UJ bound Jaxon Kolpin succeeding on the mound for the Eagles

JAMESTOWN — When this summer’s Jamestown Post 14 Eagles season ends, it will only be a few weeks before Jaxon Kolpin steps back onto the rubber at Jack Brown Stadium after trading his blue and white for orange and black.

The 2025 Jamestown High School graduate committed to play for the Jimmies in April.

“I committed to UJ because I wanted to stay home near family,” Kolpin said. “My grandparents live about 50 miles northeast of Jamestown so I wanted to stay near them, so I could go up there and visit them regularly, hunt and fish with my grandpa.”

Throughout the recruiting process, Kolpin said he spoke with Jimmies head coach Tom Hager about what he needs to do to be ready to play for the squad. Kolpin said Hager told him he wants him to continue to lift weights and improve in all aspects of his game.

Kolpin said Hager views him as more of a pitcher than a position player. Kolpin said his goal for his first year as a Jimmie is to add a slider to his already existing repertoire of a changeup, four-seam fastball and a curveball.

“I want to be a starter at UJ. ... We’ll see how it goes. I think I gotta develop another pitch to be a starter," Kolpin said. "I only have three right now, I think a fourth would solidify my spot in the starting rotation.”

Before he committed to the Jimmies, Kolpin said he was also looking at Mayville State University (North Dakota) and Minnesota State Community and Technical College.

Kolpin is one of two University of Jamestown commits on this year’s Eagles team alongside Thomas Newman. The duo will join a Jimmies roster that is expected to have one other player from Jamestown, Payton Hochhalter. Kolpin said he spoke with Hochhalter and Jimmies football player Jackson Walters about what it was like to play at UJ.

“That’s helped out a little bit,” Kolpin said. “... They both like it here, so they gave good support to come here.”

Despite coaching Kolpin, Newman and Hochhalter, Eagles head coach Sam Joseph said he is not taking any credit for helping them get to the collegiate level.

“That’s just a tribute to their hard work,” Joseph said. “That has nothing to do with me. It’s a privilege to coach kids like that that want to play baseball and those two (Kolpin and Newman) want to play baseball. They’re gonna go to the next level and do it and the best part about it is that they’re doing it at my alma mater. … They’re both gonna be in black and orange with a J on their hat still. Instead of a blue J, it’s an orange J.”

As of July 13, Kolpin is hitting .264 with three doubles, 10 RBIs and six stolen bases. On the mound, he has thrown a team-leading 44.1 innings, compiling a 2.56 ERA with a .208 batting average against.

Joseph said his message to Kolpin when they talk about his approach at the plate is to keep swinging and good things will happen.

“I think this summer I’ve gotten better on the mound, particularly. I think my velo (velocity) has gone up a little bit,” Kolpin said. “I think I’ve really developed my changeup from last year to this year. My changeup has gotten better and my curveball, everything on the mound has improved from last year, along with getting bigger, faster, stronger from last year. I think I’ve done that. I’ve been in the weight room.”

Through the Eagles' remainder of the season, Kolpin said he will work on improving his performance at the plate, specifically his ability to hit the ball the other way and reach the pitches outside of the zone.

Since he first joined the Eagles in 2014, Joseph said Kolpin has grown out of his shell as a person and has developed an intensity on the field.

“Every time I’m on the mound I think I’m better than the batter in the box,” Kolpin said. “I don’t care what pitch I throw. I think every pitch I throw can be at any batter. I think my changeup is one of the best in the state. I love throwing my changeup to lefties and I’m not afraid to face anyone.”

Throughout his career playing for the Eagles, Joseph gave Kolpin a nickname taken from an MLB hall of famer.

“He’s a bulldog. He’s the middle piece, he’s right there in the middle, number four hitter, big unit is what I call him,” Joseph said. “He’s not like Randy Johnson where he goes up there and strikes out everybody but he averages right around 70 to 80 pitches an outing and he does it effortlessly because he uses his defense. … He comes back up there and he continues to command the zone with all of his pitches. He gets us out of innings and he does with the bat. Right now, the bat isn’t all there, but when he gets into one, that baby is going. It’s coming off that bat pretty quickly. So there’s a lot of velo off that bat and a lot of command off that right arm of his.”

Jaxon Kolpin looks to home plate as he winds up for a pitch on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at Jack Brown Stadium.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Hello,
My name is Max O'Neill. I am a Sports Reporter at The Jamestown Sun. I am a native New Yorker, who graduated from Ithaca College in 2020 with a degree in Television-Radio.