Warming up for a game for his final season, senior Jack Beard hears his fans and teammates showing their excitement for the game by chanting “fear the beard.” Beard has been a contributing factor to the varsity team for three years, notably as a left-handed pitcher.

At four, Beard was influenced to join baseball by his grandpa, who is also his role model.

“He [his grandpa] definitely sparked my interest because he was the one to play with me in the backyard,” Beard said. “He took me to my first professional baseball game and had a big part in my interest in baseball.”

Throughout the past four years, Beard has played travel baseball at Nova Premier Baseball during the fall and summer seasons. 

“Travel baseball has helped me perfect my skills a lot because I’ve been able to meet a lot of influential people and coaches, and a lot of important people,” Beard said. Beard has especially been a standout player for his senior year, especially April 8, in which he had 5 innings pitched and five strikeouts for a 14-1 win over Broad Run.

Although travel baseball, Beard had attended many showcases and tournaments that allowed several college scouts to see him play. Through travel baseball, Beard has been able to achieve many accolades such as an 81 mph fastball in 2023.

“The recruiting process for me was a little bit stressful, especially with the amount of uncertainty and the level of competition I was surrounded by,” Beard said. Luckily, his travel coaches helped him navigate the process.

Eventually, Marymount University extended him an offer to play Division III baseball. 

“I had originally been back and forth with the head coach of Marymount,” Beard said. “But, I am very grateful I have found a home and roster spot for the upcoming years.”

Beard notes the importance of balancing his academic and athletic lives, something he hopes to maintain in college while studying nursing.

“I do have issues with balancing everything from time to time but I have gotten better at it the more I have worked on it,” Beard said. He later mentions his method, shutting off his phone to prevent distractions.

Staying in the right mindset for a game is important to Beard, doing breathwork and meditation before each game.

“A good mindset is honestly the key to a good game,” Beard said. “If you know your mindset is bad, it’s gonna affect everything else that you do.”

Improving each day is something that is important to Beard, even if it means he has to lose to learn.

“I am very competitive, so I am not too happy about a loss,” Beard said. “I will spend a little time thinking about what went wrong and if there was something I had trouble with or failed at. I will make sure to work on whatever that might be to get better.”

Beard knows that when it comes to sports, you win some and you lose some. “One bad game doesn’t define you as a player, just keep moving forward.”