by Brooke Hall
Jackson Gilcrest was resigned to never playing baseball again. After Covid and then cancer stole his high school baseball career, Gilcrest was left too weak to even hold a ball, much less pitch like he used to.
After chemotherapy treatment and graduating high school, he worked to regain his health. He turned his attention to golf and took community college classes, with a plan to transfer to a university in a year or two.
But a chance meeting on the golf course in November changed everything.
Gilcrest ran into his former travel ball coach Brennan Laird, now an assistant baseball coach at IU Columbus. “Coach Laird and I were really close, and I knew that I’d love to play for him again. He encouraged me to try out for the Crimson Pride team, and I was there a week later.”
Jackson made the team, transferred to IU Columbus at the semester, and is thoroughly enjoying every moment of his college baseball career. “This is the most fun I’ve had in the long time, there’s nothing I’d rather do than play baseball,” he says.
Teammate Casper Clark noted that within the first week or two of practices, Gilcrest emerged as one of the team’s top trusted pitchers and displays a maturity you don’t normally find in a freshman.
Now three years into remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Gilcrest says he’s not throwing as hard as he used to and doesn’t have the mechanics he had pre-cancer. Yet he’s tough, always upbeat, and laughingly describes himself as a “ball of sunshine”—his teammates affectionately call him “Cheddar.”
Athletic Director Zach McClellan notes that Gilcrest is always smiling and happy. “Jackson has brought an energy to the team. He handles adversity very well and has lifted up both the athletes and the staff,” McClellan says. “Jackson has been an awesome addition to our program.”
Gilcrest says he enjoys the small campus atmosphere in Columbus, and his family has been very supportive of his decision. In fact, his grandma makes the trip from Muncie for every game to cheer him on.
“I know what I’m capable of, and I think I’m doing pretty well so far,” Gilcrest said. “I know I’m really lucky to be here.”
