The Gospel In The Game Sports Podcast
Conversation and stories about real athletes and the journey thru sport, faith and life.
Connecting athletes, sports families and the church. Build bridges and telling real stories to help repair, build and grow people.
Hosts Dan Dromarsky and Dave Dawson
The Gospel In The Game Sports Podcast
Jacob Pries - Belief and Baseball
One from the archives. Recorded in July 2019.
Have you ever wondered how faith can weave its way through the world of sports and beyond? Join us for this captivating episode featuring Jacob Preece, a former relief pitcher for the Edmonton Prospects, who shares his inspiring journey from the baseball diamond to the realms of law and wildlife conservation. Guided by his steadfast faith, Jacob's story is one of transformation—rooted in the values instilled by his parents and the spirituality he embraced along the way. As he reflects on his career shift and newfound passions for hunting and fishing, Jacob paints a vivid picture of how his beliefs have shaped his path and allowed him to connect deeply with the natural world.
Listen as we explore the powerful connections between faith, sports, and the outdoors, delving into Jacob's life as a conservationist and outdoorsman. We discuss how his upbringing influenced his values, paving the way for a life filled with purpose and integrity. His journey offers insights into the importance of balance and staying true to one's core beliefs while navigating life's many transitions. Through this conversation, you'll gain an appreciation for the divine beauty in nature and the significance of maintaining that splendor for future generations.
We also touch on the pivotal role of family in fostering a strong foundation of humility, respect, and hard work. Jacob recounts the freedom his parents gave him to explore and ultimately embrace Christianity at a crucial crossroads in his life. This episode is brimming with hope and encouragement, as we highlight the potential of sports to inspire and uplift, especially for those seeking guidance and connection. Join us for a heartwarming conversation that underscores the power of faith in charting a meaningful path and inspiring others to live with purpose and integrity.
Welcome to the Gospel in the Game sports podcast. I'm your host, dan Dramarski, and usually with me is Dave Dawson. But today we're bringing you a very special episode, another edition of From the Archives. Today we bring out an episode recorded in the summer of 2019 with baseball player Jacob Preece. Jacob Preece was a relief pitcher at the time, previously with the Western Canadian Baseball League, playing for the Edmonton Prospects. Jacob was very vocal about his faith and still is, and being involved in sport. He took this as an opportunity to share about his faith and still is and being involved in sport. He took this as an opportunity to share about his faith with not only his teammates, but also with those around him. Enjoy this episode, give us some feedback, let us know what you think. Here now is our episode with Jacob Preece. Welcome back to the Gospel in the Game. I'm your host, dan Demarski, with me is Dave Dawson, and today we are interviewing Jacob Priest. Jacob, how are you doing today?
Speaker 2:I'm doing great, happy to be here Awesome.
Speaker 1:Now, Jacob is a former sidearm pitcher, Played up here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for the Edmonton Prospects for a year. Played up here in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, for the Edmonton Prospects for a year. Played a little college ball and the gospel and the game. It's about the two things the gospel and the game. And so, Jacob, we have you on to share a little bit of your testimony on what your life has been involved in the game of sport, and baseball in particular, and how the Lord has allowed you to be encouraged and used throughout that process. Where are you at right now, Jacob? Now, I mentioned that you played here, but you're retired, aren't?
Speaker 2:you. Yeah, so later in my career actually the season after, later in my career, actually the season after so I was in Edmonton in the summer and shortly after I got injured I injured my UCL and so can I love a play, but it was a great experience while I was there and then. So right now, you know, I'm actually currently in law school and I'm working for a place called the Quality Deer Management Association. It does a lot of conservation work and I absolutely love that. I like to tell people that I got to live a dream playing baseball up in Edmonton and now I get to live a dream doing this, so it's really great.
Speaker 3:Edmonton and now, you know, I get to live a dream doing this, so it's, it's really great. So the first question for it I think it's, you know, for maybe people who follow baseball probably familiar with who you are to follow that realm. But a great introductory question for everybody, regardless of who we have on, is who are you, who is Jacob priests? If you introduced yourself, be it maybe a faith conversation or anything that, who, who is Jacob Priest? How do you fill in that? Who are you sentence? Wow.
