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08/15/2019 12:00 AMCarl Jacobson was a star player for the North Branford baseball team and completed his career by enjoying an excellent campaign in 2019. Carl, a catcher, led the Thunderbirds with a .425 batting average and collected 31 hits on the year, including eight doubles, to go with 20 RBI. As a result, Carl was named North Branford’s Most Valuable Player for his senior season.
“Carl was our team leader this year. He ran our pitching staff, battled third all year, and did a tremendous job,” Head Coach Billy Mitchell says. “It’s unusual for a catcher to lead the team in hitting, but he’s always been a really good hitter. He went on a tear this year, and he took it upon himself when Nick [Mancini] got hurt to take over the team.”
A catcher by trade, Carl has a great understanding of situational baseball. His approach in the batter’s box was typically based on what the score was, what inning the game was in, and whether or not there was anyone on base. As a powerful lefty, Carl did whatever he could in order to help the T-Birds push runs across the plate.
“There is a time and a place for everything. You can’t go up when we’re behind in the game and just swing for the fences. You have to keep a low profile and poke the ball,” says Carl. “As a catcher, I’d read batters, so that when I was up, I had a good idea of what I was going to get.”
Carl took on the catcher’s position out of a team necessity when he was younger. As Carl got older, he grew to love playing the position.
“I liked being a leader on the field and being in charge from behind the plate,” Carl says. “You need pretty much everything when catching. You need your head in the right place, you need to be in shape, you need to throw the ball, and you need to be quick to block the ball.”
Carl became North Branford’s varsity catcher when he was a sophomore. It didn’t take long for him to earn the respect of his coaches and older teammates.
“It was always really important to me to have their respect and trust, so I could be successful,” says Carl. “You can’t walk onto the field and say, ‘This is how I do things.’ You have to gradually earn that respect, and they’ll let you do the things you want to do. It’s definitely not an overnight thing.”
Carl served as one of the Thunderbirds’ captains this spring. Carl used the leadership experience that he gained as a catcher to help him thrive in the captain’s role.
“When I’m catching, I’m in charge, so as a captain, I wanted to make sure we were making the right decisions both on and off the field,” Carl says. “I never had a problem with the kids doing what they wanted, but when it was time for business, we’re here to play baseball. We’re not at the field to have a party.”
Carl called the types of pitches that North Branford’s pitchers threw while he played catcher. It was a challenge at first, but Carl found that having that responsibility kept even more focused on the game.
“It’s difficult to call a game. For a long time, I had games called for me. It’s a whole other battle when you have to look at a batter and watch the way he’s swinging and remember what he did his last time up,” says Carl. “Calling the game is not an easy thing, which is why a lot of coaches do it to take the stress off the catcher. But I prefer it, because I have the skillset to watch the batter and figure out how to approach him to get him out.”
North Branford featured some solid pitching this spring, and Carl was in sync with everyone on the staff. Carl developed a great rapport with the T-Birds’ hurlers after having worked with them since his sophomore year.
“After a while, you get to the point where you can trust each other. These guys didn’t have to worry about shaking me off, because they knew I was calling the right pitch,” Carl says. “It’s always great to work with guys for a few years. I was more experienced with their arms, their location, and what their best pitch was.”
Carl was inspired to play baseball by his grandfather, who competed at the collegiate and minor league levels. As he gets ready to head off to college, Carl says he made a difficult choice by walking away from the game.
“I’m officially done. I’m going to continue my education at a trade school to become a diesel mechanic,” says Carl. “It’s a tough decision to make, because my father and grandfather enjoyed watching me play, but it was more of a decision about where I want to continue and go.”