharp curveball with a straight 12-6 bite. My slider is my out-pitch for me typically, so I get swings and misses a lot. It starts in the zone and drops out late. My changeup is a pitch I usually throw to lefties a lot. They will swing over it and righties will pull it foul.
“All of my pitches work really good and all of them were in the zone all year. My ball to strike a ratio is like 70% strikes. Something like that. I threw a lot of strikes throughout the year.”
In addition to Nebraska, Jelkin was being recruited by the likes of Wichita State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State, with SEC programs Alabama and Auburn wanting to come see him throw this summer.
“I’m getting a little bit of contact from [MLB scouts], yeah, but nothing firm yet. I mean, I’ve got an agent to advise me and represent me, and me and him think the best route for me is obviously to go to Nebraska right now. Spend my time there and develop there. So, that’s where I’m at as of right now.
“When the Nebraska coaches finally got the opportunity to watch me live and see what I’ve got, I kind of made it pretty clear to them that’s where I needed to be.”
There were a couple other key factors that played a role in Jelkin wanting to pitch in college for Nebraska, and he elaborated on those reasons.
“I’ve played with all those guys committed to Nebraska in the 2021 class,” Jelkin stated. “A lot of us played for the [Nebraska] Prospects together, and obviously, a lot of the top players in the state are going there. It’s something I want to be a part of.
“They’re obviously having a lot of success and my buddy, Cade Povich, is there right now pitching for them. He had tons and tons of success this year pitching, against Arkansas even. You can see that program is turning around and getting better production. I talk to Cade regularly.”
Now that his college decision is out of the way, Jelkin wants to continue dominating on the mound for the rest of the summer, and he’s looking forward to putting some more weight on his frame when he gets to Lincoln.
“In season working out, you’ve got to take it slow and you really can’t do too much with gaining weight and stuff, but when I get to Nebraska they will definitely put more weight on me,” Jelkin said. “I absolutely have the frame to [carry more weight]. I mean, I’m a buck-175 now and I was 185 when I was at my largest.
“I’m just really excited to get going! I know they have a great group of guys down there and of great group of coaches, so I’m really excited to be a part of it. A lot of this came with a lot of coaches helping me and coaches working really hard for me. Coach (Jason) Shockey has put in tons and tons of time and effort for me to get these opportunities and for people to come see me.”
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