Former Jimmie Luke Shekeryk helping people swing at The Cage

Feb. 7—JAMESTOWN — When former University of Jamestown baseball player Luke Shekeryk finished his summer season playing for the Moose Jaw Miller Express, he started working as the head hitting instructor at The Cage.

Since September, Shekeryk has been working at the baseball and softball facility with players about 8 years old to college age.

"I love creating a new culture, these kids work hard, a lot of them are driving 30, 45 minutes from out of town just to get some work in and I love their effort, I love their hustle," Shekeryk said. "I love their grind and I love that they stay true to it."

When his summer season ended, Shekeryk reached out to The Cage's owner, Justin Connell, with the hopes of staying in the sport. The Cage is an indoor batting cage facility in Jamestown.

As Shekeryk looks for the next stop in his playing career, he is also looking past that and staying in the game as a coach.

"I'll be coaching this summer, JayBal with the high school team, helping out there, trying my best to build a resume for myself," Shekeryk said. "There's a lot of coaching opportunities out there."

During his Jimmies career, Shekeryk played in 94 games, hitting .324 with a .440 on-base percentage and a .637 slugging percentage. He clubbed 23 home runs and 68 runs batted in. Although he is not an official member of the Jimmies staff, Shekeryk said he has spoken to head coach Tom Hager about helping the program out when he can. While he is the only former or current Jimmie working at The Cage, current Jimmies assistant coaches Trey Evans and Noah Soltero worked at the facility before Jimmies baseball took all of their attention.

Shekeryk said he learned some hard lessons from Hager during his time playing for him.

"I learned about the structure," Shekeryk said. "I learned about sometimes you can't be everyone's friend and that's the tough part. You want to be everyone's friend but you can't and it's still a business and you're here to make people better."

Shekeryk said his best skill as a coach is his ability to relate to his players and get them to understand what he is trying to say and improve their swing.

"I've gone through a lot of baseball seasons with coaches trying to help people out and them being relay messages to people hasn't been the answer," he said. "So, I took it upon myself to take charge of that and it's really given me a lot of success in this business."

Shekeryk's most successful year as a Jimmie was his redshirt junior season in which he played in 40 games hitting .327 with 13 home runs and 27 runs batted in. Although he had success in college, Shekeryk said he doesn't bring it up very often.

"I talk about it sometimes but it isn't about me at this point," Shekeryk said. "It's about them and trying to get them motivated, trying to see what wakes them up to get themself ready to come to The Cage every day and get that work in. It's on them, if they want to come get that work in, I'm there for them."

Despite coaching, Shekeryk said he is still looking for a new team to play for and is continuing to work toward that goal.

Shekeryk said he works with five or six kids on a regular basis. Shekeryk said he usually has three or four lessons per day. According to The Cage's booking website, each session lasts one hour.

"If someone is younger and you can tell they have a hang of the game and they want to progress, I'll definitely work with them," Shekeryk said. "It's always the minor steps. The kids that are older, high school, we get it after it, we try to take it seriously, we try to take preparation seriously. There's a lot of talking about swings and how to adjust to things and your mental approach. So, it's more than just swinging a baseball bat at The Cage, it's really about the mental side as well as the physical side."