Since last spring didn’t exist for high school baseball thanks to Covid-19, Ronnie Brown is really in just his first real year as the baseball coach at Muldrow High. But Jacob Claborn has already made an impression on the coach as a guy you want to have on your side.

“Jacob has a great work ethic. He’s the kind of player every coach would like to have on his team. He’s usually the first one on the field and always the last one to leave. I’ll even find him coming in during off-hours to work extra in the batting cage and, a lot of times, he’ll bring some of his teammates who are struggling at the plate along with him. I think that just speaks to the kind of senior leader he is for us,” said Brown.

Claborn is a versatile baseball player who plays first and third base and is also the Bulldogs number one pitcher.

“I think my cutter is probably my best pitch but I like to use my curveball as my out pitch,” said Claborn who is also a forward on the Muldrow basketball team.

His dad and grandpa got him started playing when he was young and he’s been on a travel team since he was about 10, currently playing for the Arkansas Express. In school he is president of the student council and a member of the National Honor Society. As a role model, he likes another guy who plays first base.

“I’ve always kind of liked Freddie Freeman of the Atlanta Braves. He always works hard and just seems to always do the right thing.”

Jacob is a senior leader on the team as shown by the earlier example of bringing teammates in for extra hitting practice and he doesn’t believe that being verbal is always better.

“I don’t think a good leader is someone who just yells at people all the time. I try to lead by setting a positive example and giving some pointers to the younger players.”

Claborn is off to a solid start this spring, hitting .368 in the early going and when his time as Bulldog is done, Jacob says he plans on attending Oklahoma State and studying mechanical engineering.