Division 1 Dream Ends At Xavier For Jones

Bobby Jones RHP / St. Xavier, OH / 2020

LOVELAND - The first contact Bobby Jones had with Xavier was when pitching coach Brian Furlong saw the St. Xavier senior in a tournament. It was soon after when Xavier head coach Billy O’Conner got a glimpse of the 6-5 200-pound right-hander at the Top Prospect Games.

“He sent me a text after the showcase,” Jones said.

Ironically, it was the first time that O’Conner had seen the 58th-rated 2020 in the state.

“He and the pitching coach had not been in contact about me,” Jones noted.

But there was a lot to like in the promising pitcher.

“The first pitch I hit a batter, but from then on out I was lights out,” Jones said about his TPG performance. “I might have given up one hit. I was striking people out and showing off my breaking ball. What stuck with them was how I spun the breaking ball. My offspeed caught their attention.

“The really like my projectability,” Jones continued. “I’m not at my peak performance right now, but I have the build to get there if I stay in the weight room and work.”

Jones plans to do that after making a commitment to the Big East Conference school.

“They were the first Division I school to contact me and say they had an interest,” Jones noted. “After that I looked into the school and liked what I saw.

I always had a dream of playing Division I baseball,” added Jones, who had some early interest from Marshall and an offer from Ashland prior to deciding on Xavier. “I didn’t seem to have the interest with the others when it came to what I was looking for as far as the area, the amount of kids at the school and my major (Finance and Management), things like that.

“Xavier had everything I wanted. The campus, the coaches … I met some of the players. I liked all of it.”