Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
About the time Jake Cumming became serious about his chances of playing baseball in college, he earned a new Twitter follower. A direct message and a few conversations later with Abe Alvarez, then the pitching coach at the University of Nevada, and Cumming committed to pitch for the Wolf Pack.
Thursday, he made that commitment official, signing his letter-of-intent in front of a group of friends, family, teammates and coaches at his home in Fernley.
“I’m really excited about my decision,” Cumming said. “It felt so good just to finally be done with the recruiting process and finally make it official.”
Cumming originally committed to Nevada in August of 2021, when T.J. Bruce was the head coach of the Wolf Pack. After Bruce left, new coach Jake McKinley honored that commitment.
But it was Alvarez who first started Nevada’s recruitment of Cumming, who at the time was playing in the Area Code Games in San Diego. Alvarez had followed Cumming on Twitter, and Cumming responded by sending him a DM. Then after watching Cumming pitch, Alvarez game him a formal scholarship offer that day.
Cumming said it took him about a month to make a decision.
“I waited about a month because I was talking to other coaches, but I started looking at the (Nevada) program more. It’s the best fit for me,” Cumming said. “The coaching staff made me feel like I was already part of the team.”
Following the Vaqueros’ high school season last spring, Cumming played this summer for the USA Prime National 18u team, in the Area Code Games and at the Best in the US Showcase at UNLV. He finished the summer with one last tournament with his travel team, the Reno Mustangs.
Cumming, who has played three years of basketball and baseball at Fernley and has one season of each sport left, also played football this fall for the Vaqueros for the first time. He began playing baseball at 3 years old in T-ball, and came though the High Desert Little League program, playing on the 9-10 year old All-Star team that went to the State Tournament in Las Vegas.
It was when he was 12 and started playing travel ball that he became serious about the game of baseball. Then, when he was 14, he started drawing the attention of college coaches.
“The first time I talked to a coach I felt like a little kid again,” he said. “Once I talked to Nevada and they offered me, it was a dream come true.”
That spring and summer, during the Covid pandemic in 2020, Cumming grew six inches and gained 70 pounds.
“That’s when I got serious about the weight room and eating the right way,” he said.
Just a few months later, he committed to Nevada, and now he’s hoping to lead the Vaqueros to successful seasons in basketball and baseball before starting his college experience.
“My goal for my senior year of baseball is to be a first-team all-league pitcher, become a better leader and win a state championship,” Cumming said.
As a pitcher, Cumming describes his style as aggressive. His regularly throws his fastball in the range of 88-92 miles per hour, depending how he feels that day, and has topped out at 94 in a bullpen session. He also mixes in a slider and changeup, and throws the occasional cutter and curve. He’s looking forward to working with McKinley and new Nevada pitching coach ark Moriarty.
“I feel like I’m really projectable because I’m young and I can still put on weight, and I haven’t gotten a lot of developmental coaching,” he said. “I definitely think coach Moriarty and McKinley will help me out a ton when I get there.”
He credits his parents, Christie and Bob Cumming, for their support and for taking him everywhere he need to go.
“They’re the reason I’m here,” he said.
Cummings has carried a 4.0 grade point average throughout high school and he plans to major in kinesiology with a minor in business management.
“Plan A is to be drafted into Major League Baseball,” Cumming said. “Plan B is to open a facility with batting cages, a bullpen and weight room.”
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