Three years of college baseball at tradition-rich North Carolina.
A projected No. 2 overall pick by some in the Major League Baseball draft on June 9.
The best pure college hitter in the nation.
Dustin Ackley is most likely a future millionaire.
His older brother wouldn’t want it any other way.
“When we were growing up that’s what we both thought about. We wanted to get there,” Jordan Ackley said. “For him to potentially be picked that high, and general managers and professionals to think he’s that type of player, it’s just unreal. I don’t know if it has sunk in. I don’t know how to explain that. Honestly I don’t know if he does either.
“I’ve even read some scouts and general managers think he might be ready for the major league in a year. Good grief, he’s 22 years old.”
Jordan Ackley playe four years of high school baseball at South Stokes, where he graduated in 2003 before going to play ball at Lenoir Rhyne.
Jordan Ackley was pretty good himself.
He said growing up his younger brother never got to showcase his talent because Dustin always played on teams with kids three and four years older.
Jordan Ackley was a key member of the 2002 and 2003 state championship Saura teams. He was a Northwest 1-A ConferencePlayer of the Year while at South and also was on the All Conference South Atlantic Conference Second team at Lenoir Rhyne.
In ‘03, Jordan’s senior year with the Sauras, Dustin was a freshman on a team that also featured Tim Smith and Nick Conaway.
Jordan vividly recalled Dustin’s first varsity at-bat — a home run in the state playoffs where the ball ended up on second base of the softball field well beyond the outfield fence at South.
“He was scrawny,” Jordan Ackley said. “I was like ‘Wow, this kid can hit.”
A trend that has continued in a big way as Dustin Ackley has hit jaw-dropping home runs in bigger ballparks in college – including one at the ACC tournament in Durham that cleared the “Blue Monster.”
2003 was the only year the two brothers played together. Dustin Ackley went on to help the Sauras win another state title in 2004.
Jordan Ackley moved on to Lenoir Rhyne, where he played a number of different positions with the Bears during his four-year college career.
Now 24, he is now working in research and development with R.J. Reynolds.
“I’m living my baseball through him,” Jordan Ackley said. “I have a great time watching him in Chapel Hill. It seems like it’s all happened really quick. Now that I’m home, at the dinner table, that’s what we are talking about. It’s amazing.”
The two brothers have remained close and things still get competitive when Dustin comes back to visit — in just about any sport.
“If we weren’t on a baseball team together, we’d go to Hemlock or Stonewall (Golf Course) and hang out,” Jordan Ackley said.
“We also have some pretty intense ping pong games when he comes home in the winter. I don’t think I’ve beaten him and I’m pretty intense. I’ve probably broken 15 or 20 ping pong paddles.
“If it’s golf, ping pong or if he wanted to be a wrestler, whatever he wants to do, he’s good at it.”
A demanding college baseball schedule has made it tough for Dustin Ackley to get back to visit, so it’s been a little while since the two brothers went head-to-head on the ping pong table.
“Yeah we haven’t played in a long time,” Dustin Ackley said.
“We used to. I haven’t been home a whole lot. We used to get in some that were pretty competitive. Our whole family is just insanely competitive when it comes to anything.”
As a kid, Dustin Ackley loved keeping up with his older brother and dad at baseball games.
Jordan and his father John Ackley batted right handed. Dustin bats left.
“Growing up I was always following my brother’s team. My dad was coaching him. I traveled with them,” Dustin Ackley said.
“It came about that I started playing and enjoying it as well. My dad was definitely big on baseball. A big baseball family. They love the game. It carried over for me.
“(Jordan) has meant a lot to me. He’s had the college experience as well as I’ve had. I know he might have wanted to play pro ball after that. It just didn’t seem to work out for him. I’m definitely excited to get the chance to and hopefully I can make the best of it and do good things for the family in that sense.”
Jordan Ackley doesn’t get tired of people asking about his younger brother.
“Of course I hear about it quite a bit,” Jordan Ackley said.
“I love to talk about baseball and I love my brother. Probably four or five times a week, it’s ‘How’s he doing?’, or ‘How many hits did he have?’ or ‘Did he hit a home run?’ It’s just another thing for me. I’m just as excited as he is. Maybe more excited.”
Doug Brown, who works with Jordan, said it’s amazing how supportive he is of his younger brother’s big-time success on the baseball diamond.
“I’ve always thought it would be real easy for Jordan to be jealous of his success,” Brown said.
“I know Jordan a lot better than I do Dusty. He’s just such a class person with such great character. He gets that from mom and dad. He’s Dusty’s biggest fan.”
There is no bitter sibling rivalry here. Unless it’s ping pong.
Ackley’s father John couldn’t agree more.
“Jordan has been great,” John Ackley said. “I didn’t know how he’d handle it. I think he’s probably his biggest fan.”
Post a Comment
