When Jacob Palisch stands on the mound at the Connie Mack World Series on Friday evening, he’ll have the unusual view of looking at the apex of Texas high school sports.
As part of Dallas’ DBAT-Elite, he’ll be playing for the most coveted national baseball championship against the top select programs in the country while just a week away from starting his senior season in Texas high school football as the quarterback at Jesuit and opening the football season at nationally ranked DeSoto on Aug. 26. Jesuit begins football practices Aug. 8.
“I only have one more year where I can play different sports,” said Palisch, who also plays basketball at Jesuit. “To be playing against the best baseball players in the country and then against some of the best football players in the country, is really a great experience I want to enjoy it while I can.”
At the coveted Connie Mack World Series, Palish has joined DBAT Elite, to continue Dallas’ long history in competing for the AABC 18-under championship against traditional powers from East Cobb in Georgia, the Midlands from Ohio and top Southern California and Puerto Rican qualifiers.
In just the last decade, the participants from Dallas-based teams have included Jake Arrieta (Chicago Cubs), Clayton Kershaw (Los Angeles Dodgers), Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians), Zach Britton (Baltimore Orioles) and Shawn Tolleson (Texas Rangers).
Showcasing North Texas’ baseball prowess at the CMWS, three teams have qualified in the 12-team field with D-BAT Elite, D-BAT 17U and the Dallas Tigers.
As part of D-Bat Elite, Palisch is on a roster with Keller Timber Creek’s Brian Klein (Texas Tech signee), Prosper shortstop Easton Murrell (Arkansas commit), Prosper third baseman Anthony Bernardez (Grayson), Southlake Carroll pitcher Trent Allen (Wichita State), Flower Mound catcher Nick Thornquist (McLennan) and Rosenberg Terry’s standout shortstop Jaxon Williams (Arkansas).
Palisch opens the first round against the Tigers coached by Kyle Woods. The Tigers organization is a product of select-baseball pioneer Tommy Hernandez, who has built a program dating back to the 1990s with such stars as current Houston Astros catcher Evan Gattis in the early aughts among the many alumni. The current CMWS qualifying Tigers is a Who’s Who of top North Texas players including Frisco Ryan Vilade (Oklahoma State), Hebron’s Zach DeLoach (Texas A&M), Rockwall’s Canaan Smith (Arkansas), Coppell's Ray Gaither (Dallas Baptist), Highland Park’s William Adair and Palisch’s Jesuit teammates JJ Montenegro and Mark Ready (Santa Clara).
The D-BAT 17U qualified with blossoming roster of Flower Mound Marcus’ Jimmy Glowenke (Dallas Baptist), Allen 6-5 right-hander Cole Maxwell, Waxahachie’s Tyler Navarro and the hard-throwing 6-5 Grayson Rodriguez (Texas A&M Class of 2018) of Nacogdoches Central Heights.
An early Stanford baseball commit, Palisch has distinguished himself as one of the state’s top athletes over the last two years. Longtime Dallas Mustangs baseball coach Sam Carpenter says Palisch’s versatility has put a bright light on his baseball career,.
“Poised, aggressive, confident and an extraordinary athlete for his age,” Carpenter said. “A plus breaking ball and his athleticism make him an ideal candidate to close. His endurance and the ability to throw three pitches for strikes make him an ideal starter. Truly gifted. Unflappable.”
Palisch already has an impressive resume of unflappable moments. Last football season, he scored the winning touchdown for Jesuit in a victory which ended the 49-game winning streak of perennial national football power Skyline. Less than two months ago, Palisch was the starting and winning pitcher as Jesuit won the UIL Class 6A state baseball championship.
“It’s hard to put into words, it seems like Skyline happened a long time ago,” Palisch said. “And (winning state) was just in June but everything has gone by really fast since then. It’s hard to describe.”
