Nutley High School Male Athlete of the Month

Jake Ramezzana,
baseball, senior

Tell us about the injury that sidelined you this season.
I tore my hamstring while I was playing first base in the third game of the season. The field was wet and when I stretched for a throw my front foot slipped on the turf. I heard a pop and my season was over.

How do you stay involved with the team?
The coaches have been great and told me that I am now one of the coaching staff and that made me feel great! I have done my best to be at every game and  practices when possible. As a captain of a team that is pretty young, I feel it’s important for me to come to every game and practice to support my guys. I try to spend time with the younger guys, helping them adjust to varsity-level play. I was fortunate to have some great teammates who helped me when I was young playing varsity and I want to be able to pay it forward to these guys. Sometimes it’s just a quick word of encouragement that will keep them calm when things aren’t going the way they want. The season always has ups and downs so I remind them no matter how bad they think things are, they are lucky to be
playing so stay positive and work hard.

Talk a bit about your sports career at NHS.
I played basketball and baseball for Nutley High School. But baseball has always been my favorite sport and the one I focused on the most. I have been lucky to
be on some great teams, like last year’s team, and I have been fortunate to be able to contribute to a lot of wins
the past four years. I have had great teammates and coaches who I will consider friends for life.

Any favorite memories from those years?
I have had some great games here at Nutley and have two moments that stand out the most. First was the state playoff game against Carteret last year where I threw six scoreless innings with five strikeouts and went 2-for-3 with a triple and a run to help win the game. The other game was against Newark Academy where I went 3-for-3 with two home runs and 5 RBIs and threw a five-hit eight-strikeout game for the win. This year the first game I struck out 13 with no walks for our first win. I know this year would have been even better and I am frustrated that I got hurt because I know I was going to have a great year and more importantly help us win! Being on last year’s team that went 20-10 and made it deep into the state playoffs and GNT finals was really special! The one thing that I loved about playing in Nutley is that we are in one of the toughest conferences in the state so the competition is tough and it has made me a better player.

Who have been your role models and influences?
I would have to say my family. I am lucky to have great parents and an older sister who have given me all the support I ever needed to be successful as a person. They taught me that without taking care of my education and giving back to my community, playing sports is meaningless. I also have to thank my four older cousins who all played sports in high school and college. I watched them work hard and sacrifice to get to the next level and it showed me firsthand what I needed to do in order to realize my dream of playing college baseball. I would
also like to thank the many teachers and coaches who have helped me the past several years. I hope to remain in touch with them all for many years.

What are you doing for fun these days?
Unfortunately with my injury I am unable to drive but thankfully I have a great group of friends on the team and off the field. Everyone has been great at keeping me busy and helping me out with getting around since I am on crutches. I have been able to watch a lot of baseball games that I normally don’t have time to watch so the one positive from all this is that I am becoming a
better student of the game.

Which Major League baseball team  do you follow? Favorite player?
I have been a Red Sox fan since I was 8 years old.
My favorite player is Chris Sale who just happens to be a lefty pitcher for the Red Sox.

What are your postgraduate plans?
For the rest of the year my focus is on rehabbing so that I am ready this fall when school starts and fall ball begins. I was very lucky to be recruited by several great schools at the D1, 2 and 3 levels. I ultimately choose Susquehanna University to continue my education and to play baseball because it was a great fit educationally and has a great baseball program that has been nationally ranked the past several years at the D3 level.

The Nutley High School baseball team was looking forward to having Jake Ramezzana as a key contributor this season. Unfortunately, the senior first baseman/pitcher suffered a season-ending hamstring injury while playing first base in just the third game of the season when the Raiders played Seton Hall Prep. Despite the devastating injury, Ramezzana remained upbeat and provided support to the team, much to the delight of head coach Bob Harbison.

“With him going down, his whole attitude toward it, really helps us when it came to not looking back to what we had. Jake was as mature as anybody about it. He was good-hearted and didn’t feel sorry for himself at all. He’s been here as much as he can, game-wise, and I thought his support and just him being around, helped us, even though he couldn’t play for us.”
— Bob Harbison
Head coach, NHS baseball