Former Major League Baseball Shortstop Jack Wilson Joins Oaks Christian School Coaching Staff

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - March 15, 2013 - PRLog -- Westlake Village, California—With a desire to stay active in the game of baseball and give back to younger ball players, former professional shortstop Jack Wilson has recently joined the Oaks Christian School coaching staff.  Wilson’s Major League Baseball career included being named to the 2004 All-Star Team and a Silver Slugger Award in 2004 when with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He also earned a Fielding Bible Award in 2009 for his defensive excellence at shortstop with the Seattle Mariners.  Wilson now offers his skills and knowledge as coach of the Gold Team at Oaks Christian middle school and the team is already off to a great spring season.

With local roots, Wilson began his baseball career playing for Thousand Oaks High School.  He went on to play two seasons at Oxnard Junior College, which propelled him into a professional career playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Atlanta Braves. He retired from professional baseball on September 25, 2012, and returned to Thousand Oaks where he and his wife are raising their three children.

Returning to his hometown, Wilson is staying in the game through coaching.  He chose Oaks Christian School for its faith-based commitment to excellence in academics, artistic expression, and athletics.  “It is such a bonus to be able to pray with the players before practice and to serve God’s kingdom through baseball,” said Wilson.  As a mentor and a coach, Wilson is already having an impact on these young baseball players.

Wilson’s faith and sports philosophy fits well with the program already established by Coach Howie Neftin, who oversees the Oaks Christian Middle School baseball program that includes both a Cardinal and Gold Team.  “The quality of our student athletes is amazing,” said Neftin.  “The kids are really young men who come out for the team with incredible maturity and skills.”  Neftin has a love for baseball that goes back to when he played in both high school and junior college, although he later switched to football, playing for Portland State University.

Together, Neftin and Wilson will continue to build strong middle school baseball teams, sending well prepared players to the successful Oaks Christian high school program.  This year, six OCS seniors have signed to play Division I college baseball in the fall.  Wilson will also be assisting the high school’s Boys Varsity Baseball Coach Tim Penprase on a part-time basis.  “We are very excited to have Jack Wilson join the Oaks Christian baseball family and we look forward to adding his experience, expertise, and knowledge to our coaching staff,” said Penprase.