With a NBC World Series championship on the line, he chooses his faith over baseball
Like every player on the Cheney Diamond Dawgs, Jackson Glenn envisioned the summer ending with a championship at the National Baseball Congress World Series.
Baseball is the sport Glenn excels at, but it’s not the most important thing in his life, which he considers to be his Christian faith. That’s why the star third baseman decided to leave the Diamond Dawgs during the midst of their NBC World Series run last summer in order to keep his commitment as a youth leader at a church camp back home in the Dallas area.
Glenn said it might have been the toughest decision of his life. It was heartbreaking to watch the Diamond Dawgs reach the final game, only to lose by one run in the championship, but it’s a decision one year later that Glenn does not regret.
“If I would have stayed, I truly believe the summer would have been different and we would have been hoisting that championship trophy,” Glenn said. “I didn’t want to leave the team hanging, but my faith is extremely important to me and I know first-hand how important youth camps can be.
“I kind of gave up the temporary joy of playing baseball because I wanted to make an eternal impact with those kids.”
With his senior season at Dallas Baptist derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, Glenn returned to Cheney this summer, helped lead the Diamond Dawgs to a share of the Sunflower Collegiate League title by hitting .383 with a team-best seven home runs.
Glenn also has the Diamond Dawgs one win away from returning to the NBC World Series championship game. The Diamond Dawgs were to play the Santa Barbara Foresters in a battle of the two remaining unbeaten teams at 6 p.m. Saturday at Eck Stadium.
“I think last year would have turned out different if we had him in our lineup, but there’s nothing we can do about that,” Cheney manager Pat Hon said. “How can you argue with the reason why he wasn’t here? That’s just the type of kid he is. Baseball is important to him, but it’s not the most important thing and that says a lot about him as a human being. At 22 years old, he’s already able to make those adult decisions.”
Glenn is one of nine players to return from last summer’s team. He is also among the team leaders, a group that is made up of Texas natives like Glenn (Cedar Hill), Kyler Castillo (Middleton), Tresten Kennard (Lubbock), Andrew Miller (Frisco) and Ramon Vingochea (San Antonio).
It’s been a winning combination for the Diamond Dawgs, which won their opening game, 5-3, over the Colorado Cyclones and advanced in the winner’s bracket with a 2-1 victory over the Hays Larks Thursday.
“This whole summer we’ve had one goal and that’s to win the NBC World Series,” Glenn said. “We feel like we have some unfinished business. There’s a lot of good talent that stands in our way, but we believe that we can compete with anybody.”
That belief will be put to the test by the seven-time champion Foresters, which has brought one of its most-loaded squads to Wichita. The lineup features nothing but high-major Division I players from programs like UCLA, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Arizona State and Cal State Fullerton, while the pitching staff has yet to allow an earned run through two games and just combined to throw the first no-hitter at the NBC World Series since 2001 in an 8-0 win over the Liberal Bee Jays Thursday.
“Pitching and defense has always been the recipe for the Foresters,” Santa Barbara manager Bill Pintard said. “We’ve always pitched well and we’ve always had good defense. Now this year the separator is our offense is also prolific.
“We’re looking forward to playing (Cheney). It’s going to be a great matchup. They’re the team to beat. They’re the No. 1 seed and they were the ones in the finals last year, not us.”
While Santa Barbara’s roster is littered with high-caliber Division I talent that has produced back-to-back dominant performances in Wichita, the Diamond Dawgs, which has plenty of Division I players but not of the high-major variety, don’t view themselves as underdogs.
“What makes me believe we can win it this year is that our guys believe they can beat anybody,” Hon said. “It doesn’t matter what I think or the coaches think. It’s what they think. We may not beat Santa Barbara on Saturday, but I can guarantee you our guys will show up to the field and expect to win and they’re not going to be intimidated by whatever Santa Barbara brings.”
And this time, Glenn will be there with the Diamond Dawgs — in his usual third spot in the batting order.
He still wonders what might have happened last summer if he had picked baseball, but he doesn’t regret prioritizing his faith first. He rests easy at night knowing he is making an impact on lives back home in the Dallas area.
Plus, he has one last chance at winning a championship this summer.
“Baseball accolades and championships mean a lot, but nothing will ever compare to the eternal decisions that kids make and knowing that you have a hand in that,” Glenn said. “This is such a big time in their lives figuring out who they are and why the world spins and why everything is the way that it is. For me, it’s so special to be there for them and to see them change their lives and start living for Jesus. It’s something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.”
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 10:59 AM.
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