Severna Park success
Jackson Merrill’s parents excited about his MLB debut with Padres
Jackson Merrill, a 2021 Severna Park graduate, will live out his boyhood dreams Wednesday. Nearly 7,000 miles away, his parents will be following along his journey.
Merrill’s rapid rise through the San Diego Padres organization has led to him being named the Padres starting center fielder for their opening day game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Seoul,
South Korea.
Josh and Jennie Merrill are both schoolteachers and will not be able to attend their son’s major league debut halfway across the world. Josh has spent 33 years as a fourth grade math teacher at Arbutus Elementary, while Jennie has been a third grade science, social studies and literacy teacher at Severna Park Elementary for 25 years.
Wednesday’s season opener begins at 6 a.m. Eastern Daylight
Time in the United States, so Josh and Jennie will be forced to follow along from their respective classrooms. They plan to tape the game and watch it together at home that night.
“Today it really hit me that I’m not going to be there for my boy,” Jennie told The Capital regarding missing the opener. “We both looked at each other last night and were like, ‘This is really happening.’”
Jackson only spent a month back home in Severna Park during the offseason, as he now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, to be closer to the organization’s Peoria Sports Complex. Josh and Jennie spent a week earlier this month watching their son play Cactus League exhibition games and knew he was making great strides.
However, the abrupt announcement that Jackson would be San
Diego’s starting center fielder for the opener still caught them somewhat off guard. Jackson had played infield the majority of his baseball career prior to this spring.
“Jackson’s goal from the outset was to make the team and he knew in order to do so he had to play a new position because of the infield logjam,” Josh Merrill said. “Jackson had the mentality of: ‘I’m going to go get it. Nothing is going to stop me.’ He just has that competitive drive and is not going to settle for anything less.”
Josh, who coached his youngest of two sons from youth ball to age 16, said reality was “starting sinking in” while watching Sunday night’s exhibition game.
“Seeing Jackson out there on the field with Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatis … you realize that he really is playing with the ‘A’ team,” he said. “I’m still pinching myself. I have been for the past three years.”
Josh and Jennie will lead a large contingent of family members to Petco Park for the Padres’ home opener against the San Francisco Giants on March 28. They plan to stay in southern California for the entire four-game weekend series, which will be one big family celebration.
Jackson Merrill has come a long way since he was an undersized 5-foot7, 150-pound sophomore at Severna Park High. Two years later, Merrill stood 6-3 and weighed 195 pounds thanks to a dedication to proper diet and discovering weightlifting.
Jennie Merrill said the pandemic years were a “blessing in disguise” for her son as he was able to eat meals at home three times a day and spend time doing strength and conditioning work with Chuck Hall of HappyLee Fitness in Severna Park and working with personal trainer Juan Palacios at Gambrills Athletic Club.
Playing travel baseball for Five Star Carolina out of Charlotte for two summers also enhanced the development of Merrill, who was named Capital Gazette Player of the Year after hitting .500 with 12 home runs, 37 RBIs and 32 runs scored as a senior.
Josh and Jennie literally traveled thousands of miles to bring their son to baseball tournaments up and down the East Coast and beyond. They routinely drove to North Carolina and Georgia while he was playing summer ball for Five Star Carolina.
In a recent interview in the home clubhouse of the Peoria Sports Complex, the Padres’ spring training facility, Merrill talked about the unwavering support of his parents and his older brother Joshua.
“My parents were strict and hard on me, but they weren’t crazy. They let me go have fun when I wanted to,” Merrill said. “They were always there for me throughout my childhood. Whenever I wanted to go play baseball anywhere they would travel for me. I deeply appreciate everything they’ve done for me.”
San Diego surprised analysts by selecting Merrill in the first round and signing him for a $1.8 million bonus. Most scouts had rated the University of Kentucky commit as a thirdround talent.
Josh and Jennie are not worried things are happening too fast for their son, who will turn 21 years old on April 19. He shares an apartment with two San Diego minor league prospects and has proven capable of living responsibly on his own.
“Jackson’s happiest place on earth is the baseball field. He loves the game and just lives and breathes it,” Jennie said.