One of the highlights of Northwestern’s 2010 baseball season was a perfect six-inning relief appearance against Milwaukee at Miller Park. An early highlight in the still-young 2011 season was a first-pitch, game-tying three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning against conference rival Ohio State last weekend.
The player behind these two memorable moments, both on the mound and at the plate? Jack Havey.
“Jack has been a little bit of every place,” coach Paul Stevens said. “He’s done things on the mound, he’s done things at bat and he’s done things defensively … We’re just waiting for the entire package to be wrapped with a nice beautiful bow put on it and have him deliver it, and it’s going to be just one of the best presents that this team could ever get.”
Stevens said the sophomore has “come a long way from last year,” becoming more consistent and believing in himself both on and off the field.
Colby Everett, Havey’s roommate, did not stop grinning the whole time he talked about Havey, but he chuckled especially hard when he recalled the events of one mid-February day in South Carolina, before the Wildcats’ season opener against George Mason last year.
The team decided to eat at the Chick-fil-A about a block from their hotel. Havey, who has a severe peanut allergy, unwittingly ate a meal that had been cooked in peanut oil. When he started experiencing an allergic reaction, Havey bolted from the restaurant and sprinted as fast as he could back to the hotel to take his allergy medication.
“It was probably the fastest I’ve ever run in my life,” Havey said.
Havey recovered to pitch 2.2 innings of relief in his NU debut.
The part that sticks with Everett, though, is Havey’s ability to take things in stride.
“Every time we’re eating anywhere, we’ve got to check what kind of oil they’re using and make sure they have something available for Havey,” Everett said. “We kind of give him crap about that, but he takes it pretty well. He’s a good sport.”
Havey acquired his humble demeanor through years of playing baseball with his brother, Matt, who is five years older than Jack and also played for the Cats.
“(Matt) was my idol growing up when I was a real little kid and he still is today, ” Havey said. “He taught me a lot, just by playing up on his level, hanging out with him and his friends, going to the schoolyard and playing with them. I was always the little kid. That taught me basically everything that kids my age weren’t learning for another several years. It taught me to be tough, too, because I was continually getting beaten by them. Keep getting up and keep working harder.”
It was only natural, then, that when Matt started playing baseball for the Cats and since the family lived roughly five minutes away in Wilmette, Ill., Jack went to as many games as he could. But his affinity for NU started before either brother was college-aged.
“We have a lot of pictures of me with little Northwestern hats, which is kind of funny slash a little weird looking back on it,” Havey said. “It’s kind of special being able to look back on that and see where I am today.”
Though Stevens called Matt Havey “one of the most special individuals (he’s) ever coached,” he said he’s not much for comparing siblings. The skipper said Matt has written his story at NU and Jack has a couple more years to write his own.
Hitting a three-run bomb off of a pitcher hurling mid-90s fastballs in the first Big Ten series of the season was a nice step in writing that story. But Stevens hinted that Havey’s true test will be his growth on the mound.
“Jack Havey was signed as a big 6-foot-3 left-handed pitcher,” Stevens said. “And that’s how Jack Havey has to contribute. Anything after that is a benefit.”
Havey will get a chance to continue writing his story when NU (8-17, 1-2 Big Ten) faces Penn State (17-9, 2-1) this weekend in its home conference opener.