Speaker 1:Give us a second.
Speaker 2:Let's hope they get easier from here. That's a tough question right there, it sounds like, since you're in Moscow.
Speaker 3:I should ask you, like the, the algebra questions, or like the really really hard ones, or where were you on the 9 to the 4? Yeah, exactly, and then we'll work our way down. Yeah, right, or maybe something more unexpected, anyway, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think for me, gosh, obviously a man of faith I mean that's got to to be number one. A family man that's got to be up there too Now at this point in my life. A conservationist I work really hard at that An outdoorsman, gosh. The outdoors mean so much to me and it shaped me as an individual and has shaped me as an individual Right now. That's who Jacob Preece is, you know. And gosh, I'm unbelievably blessed and you know I can't reiterate that enough, but I think that's the best way to answer your question right now.
Speaker 1:For me personally, Now, before you dive into the next one that you're itching at, dave, I said to my son I said usually guys that are athletes are either in the summertime they're busy fishing, or they're busy golfing, or you do a bowl. And so Jacob's an avid fisherman. If you go to his social media and by conservationist, you know what, what you love your wildlife and you care for it, but you are a fisherman oh yeah, I love to fish, I love to hunt, I love to be outside.
Speaker 2:You know, I like to tell people that you know sportsmen and women. They're the original conservationists and there's nobody connected to the land more than those people, and so to get to represent those people and do what I do at KDMA is really great and, like I said, it is living another dream for me, so it's been awesome.
Speaker 3:Well, why don't we tackle the baseball portion first and we can kind of jump from there now? You know, growing up a young man in the? U in the us, what I understand about you doing my research and baseball is that you know it's america's game, right, you go out, you're playing ball. The dream is to play the high, some sort of high level ball. Um, what, what was that process like for you, getting into that and then moving on from the game? How did that make you into the person you are?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so getting into the game, you know I played when I was really young Gosh T-Ball. When I was, I think, four years old or five years old, I started with that and I fell in love with the game and from a very early age I played nothing but baseball.
Speaker 2:That was it, that was all I played and I focused entirely on that. I got to high school and it was baseball year-round. It was, you know, when snow was on the ground here in Ohio. You know I was inside at baseball camps. You know I give a lot of credit to my parents who drove me around to these things all the time. You know I live gosh 45 minutes outside of Cleveland, ohio, and you know a lot of those camps were in downtown Cleveland, you know, and they drove me whether it was, you know, on a Thursday night and they had work in the morning. They drove me there. So I went from that to you know.
Speaker 2:So that developed my love for the game and it was kind of, you know. So that developed my love for the game and it was kind of, you know, helped by my family and my parents, their support and, you know, they put me in the best position to succeed and have an opportunity to play college baseball. And then I got, you know, I went out and, you know, got into the recruiting process, chose a college, went to the college of Worcester to play, played baseball there and then you know, it was kind of uh, you know that was kind of a learning experience and then ended up in Edmonton, kind of off a whim really, because it was. I was looking for summer teams and you know the the head coach then was Ray Brown.
Speaker 2:I reached out to him and I said hey, I'm a sideline pitcher from Ohio. What do you think?
Speaker 1:He said, Send me a video.
Speaker 2:So I sent him a recruiting video and it was just a video of me pitching and Ray Brown took a chance on me and I owe a lot to that guy because he kind of he knew my pitching style and he knew how to utilize me and I was really in a good system there. And you know, he took a chance on me and and it worked out and I learned an unbelievable amount of information while I was there. But you know, as Dan can tell you, I fell in love with that city. I fell in love with that city. I fell in love with the people there. Edmonton will always have a special place in my heart. It was truly an unbelievable experience.
Speaker 2:And then coming out getting injured was unfortunate. But, like I said, you know God has a plan and you know, truly an unbelievable experience. And then coming out getting injured was unfortunate. But, like I said, you know god has a plan and you know, I got to live a dream while I was up there at edmonton and now I get to live this one and it's just been been surreal. So, yeah, that's that's kind of my journey.
