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College coaches are renowned for being conservative when it comes to expectations for freshmen, but when Jake Frank decided to join older brother Josh and make the short trip from Northwestern High School to The College of Wooster, long-time skipper Tim Pettorini knew he had a potential all-time great on his hands.
“Jake was being recruited by (NCAA) Div. I schools and a variety of places. He came from a real strong family, (and we thought) there was a good chance he would stay local,” recalled Pettorini. “I knew watching him in high school, he was going to be a real outstanding player, and he sure didn’t disappoint.”
With a consistent approach at the plate, the soft-spoken, smooth-hitting Frank became a staple in the middle of the lineup right away. He hit .399 and drove in 50 runs for a senior-dominated team in 2002, regarded by some as the best team in Wooster’s tradition-rich history, despite a quick exit from the NCAA Div. III Championships. The Fighting Scots were 38-4, including a 9-7 victory over Ohio State University, winners of the North Coast Athletic Conference, and ranked No. 1 heading into the NCAA regional. Individually, Frank earned the first of four selections to the All-NCAC First Team – one of just two in program history to accomplish that feat.
Frank was just getting started. Despite less protection around him as a sophomore, Frank upped his numbers across the board to a .434 batting average, 14 doubles, 11 home runs, and 62 RBI, and was named the NCAC Player of the Year as well as a first-team All-American at third base by the American Baseball Coaches Association.
Frank’s junior season statistics were very similar, as he batted .420 with 21 doubles, nine homers, and 54 RBI. Of greater importance, he helped Wooster win back the conference championship and finish runner-up in an NCAA regional, played at the Scots’ own Art Murray Field. While a teammate edged him for the NCAC Player-of-the-Year award, Frank was still recognized as one of the best in Div. III, repeating on the ABCA All-America Team as he collected third-team status.
Again hitting over .400 (.401) and piling up 11 doubles, 10 home runs, and 58 RBI, Frank was a key cog on a team that became the first to win both an NCAC championship and an NCAA regional championship in the same season. At the NCAA eight-team finals, where Frank had five hits and six RBI over four games, Wooster placed third – its second-highest showing at the time. Prior to the finals, he was named an ABCA first-team All-American for the second time in his career.
Of all the statistics baseball generates, Pettorini thinks runs scored and RBI are the most important offensively. Frank was quite simply one of the best in both of those categories, as he ranked seventh in NCAA Div. III history in runs (218) and tied for 10th in RBI (224) upon his graduation. Additionally, he was 13th in hits (265) and tied for 20th in doubles (59).
In terms of the Wooster record book, Frank is No. 1 in RBI, having driven in 26 more than any other player, and he leads the way in career triples (13). Also, he ranks fourth in batting average (.413), tied for ninth in homers (35), and second in walks (114), and he owns two of the five longest hitting streaks in school history at 25 and 24 games.
With his three All-American awards – one of just two in team history – and standing in the record books, it stands to reason that Frank may just be the greatest baseball player in school history.
“He’s up there … definitely deserves to be in the conversation,” said Pettorini. “He came in as a great hitter and didn’t do anything but improve. Jake was very, very productive.”
An excellent student, Frank garnered a pair of academic all-district awards while majoring in mathematics at Wooster, and he is now a financial analyst in northeast Ohio.
When free time allows, his preferred activities today are golfing and playing with his son Parker (4).