While Jesuit’s Baseball and Lacrosse programs will both look to defend their respective state titles in the spring, recently the spotlight was turned to the eight seniors who will go on to play in college.
Baseball’s Jacob Palisch ’17 (Stanford), J.J. Montenegro ’17 (Arizona), and Mark Ready ’17 (Santa Clara) and Lacrosse’s Daniel Burnum ’17 (Sewanee: The University of the South), Reese Ellison ’17 (Rollins), Luke Millican ’17 (North Carolina), Stephen Price ’17 (Nazareth) and Dixon Smith ’17 (Jacksonville) joined high school athletes nationwide in making their college commitments official in front of an audience of family, friends, teammates, and coaches on Wednesday morning for Jesuit’s National Signing Day Ceremony.
Palisch and Montenegro combined for 18 wins and 174 strikeouts in last year’s championship season, as Palisch threw a 15-strikeout no-hitter against rival Highland Park and won M.V.P. of the championship game, while Montenegro picked up the win that sent the Rangers to Round Rock and retired the last two batters in the championship game to earn the save.
“It was an awesome feeling to be honored by the Jesuit community,” Montenegro said. “I’m looking forward to playing my last high school season with my brothers at coaches and making another run at [the State Championships in] Round Rock.” On his future as a Wildcat, he said, “I’m excited to start a new chapter of my baseball career at Arizona. I can’t wait to join their community and tradition, and of course possibly making a trip to the [College World Series].”
Ready started 24 games for the Rangers, hitting .286 and stealing 7 bases last year. “I have been playing baseball basically my whole life, starting when I was 4 years old,” he said, “and I have always had aspirations of playing baseball at the professional or collegiate level.” He added a thank-you to his “parents for allowing me the opportunity to play baseball, and all of my coaches who have supported me along the way.”
Burnum, an attacker, was among the team leaders with 22 goals and 13 assists last season. “It felt great to sign with the other seniors on Wednesday,” he said. “As for this season, our expectations are no lower than last year: to win a State Championship, and we all know that it’s going to be a grind to get to where we were last year.” On his future beyond Jesuit, Burnum commented, “I am anxious to get to Sewanee next year – it’s going to be great time.”
Ellison, who played midfielder and was second on the team in ground balls, credited his “parents for giving me the opportunity to play lacrosse at a competitive level and Coach Surran for everything he has done for me,” adding, “I couldn’t have gotten where I am now without them and their support.”
Smith was part of a defensive unit that allowed only 13 goals in three playoff games, and while traffic delayed his arrival at the ceremony, he said “It’s a great feeling [to sign] and it makes all the hard work over the years mean that much more. That being said,” he added, “I know there is still much work to be done.”
Goalkeepers Millican and Price manned the net as the last line of defense last season, helping the team to a 17-2 overall record with a 4.84 GAA. Millican commented that he started playing lacrosse in third grade, and said, “I realized that I wanted to play at the next level when I started traveling up to the east coast, playing with club teams and in showcases with better competition.” In signing with the University of North Carolina, Millican joined the current 13th-ranked college lacrosse program in the nation.
Price commented, “signing on Wednesday morning alongside my other teammates was an experience I will never forget. It felt great to see that all of our hard work had paid off.” Looking ahead to the spring lacrosse season, he said, “we have a great core group of players returning this season as well as a few very talented young players that will help fill in the gaps.” After Jesuit, he said, “I hope to work hard enough in the fall to show the Nazareth coaching staff that I deserve the starting spot for the 2018 spring season.”
The Jesuit Baseball and Lacrosse seniors will look to lead their respective teams to more success this season before beginning the next stage of their athletic careers at the collegiate level.
