All Jake Figg needed was an opportunity.
The Lake Central senior wasn’t going to let that kind of a chance go to waste.
“I knew the spot was going to be there,” Figg said. “But it was my job to go out and take it.”
Indeed, graduation opened up the leadoff spot for the defending Class 4A state champion Indians, and a busy offseason turned the speedy Figg into the ideal player for the job.
Figg is batting .333 and leads Duneland Athletic Conference co-leader Lake Central (16-3, 10-0) with 22 stolen bases and 24 runs scored. Reaching base any way he can, Figg has also been hit by pitches a team-high nine times and has a .474 on-base percentage.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked of him,” Lake Central coach coach Mike Swartzentruber said. “He’s played a great center field. He’s done a great job of getting on base. He just checks all of the boxes of everything you’d want in one of your starting players.”
Figg wasn’t a starter last season, when he had just 21 plate appearances, although he did reach base 12 times. The view from the dugout didn’t sit well with him, even if he understood it wasn’t his time yet.
“I was always ready for the opportunities when they were given to me,” Figg said. “But it really sucked not being able to go out and fight with my guys like that.”
Heading into this season, Swartzentruber believed Figg could become the new version of Nick Robinson, a 2024 Lake Central graduate who plays at Purdue Northwest after leading the team with a .386 batting average and 38 stolen bases.
Figg’s defense has matched expectations as well. He has not been charged with an error this season.
“I challenged him — that he was going to have to be a plus defender for us in center field, hit leadoff, find ways to get on base and, once he was on base, figure out how quickly he could get to second or third,” Swartzentruber said.
So much of what Figg does well revolves around his speed.
“I’ve always tried to be the fastest kid on the field,” he said. “We do a lot of speedwork here, which helps, and then I’ll take those workouts and go do them at home by myself — any way to get me as fast as I can be.”
Lake Central senior outfielder Drew Kosteba said Figg’s speed has been unique since the earliest days of his baseball career. But Kosteba has also noticed Figg seems to have an extra gear this season.
“I’d be talking to him during the offseason, and he’d tell me that he was out until 10 or 10:30 at night, just running sprints in his front yard,” Kosteba said. “That was one of the main things he worked on, and you can tell now. He’s been setting records with how fast he is, based on the times we’re seeing at practice.”
Running wasn’t the only thing on Figg’s offseason agenda.
“I was probably running three or four times a week, trying to get as fast as I could, and I was going to hit probably four or five times per week,” he said. “Plus, there was a lot of bunting work when I’d go hit so that I could make it all part of my game.”
Figg, who plans to become an electrician, has been putting all of that on display this season. He hopes he can continue to do that during a long playoff run.
“I’m just trying to help this team win as many games as possible,” he said. “It feels great that I’ve been given an opportunity to be in a pivotal role for such a great program.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
