Wilcox County High School Baseball Player Jake Howell Named Georgia Male Athlete of the Month for April 2024
Congratulations to Wilcox County High School baseball player Jake Howell, who is the April 2024 ITG Next Georgia Male Athlete of the Month, presented by Georgia Farm Bureau Insurance.
Howell, a junior, received the most votes among four candidates who were nominated for their outstanding performances in April. In addition to Howell, the other candidates were Buford baseball player Nate Taylor, Etowah track athlete Luke Stradley, and South Forsyth soccer player Ethan Elmore.
Howell is a standout left-handed pitcher for the Wilcox County Patriots. He is also the team’s starting right fielder when he’s not on the mound and currently serves as the team’s leadoff hitter.
So far this season, Howell has eight wins and just one loss with a 1.77 ERA. He has 89 strikeouts with only 35 walks.
Howell’s pitching has been a major factor behind the Patriots’ 22-3 overall record this season. That includes a perfect 15-0 region record, which gave Wilcox County the region title and the top seed entering the state playoffs, where the Patriots faced Early County.
Howell was on the mound in Game 2 of the first-round playoff matchup, and the lefty ace pitched a complete game to lead his team to a 12-4 win and a sweep of the opening playoff series. He also came up big at the plate, going 4-of-7 with a triple and two doubles to help his team advance to the next round of the Class 1A-DII state playoffs, where they’ll host Jenkins County.
For the season, Howell has a .360 batting average with an on-base percentage of .540. He has three home runs on the season.
Wilcox County head baseball coach Stephen McDuffie said he has known and coached Howell and several of his teammates as they have grown up playing rec ball and travel ball. McDuffie said that Howell is one of the “top five players” he’s ever coached in over 20 years of playing and coaching baseball.
“His potential and ceiling is still really high,” McDuffie said.
That’s particularly the case with Howell’s pitching.
“He has done a great job for us here at Wilcox,” McDuffie said.
In addition to his stats so far this year, his career numbers reflect just how solid Howell has been during his time at Wilcox County. In three seasons, Howell is 15-1 overall as a pitcher with a 1.34 ERA. He has 169 strikeouts with just 64 walks. He is batting .355 with a career on-base percentage of .540.
This success has attracted the attention of colleges and pro scouts. Howell has verbally committed to Georgia State University, but McDuffie said that has not kept other schools away.
“Many of these other schools are not happy,” McDuffie said with a chuckle about Howell’s early commitment.
But the coach is very happy that he’s got Howell for one more year.
Howell said that he’s grateful to be nominated and to win the Athlete of the Month honor.
“I want to thank the ITG Next Georgia staff for nominating me, and also thank you to everyone who voted me for this award,” Howell said. “None of this would be possible without God, my teammates, and my coaches. It’s an honor to be named the Georgia Male Athlete of the Month.”