Speaker 3:That's cool, appreciate you sharing that. Now there are a lot of layers and levels in there and I really appreciate you being vulnerable now. The pastor in my church here in Edmonton has this thing where he says Faith is spelled R-I-S-K and often you look through the Gospels, you look through Scripture, you know the Lord. I think nobody is removed from times where you're on shaky ground and you don't know what tomorrow looks like, and some of the different athletes that we've talked to on this podcast that's familiar to it. What does risk look like in your faith journey and how has the lord guided you through some of those risky situations, maybe even going from the usa to canada?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, that's actually. That was actually the example I was going to use because, look, being completely honest with you, my college season, before I went up to Canada, I was virtually benched on my college team. I wasn't seeing a lot of time.
Speaker 1:But, like I said, ray Brown took a chance on me.
Speaker 2:Now I say he took a chance on me because you're not guaranteed a roster spot, and for me it was going up and taking a chance, it was taking a risk. But you know what, at the end of the day, I knew that God had a plan and that, you know, I could rely on that. And so I went up and I said to myself I'm going to give you everything I got, I'm going to put everything I can into this and let's see, maybe we'll make two weeks out of it, maybe we'll make it two weeks and I'll enjoy this experience. Well then, I made it two weeks and then I was like, let's make it a month and I'll enjoy that experience. I made it a month and then, after a month, it became clear that I was a part of the system and that I was going to be able to stay here the whole time. So that risk of going up into another country not knowing anybody, I knew nobody when I landed in Edmonton.
Speaker 2:Ray Brown picked me up from the airport. That was the first time I had met the guy. So you know I came up knowing nobody and just taking that risk, taking that chance, because in my mind, if you work hard, you never give up, you trust in God, you can do anything.
Speaker 1:Now. You were very much vocal with your faith when you were part of the image of prospects. My boys love the fact that you have bible verses inside your hat and tell us a little bit about that. What did it mean to be an athlete that was vocal with their faith?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah. So even when I played baseball, even now, I always wanted to do something bigger than myself. I always want to have an impact bigger than myself. Edmonton gave me the pedestal. Edmonton put me in the spotlight, it put me in front of a lot of people, and so I was able to Show my faith and I was always a player that wore my emotions on my sleeve. I was always that player. You were going to know who I was.
Speaker 2:I wanted to be genuine in everything I did whether it was after the game, signing autographs for kids. Whatever it was I wanted to be genuine.
Speaker 2:I was not bigger than the game. I was not bigger than the people who were there, the fans, anything like that. I wasn't bigger than that. So I wanted to make sure that people knew who I was, and part of that is a man of faith. And so to be able to sit there and go through my pregame routine on the mound and point my finger up to this guy and say, you know, to have that public prayer moment, that was just me, that's me and that's who I am, and I'm going to be genuine. I'm not going to be somebody that I'm not.
Speaker 1:And part of that is speaking about the person before the athlete and your identity being found in Christ, and that's absolutely perfect and I think a lot of times that is forgotten where we see professional athletes whether it's on an amateur level or minor league level or professional level and we see the athlete and so often it's just a refreshing thing to see the person and the humanity behind it.
Speaker 3:For sure I was going to ask you. So you have that platform, you're playing baseball, you took that risk. The Lord gives you a place to play ball, you're in the community. Then that gets taken away from you, then you have an injury. What's that process like for you, where you have that platform and then it's not necessarily gone, but you're going through those emotions of okay, what's next?
Speaker 2:right. So that's where, that's where a little bit of my upbringing and faith come into play. So faith in that I knew god had a plan. I knew there was a reason for what happened upbringing in that I, my parents, had, they brought me up in a way that I had. You know, baseball was don't get me wrong baseball was my life, that it surrounded, it consumed me. Part of it kind of had to. You were always playing, you were always practicing, you were always committed, you were a baseball player. That's what you were.
Speaker 2:But I took comfort in the fact of God having a plan and I also took comfort in the fact that, okay, I got to live a dream up there in Edmonton. I got to play in front of thousands of fans and got to meet amazing people and grow my faith. And now I have the opportunity to grow elsewhere and I have the opportunity to really dedicate myself to things that kind of I couldn't before. I couldn't dedicate myself to those things before. So that included hunting and fishing in the outdoors, where baseball took a lot of my summer, so I couldn't go do those things as much where now I have the opportunity.
