HOOSICK FALLS — Opponents and fans of teams Jake Sparks plays against are often fearful of what he might do to them. At the same time, the Hoosick Falls senior star is respected and even revered by those same people for how he approaches athletics and life.
A tenacious competitor, Sparks won the Home Run Derby competition at the 2022 Built2Win Futures Game at Bruno Stadium in Troy and had kids swarming around him upon leaving the field. Headed to play Division I baseball at Marshall University, Sparks has excelled in every athletic endeavor. When many athletes choose to specialize in one sport, Sparks never hesitated in filling his scholastic year with football, basketball and baseball. The senior star has been a perennial all-star in all three sports and is concluding his high school career with baseball, a sport he first played at the varsity level in eighth grade.
“Honestly, I think it makes you better at every sport doing the three sports,” Sparks said. “Even more than those three sports, I work at a skating rink in my free time. I ski. I have snowboarded a couple of times. I honestly think it rounds you out and why not too? I am never going to step on a football field again. I am not going to play basketball competitively any more. Why not do it while you can. Those memories will last forever.”
Sparks, who played quarterback and linebacker for the Hoosick Falls/Tamarac football team, was named Times Union first team linebacker (83 tackles, two interceptions) in 2022 and then landed a Times Union second-team selection for basketball during the winter when he averaged 19.3 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
This season playing at shortstop and pitcher, Sparks is batting .559 with five doubles, four home runs, 17 runs scored and 16 RBIs. He hit two home runs in the first inning Wednesday in an 18-4 win against Cambridge/Salem. The senior’s on-base…
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