Team:

Baseball

Hometown:

Charlotte, N.C.

Major:

Economics

Soraya Katzev (SK): How did you get into baseball and what position do you play?

Jakob Cohn (JC): I got into baseball — when I was probably four or five — through my parents. When we moved down to Charlotte, that’s when I first started playing organized baseball. My dad was my first coach — I played with him for a while, and then once I got older, he let me go to some of the experts. I play infield, and I play first base here at Williams.

SK: Do you have a favorite memory from being on the baseball team at the College?

JC: It’s funny — we were actually talking about this yesterday. I would say there’s been a few… I’d say game three against Wesleyan during my sophomore year. It was a must-win game, and we stopped them, so that was fun.

SK: Do you have any pre-game rituals or a favorite team tradition?

JC: A pre-game ritual for me is listening to music on the bus to calm down and relax. Another tradition that I think is cool is after our warm up — we call it “in and out,” which is short for in- field and outfield. We all line up and give each other high fives and fire each other up, which is something that always gets us going.

SK: Do you have a favorite professional player or someone who inspires you?

JC: I think my favorite [professional player] to watch is Mookie Betts. The way he plays the game is really fun. He’s always playing super hard. Somebody that inspires me is a coach from home — his name is Leland Maddox. He’s been a huge role model for me, and he’s a big reason why I’m here at the College. I thank him for [helping me become] the player and person I am today.

SK: As a leader of a large group of athletes, how have you worked to create a strong team dynamic this year?

JC: That’s a good question. It was tough at first being a junior captain [last year], and trying to go along the boundaries of being a leader, even though there are guys that are older than you and have been here longer than you. But this year it’s been really fun to work with my other captain, Sean Hogan [’23]. We’ve done a decent job trying to get guys together outside of baseball. Whether it’s coming over to where we live — or my position group all went out to the pub one night — doing stuff like that and having an open-door policy has been something that we’ve tried to get better at this year.

SK: What’s one word you would use to describe the baseball team and why?

JC: Family — that would be the word, especially [for] my class. Those guys are people that I’ll have a relationship with for the rest of my life. I’ve learned so much from those guys over the last four years. I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done for me. We still talk to guys that played three years ago…I hope that this year’s freshman class will stay in touch with us when we’re out in the real world and doing our own thing.

SK: This past Wednesday, [April 12], you beat Skidmore 16-2. Coming off of that win, what are you most excited about for the remainder of the season?

JC: I think it gives the guys a lot of confidence to know that we beat a really good team at Skidmore on Wednesday, especially on the road. [It] shows us that we can be a team that’s really effective and that we can win some ball games. Starting [last] Saturday, we’re playing 11 out of the 12 remaining games at home, so it’s going to be nice to get off the road. [I’m excited to] play the [Middlebury] Cougs and hopefully start to build some momentum for playoffs.