Jake Wade McCoy of the Harwich Mariners is named after his great grandfather on his mom’s side, Wade B. Roberts. Jake called his namesake Papaw.
The duo was very close and spent days together at Papaw’s house in the wood shop or the garden. Little Jake’s eyes filled with wonder and curiosity as Papaw would tell him stories about serving three years in Europe during World War II. He told him what it was like sleeping in a foxhole rather than inside a building. He told him about how seven days after D-Day, June 13, 1944, he was sent to the beaches at Normandy.
“I think it’s just the love that my grandfather showed to him at such a young age,” Jake’s mom, Karena McCoy, said. “For those years, they had each other. And the stories they talked about and the things my grandfather instilled in him, those fingerprints are still all over Jake’s life today.”
That’s why every time Jake Wade McCoy fans an opposing batter in the SEC or in the Cape League, the impact stretches much further than just an out on the scoreboard. For every strikeout the Mariners left-hander records, he donates $23 to support military veterans, matching the number he wears on the back of his jersey.
“I’ve always had a passion for veterans,” Jake said. “I’ve always had super high respect for people in the military. They’ve sacrificed so much so that I’m able to come out here and play baseball. The least I can do is give back a little bit.”
A native of Fort Mill, South Carolina, Jake finished his sophomore season at South Carolina this spring. He struck out 77 batters in 60 innings and logged seven outings with seven or more punchouts.
Earlier this year, Jake partnered with Purple Heart Homes, an organization with the mission of providing veterans with safe and accessible housing. His Strikeouts for Veterans campaign has raised over $13,000. The SEC named him to its 2025 Baseball Community Service Team.
“God has given him a platform right now,” Karena said. “What can he do to give back to others? Because it is bigger than baseball. It’s great that he has all these strikeouts. But at the end of the day, what is he doing with all these strikeouts to make a difference?”
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Karena and her husband, Jon, knew their son loved baseball from when he started playing at age 3. Even though he was undersized, he was a relentless competitor on and off the field, at everything from Monopoly to Uno. He always wanted to win.
“Unless he’s strapped down, he’s going to do whatever it takes to compete,” Jon said.
Before pitching for the Gamecocks, he won a state championship as a two-way player at Catawba Ridge High School his senior year in 2023. He recorded a 1.65 ERA with 105 strikeouts that season. At the plate, he hit .300 with six homers, 38 runs and 14 stolen bases.
Jake played through what he thought was a pulled muscle in his back for most of the season. In the state championship clincher, he still tossed six innings with nine strikeouts.
“Started to get to a point where I was hurting really bad,” Jake said. “I took some Ibuprofen and tried to fight through it. It didn’t feel great. But I kept telling myself, ‘I’m not going to not throw. I have to throw. I need to hit. I need to do everything I can to help us win.’”
Jake’s original plan after high school was to head to Spartanburg and play for Todd Interdonato at Wofford. But Interdonato left that summer to take the head coaching job at Boston College. Jake decided Wofford was no longer the place for him. He reopened his recruitment, leading to a crazy few weeks before he found a home at South Carolina.
The back problems persisted when he got to Columbia. Jake was sent in for an MRI that revealed something much worse than a pulled muscle.
His back was broken.
Jake and his parents were shocked.
“We were devastated that he’d had to play through that,” Karena said. “Also grateful that we found out the problem and it could be healed without surgery.”
Jake was shut down for the entire fall of his freshman year. Looking back, he said not throwing right when he got to college was a blessing in disguise. It allowed him to adjust to the new college environment and learn by watching.
He started throwing again on Jan. 1, but Jake’s freshman season was difficult following the injury. He threw only 16 innings in 12 appearances almost exclusively as a reliever. He pitched to a 7.88 ERA.
Jake kept working.
“He's committed,” Karena said. “He's probably the most self-disciplined person I've ever been around. He just knows what he wants. And he works so hard to get there. That's been his whole journey. It's not been an easy journey at all.”
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While Jake can bring it with a mid-90s fastball on the mound, he admits he isn’t very good at social media. His parents describe him as an old soul who enjoys art and music. He’s more likely to be found fishing on a farm than on TikTok.
But in today’s college sports landscape, branding is important. Before his sophomore year, Jake’s advisors told him that many pro players do charity work to help build their brands. They told him that was something he could do when his career progressed beyond college.
Something clicked in Jake’s mind.
“I was like, ‘You know what, why wait for pro ball to start doing that?,’” he said. “’I’m able to do it now, so why not start it?’”
Jake knew he wanted to do something centered around veterans. He is now about the same age Papaw was when he entered the war. He knows what happened on the beaches of Normandy. He remembers the stories and has a deep appreciation for what Papaw and so many others went through. Jake’s other great grandfather, Alfred Larsen, was wounded and received a Purple Heart. Jake called his dad’s grandfather Pop.
Jon remembers when his son came to him to ask for help finding the right organization. Jon works in the fencing business and had helped Purple Heart Homes on several housing projects. He told Jake nothing but great things about the organization. They reached out and started Strikeouts for Veterans. It was the perfect match.
“They couldn't believe that this 20-year-old kid had this passion to want to want to do this for them,” Jon said. “It kind of took them off guard. But they're so thankful. They talk about the reach that they're going to have to bring awareness to these service-wounded veterans through a 20-year-old kid throwing strikes at South Carolina.”
Jake was a fixture in the Gamecocks’ weekend rotation this past spring, making 14 starts. On March 29, Purple Heart Homes CEO John Gallina visited with Jake and threw out the first pitch at a South Carolina game.
“He’s awesome,” Jake said. “Everybody there is so easy to work with. They’ve wanted to work with me. They’ve done everything that they could to try and help me.”
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Jake has brought his competitiveness, work ethic and charitable efforts to Cape Cod this summer with Harwich. He got the nod on Opening Day and turned in four innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts as the Mariners beat the Bourne Braves in a rematch of last season’s Championship Series.
His second start came on the first Red Shirt Friday of the season in Cotuit. Jake warmed up in the bullpen as the Kettleers held a pregame ceremony honoring veterans. A procession of motorcycles circled the field from Big Nick’s Ride, an annual charity ride for fallen heroes.
Jake picked up right where he left off, going 4 1/3 innings and striking out seven. His fastball has topped at 96 mph with a wipeout slider. He has yet to give up an earned run in the Cape League.
Between South Carolina and his time on the Cape with the Mariners so far, Jake has recorded 94 punchouts. He’s only six away from reaching his goal of 100 and $2,300 for 2025 he set at the start of the fundraiser.
“Jake is so generous and wants to give back to veterans because he thinks about, ‘This is what my great grandfather went through, my other great grandfather was wounded,’” Karena said. “Those two men loved him and made it real for him what veterans go through.”
For as long as he plays baseball, Jake wants to keep racking up dollars for the cause that’s close to his heart.
For his Papaw and Pop and for all the veterans who have sacrificed so much.
“The more I move forward, the more and more I’ll be able to donate,” Jake said. “The more people that will match me and the more people that will help donate to the cause. It’ll be a really gratifying feeling.”
(Featured image by Sydney Ciardi)
