Deer Lakes grad McCaskey thrives as dual-threat player for Cal (Pa.) baseball

Jake McCaskey had about a week to prepare for his first collegiate pitching start after getting the call from the Cal (Pa.) coaching staff.

The Deer Lakes graduate didn’t let his opportunity go to waste.

McCaskey, the Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year in 2018, was in control from the start of his outing Sunday against Salem at Washington Wild Things Park.

The Vulcans junior hurdled five scoreless innings and struck out nine as Cal won 5-1 to complete the weekend two-game sweep and improve to 6-3 overall.

“Leading up to the game, I just tried to stay relaxed,” said McCaskey, who also leads the team in hitting (.378) through nine games. “I just wanted to have some fun out there. There might have been some nerves a little bit in the first inning, but I felt locked in.

“All the preparations the coaches put us through really help for all game situations. It was pretty exciting.”

McCaskey threw 66 pitches and allowed just two base runners, a single and a walk. Up to that point, he had pitched just 5 2/3 innings in five relief appearances.

“I just tried to take everything one pitch at a time and not think too far ahead,” he said.

“I knew my stuff was working better that day and I was confident with everything I was throwing. I just wanted to give my team the best chance to win the game.”

As his pitching was on point in Game 2 against Salem, McCaskey, also a starting middle infielder, was a Game 1 hitting standout, getting three hits, including a home run, and scoring three runs as Cal won 13-10.

Game 2 was the only one in the Vulcans’ nine this season in which he didn’t get at least one hit.

In the season-opening win against Wheeling, he went 3 for 4 with two RBIs.

“It all started with the work in the offseason,” McCaskey said. “I was able to build on all the experience I got during my freshman and sophomore seasons, and I can’t thank my coaches enough for that. I worked a ton with Fennell Bros. Baseball, and they really helped get me to where I needed to be. The coaches were always checking up on me to make sure I was progressing.”

McCaskey is 14 for 37 at the plate with a double, two triples, two home runs, 11 RBIs and nine runs scored.

“Jake has gotten off to an excellent start,” Vulcans coach Mike Conte said. “He is immensely talented physically, and the maturity with which he is playing has risen to a very high level. As good of a player as he is, he’s even a better person. He definitely leads by example. We are very confident in him in all facets of the game.”

McCaskey hit the ground running as a freshman in 2019, starting 49 of Cal’s 52 games. He batted .288 with seven doubles, two triples and two home runs and drove in 22 runs while scoring 32 more.

McCaskey started all 11 games last year — nine at shortstop and two at second base — and finished with a .229 average (8 for 35), six RBIs and seven runs before growing covid concerns caused the NCAA to cancel all spring sports seasons.

“That was, obviously, devastating,” McCaskey said. “It took a day or two to settle in how real it was and that we were losing the whole season. I did everything I could to turn it into a positive, and I think I did a pretty good job with it.”

The Vulcans have won four of their last five games.

Cal is gearing up for its PSAC debut series, a two-game, home-and-home with IUP this weekend.

Game 1 is Friday at 1 p.m. at Wild Things Park, and Game 2 is Saturday at 2 p.m. at the home of the Crimson Hawks.

McCaskey said the sky’s the limit for his team.

“I am really confident we can go far,” he said.

“We have a lot of special guys with a lot of talent. We have so many guys who can step up and lead at any point in a game. It can be a different guy who gets a big hit or makes a big play defensively.”