Speaker 2:So you know, you make the best of your situation. So was it unfortunate? Yes, but did that open the door to other opportunities for me to have an impact bigger than myself? Yes, it did and honestly, I wouldn't change it, because I love this, I love what I'm doing now. I love the memories that I have with Dan and with the fans there and Edmonton and gosh, meeting those families Dan, yours included, gosh they're amazing. So you know the experiences I will have for the rest of my life.
Speaker 3:So what does the day-to-day of your faith look like now? Being involved as a conservationist and being, you know, being involved in the game of fishing? I love the idea that there are many sports where God puts believers in. I have a buddy who's a believer in a stand-up comic where, if you think of that's kind of like a sport.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly Sidebar.
Speaker 3:But it's interesting that you think of different industries where God's got all of his people lined up, and then there are temptations and there are ways that you're like you could go this way to get people to really like you, or instead you can dial it back a bit, so to get people to really like you, or instead you can dial it back again. So what does your day-to-day look like as a conservationist and what do some of your interactions with your faith look like in sharing the gospel and living in faith?
Speaker 2:Right. So I talk about the connection to the land a lot. Right, and that is really important to me as a sportsman is connection to the land okay, and that comes also with my belief system and also a connection to faith Okay, so that connection to the land also is a connection to faith and a connection to God. You know, and we have great opportunities.
Speaker 2:Look, I get to go out sometimes some mornings, and I get to see God's work right there, right there in front of me, and that's an amazing, amazing, you know experience to see what, you know, god had a hand in and that is just unbelievable to me. And so that's, you know, talking about day to day, you know, and being a conservationist, you're continually motivated by that. You're continually motivated because what you want to do is you want to ensure that those people who come after me have those same opportunities to experience god's work and have the same opportunities to experience what I have been fortunate enough to experience. When I go out there and I sit whether it's in a, you know, whether it's a tree, stand a duck blind, wherever I'm at in a river, I want to make sure that those people have those same opportunities, because it's an experience that I can't put into words and probably will never be able to put into words.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so true, jacob. You mentioned the building blocks, those developing years where your parents were engaged and involved, and you talk about having a great upbringing. Talk to the parents that are listening to this. What are some great things that your parents did that you can see now. Maybe you might not even have agreed with it at the time, but you see now as well. Those were solid building blocks that were really important for my mom and dad to do. That really developed me now gosh, there's.
Speaker 2:There's so many things that they did for me. I there's no way that I'll be able to mention them all, but you know, it's just just be there. That that's fundamental. That's fundamental in itself. Just be there for your kids. I think that's huge. That was what was so great to me. To be able to look at my parents over there in the stands watching my games was motivation.
Speaker 1:That was motivating for me because I wanted to do well for them.
Speaker 2:I know they care, they care about me, and so to see them over there, knowing that they want me to do well, that was motivation, you know.
Speaker 2:And also, I think my parents have always taught me humility, and I think humility is huge. Not only do I think humility is huge in, you know, in my faith, but also my parents in their upbringing of me teaching me humility and not making me out to think that I am above anybody or anything, that you know I should have. Respect for the game, for my coaches, that's that was also really important. Respect for myself, uh, you know, just, they continually, continually told me the importance of working hard and that has instilled not only in me when it came to sports, but now after sports. All of these things that they taught me that related to sports have helped me after sports. Humility, respect, working hard, gosh, those are just fundamental things. But ultimately, as a parent, as somebody who has played and had their parents at their games and driving them across the country to go see games, just be there for your kids. That means so much to them and I know it meant so much to me.
Speaker 3:We often ask on the show, going back to your 16-year-old self, what would you tell a 16-year-old Jacob priest? And the caveat to that I'm curious of is where did that faith become yours during that navigation process and when did you adopt that? And we often get that parent, you know, raised in a Christian home, went off to college some sort of like whoa like wake-up moment. You know, raised in a Christian home, went off to college some sort of like whoa like wake up moment. You know Jesus has to be mine. Now. Where did that interaction come for you? Where, like okay, this is my own faith.
