Seasoned Fox Helps West Deptford Legion to Easy Tourney Opener

Jason Fox carved out quite a resume as part of the baseball team. He was a consistent hitter and developed into a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.

Now that he has a year of college under his belt, both his pitching and hitting are even better.

Fox pitched five scoreless innings, helping the West Deptford American Legion team score a 11-0 mercy-rule win over Monsignor Donovan in the District 4 opener for both teams at Union Field.

Fox said he learned a tremendous amount about pitching during his freshman year at Stockton University and that he feels like a completely different pitcher compared to where he was a year ago when he helped lead West Deptford High School to a Group 2 championship.

“You learn how to pitch,” Fox said said of his first year of college. “You no longer go out and throw, you pitch. It’s helped me a lot, hitting-wise, as well. At the next level, you just build so much strength.”

Fox allowed just three hits and a walk, while striking out five. His pitches were sailing a bit high in the zone in the early innings, but he settled in nicely and never ran into any real trouble.

“Foxy has been throwing the ball well all year,” said teammate Tom Jakubowski. “He has been bringing his best stuff, pumping the zone, and they couldn’t touch him. We fed off his energy and we came out and swung the bats and did what we were able to.”

Jakubowski scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning when he doubled to left and came around to score on a single by Steven Keane. West Deptford added another run in the second when Nick Rutter connected on an RBI single, plating T.J. Dezzi.

Jakubowski and Pat Doheny each added RBI singles in the fourth as West Deptford stretched its lead to 4-0.

Jakubowski was pitched around the much of the game, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks, while also being hit by a 3-0 pitch. Batting third, the is enjoying the amount of talent he has surrounding him in the lineup.

“This is just a great team to be hitting around,” Jakubowski said. “Hitting in the three-hole with Steve Keane behind me and Nick Rutter and Drew Burdsall in front of me, they are all dangerous hitters. It’s just great to be in the middle of them.”

West Deptford—which has also has players from Gateway, GCIT, Clearview and Pennsville—broke the game wide open in the fifth, plating seven runs on four hits, two walks and two errors. Doheny and Burdsall did the most damage, delivering a two-run hit each.

Isaiah Easterling finished the final two innings on the mound, striking out three.

West Deptford will look to feed off this win when it is back in action Friday against Bordentown at 6 p.m..

“It’s a great momentum builder,” Fox said. “Our goal from the beginning was to make districts, then win the whole thing, so this is a good start.”

Fox said the team is familiar with many of its opponents and likes the team’s chances as the tournament progresses.

“I think we can beat any team out here,” Fox said. “I have seen some teams out here, and I know we can do really well.”