Catcher leads his team with success

Junior Jackson Greer (Knoxville, Tennessee) continues to lead ETSU baseball as starting catcher, earning last week’s SoCon player of the week.

As a freshman, Greer appeared in 16 games with eight starts as catcher. In his first collegiate at-bat, he drove a homerun with a solo shot and drove in two RBI on a single. He also won the 2017 Bat Blast Championship, which was a pitcher vs. hitter competition between ETSU players.

“I think catching is one of the most important aspects other than pitching out there,” said Greer. “Everybody sees me and the pitcher the most, and we’re involved in the action the most.”

Greer began his time as the starting catcher role during his sophomore season with 38 starts and 41 appearances. Behind the plate Greer downed 20 of 47 baserunners attempting steals and had only two errors at catcher, gaining a .994 fielding percentage.

Prior to playing for the Bucs, Greer was rated the sixth best catcher in Tennessee by PerfectGame and was elected as the captain of both his high school and summer teams.

In the current season Greer has played a big role in the team’s overall 3-1 record, and he has become the first Buc catcher to win player of the week since 2017 when former teammate and catcher Hagen Owenby won.

Greer said part of the reason for his success is his environment.

“It’s a great field, we’ve got great facilities and our coaching staff is top of the line,” said Greer.

Greer is majoring in criminal justice but wants to continue his career in baseball as long as possible.

“ETSU has really helped me progress as an athlete, because we have so many people supporting us, especially through academics,” said Greer. “It really helps us as the student-athlete not just an athlete.”

Greer and the Bucs will travel to Clemson, South Carolina, to face the Tigers on Tuesday.