Speaker 2:Right. So that actually came. That actually came a little bit later in life for me, because my parents, growing up, uh, we didn't, we didn't necessarily we didn't, we didn't go to church too much, but faith was always important.
Speaker 1:So faith was always important, but it didn't become my faith until later, because my parents allowed me to learn by myself what was best for me, because that's what my parents want is what's best for me, and I applaud them for that.
Speaker 2:So when I was about 18 years old, I kind of came at a crossroads in my life and I said what type I knew. I wanted to be a Christian. I was raised a Christian. It made sense to me. But as you know, there are different denominations different beliefs within the Christian faith.
Speaker 2:So I had to ask myself what kind of Christian did I want to be? Well, I came to realize that, you know, for me, Christianity as a faith is so much more about, so much more than just the separate denominations. It's about love, it's about acceptance, it's about how you treat one another. So that was when I really discovered look, not only do I want to be a good man, because I was 18 years old, I was coming up, I was making my morals.
Speaker 2:I was trying my best to become a man and, with the help of my family, friends, I discovered that, look, I didn't want to just be a man, I wanted to be a good man of God. Discovered that, look, I didn't want to just be a man, I wanted to be a good man of God. And that was when that was really when I kind of decided that that was the path I wanted to take.
Speaker 1:Okay, so you've decided now that you're a follower of Lord Jesus Christ, decided after your commitment to Christ. How do you put an exclamation mark on that so that you can impact and influence the kids that are watching the next generation? So I'm asking almost a reverse question. Sometimes we ask, going back further than that, talk to your five, six, seven-year-old self what do you want the Lord to do with your life so that, all of a sudden, these kids that are watching this young man enjoy things like fishing, things like baseball, things that are cool, but yet, at the same time, I want them to see Christ, because Christ is a little bit more important. What do you do? What do you put that exclamation mark on?
Speaker 2:Well, I'm doing it right now. I mean, I have these podcasts. I mean what you guys are doing right now, you're giving me a platform through things like this. That's the easy part, right, you're giving me a platform and I can speak and I can say look, jesus Christ has done this in my life and I like to tell people too that I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, because I've seen what he can do.
Speaker 2:I'm a living example, because without him I wouldn't be here where I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, because I've seen what he can do. I'm a living example because you know, without him I wouldn't be here where I'm at, you know. So I think you know that is, first and foremost, a way in which I can kind of proclaim my faith is using things like this and teaching people through this, this type of podcast. You guys are in a great position to do a lot of great work in that regard. But beyond this podcast, it's living your life by example. It is living your life as an example of what Jesus Christ would want you to live your life by.
Speaker 2:It's being a good person, it's being a man of faith. You live by example, you do good things, you do good deeds. It's being a man of faith. You live by example, you do good things, you do good deeds, you have humility and respect, and that is how you show people. Look, jesus Christ helped me get here. He helped me. I'm living my life for him, and so that's how I try to do it, the best I can. I think that's the best way to do it.
Speaker 3:Now, men and young men today are inundated with a lot of different struggles.
Speaker 3:Women this generation, the fatherless generation. Right, there's a number of and God bless single moms out there who do an incredible job, but I believe that they were never intended to do that on their own and everyone needs a dad. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, absolutely. So how has your father made an impact in your life to make you into the man you are today? And what do you tell some of the younger men out there, inundated with sexual temptation, with anger or other addictions or frustrations, or maybe just identity, who am I? I need to go find it in money, either go find it in this or that. You know, how do you, as a young man, navigate through that? And how did your father help affirm your identity as who you are, making you the guy you are?
Speaker 2:today, right right. So my dad has had an unbelievable impact on my life.
Speaker 3:My dad is he's a deputy sheriff so he gets to go be a hero for other people and then gets to come home and be my hero.
Speaker 2:So you know it's he has taught he has been the cornerstone of respect and humility. I talked about respect. I talked about who respected humility throughout this entire podcast and a lot of that sense of him. Um, you know, and I think that you know, I also talked a lot about hard work and that man works hard. He works hard for me and my mom and my brother to make sure that he gives us.
