Hanover’s Jake Mayers named T-D player of the year

Ask Jake Mayers to describe his career at Hanover High School, and he'll tell you that it was a learning experience with his baseball and social skills. There's a message about relationships in his answer.

For all of his accomplishments -- Times-Dispatch player of the year, Central Region player of the year, first-team all-state -- the pitcher/third baseman is just as happy to talk about the bar the Hawks established for the program.

Hanover, in its sixth season, went 24-2, won the Central Region title and finished as the state Group AAA runner-up. The 2005 team won the region title before losing in the first round of the state tournament.

"We wanted to reset the standard, and we did it by far," Mayers said. "We had good chemistry. Everybody was pointing in the same direction. No individualism. It was an awesome season."

Despite missing two weeks and losing 15 pounds after having his tonsils removed, the 6-1, 190-pound right-hander went 10-0 with a 0.76 ERA. He threw back-to-back shutouts -- getting one inning of relief help in the second game -- in the quarterfinals and semifinals of the state tournament.

"It was his job to refuse to lose," Hanover coach Charlie Dragum said. "When he touched the ball, he was going to get it done for Hanover."

There was a time early in his career when Mayers said he was more about getting it done for his travel team and himself.

Much was expected of Mayers after an AAU career that Dragum described as almost legendary.

"Everybody was telling him how great he was, and he was great," Dragum said. "In an AAU tournament, he hit like nine home runs in 11 at-bats."

Baseball America ranked Mayers among the top 14-year-olds in the country. All that, he said, went to his head.

"I was cocky," he said. "It was just a phase, being inexperienced in trying to be more of a team guy. When I played on my travel team, yeah it's a team thing, but you're also trying to make yourself better and get your name out there."

Mayers grew up in Glen Allen. He moved to Mechanicsville in the sixth grade, so he didn't have much chemistry with the older players at Hanover even though he went 5-1 with a 1.55 ERA as a freshman.

Mayers said Dragum sat down with him after that season and told him, among other things, that "there's more things in life than just yourself."

Two seniors, Joey Saunders and Jimmy Stewart, took Mayers under their wings during Mayers' sophomore year. Saunders, in particular, had a big influence on Mayers when it came to carrying himself around his teammates and others.

His baseball skills needed little guidance. In his four seasons at Hanover, Mayers went 27-6 with a 1.17 ERA and seven saves. Blessed with an upper-80s fastball, great command and an unceasing work ethic, he registered 319 strikeouts and had just 55 walks in 2212/3 innings.

"Having joined them helped me see high school is more of a team thing than anything I've been part of," he said. "You have to get that chemistry . . . to be good because everybody's got to be pointing in that direction.

"It was a huge learning experience. It basically got me where I needed to be."