Speaker 2:He'll always tell us he wants a better life for us than he had and he had a great, you know, it wasn't really a bad life but he just wants us to do better than he did.
Speaker 1:And I think that's every parent's goal.
Speaker 2:I know your question's about my father, but I'd be remiss to not say that my mother's had an unbelievable impact in my life as well. So I realize that a father is extremely important. That being said, you know, I think your mother can also have an unbelievable impact on people's lives, because I know my mom has as well. She has also taught me how to work. So those people that maybe have are struggling with you know, because it may be a man or something like that you can fight through things that are put on your plate, that might be struggles through. I always tell people through three things you can never give up. You gotta work hard and trust in Jesus Christ and he will bring you through it, and I am a living example of that. I really am. So I think that's the big things you've got to focus on for that type of thing.
Speaker 1:Amen. And you know, having that framework and that model, and you know, some families they're blessed with both parents. Some young men, young ladies, they lose parents too soon or maybe they don't have a mom or don't have a dad and often they'll latch on to someone who could be a father figure, someone who could be a mother figure, and those things are just really important. And, like you kind of just said, more importantly, someone that models Jesus Christ. That's a pivotal thing for every young man and young woman and I think every coach, I think every, every parent in the crowd. That's our role. That's our role, isn't? It is the model Jesus Christ. So what would Jesus do if he was a parent to the crowd? What would Jesus do if he was a coach? If he was a baseball player, it was. He was a fisherman, now being a fisher of men. That you are, no pun intended.
Speaker 3:Pun intended, Pun intended. He was like I'm going to have Jacob on the podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm going to build it all to that. That's right Now that we've hit the pinnacle. What's your favorite Bible verse, jacob? Why don't you share it with us?
Speaker 2:I think, my favorite. So there were two Bible verses that I wrote in my hat and they're pretty hard to differentiate. They're pretty hard to pick one over the other. I guess One of them is so it's a little cliche because I think a lot of people use it, but that's okay. It's good that people have a verse to go to, but it's Philippians 4.13. And so it's.
Speaker 2:I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. A lot of truth in that. But the one I want to focus on really is Romans 8.31, which says that if our God is for us, then who can be against us? And that goes back to trusting in God. And that's why it's my favorite, because I think if you place your trust in Jesus Christ, you really can't go wrong, because he is going to work out for you, he is going to put you on that path of success, he's going to give you those opportunities. You just got to go out and take them and live your life, like I said, the best way you can to exemplify Christianity. And I think that's why that verse is so special to me and it's really affected my life, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Now, jacob, I want to thank you for being on the Gospel in the Game podcast and you know, you just kind of you nailed it right on the head when you laid it out and just said you know, if you got Jesus, you win. That's the game plan, isn't it?
Speaker 2:If you got the.
Speaker 1:Lord, not too many other things matter. We have two conditions on our show. One is we get to have you back and we get to follow up with you and we get to interview again. How many other things matter? We have two conditions on our show. One is we get to have you back and we get to follow up with you and we get to interview again and we're going to follow up with Jacob Priest and find out what he's doing and what he's learned and what the Lord is doing in his life. And the second thing is is, before we go, we're going to take a moment and we're going to pray for you Jacob.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of yeah, of course, of course. Heavenly father, we thank you so much for this time we've been able to spend with jacob and we just pray that you would continue to use him and that you would bless him and all that you would have him do. Lord, may his testimony be heard, and lord, that the words that were spoken today would be encouraging to those lives that would hear them. Or we think of many young men and many young ladies that don't have father figures or mother figures, but, lord, they have an opportunity to know you as their Lord and Savior. And, lord, we pray that through the words spoken today, that they would be drawn closer to you and that they would know you and trust in you. In Jesus' name, we pray, amen, amen, pray, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:You've just listened to an episode from the archives with Jacob Preece, baseball player and now actually he is a conservation officer in Ohio. Really interesting to see how the Lord changes the path and uses sport in order to encourage others. If you are encouraged by this episode, give us some feedback, follow us online. You can also follow us on social media and you can listen to us anywhere podcasts are found. I'm Dan Jomarski for another edition of Gospel in the Game from the Archives We'll be right back.
