Donate to Westside Wired
Your donation will support the student journalists of Omaha Westside High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Pitcher Jackson Gutta ready for final season on the mound
March 23, 2023
The Westside baseball team has ten seniors on the roster this season. Jackson Gutta is one of the seniors to watch on the team. The pitcher has played baseball for the past 12 years. A few of his major goals are to stay healthy and contribute to the team as much as he can. Gutta looks to change his pitching and how he reacts to things not going perfectly.
“I have the most varsity experience of anyone on the team,” Gutta said.”I need to use that to slow down the big situations and keep the team under control.”
The past few years he has had injuries that have affected his playing time and how often he pitched.
“This year I look to stay healthy and give everything I can for an entire season,” Gutta said.
Gutta signed a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at Grinnell College in Iowa. The school was the perfect fit for the Warrior pitcher.
“I knew Grinnell was where I wanted to play for the next four years as soon as I stepped on campus. The coach and I instantly connected, and I knew I wanted to play for him immediately.”
Gutta knew that Grinnell was meant for him, that it was the only place he applied to. He has much confidence going into his college career. Gutta has lots of experience playing against people two or three years older than him and has faced the greatest competition Nebraska offers at the high school level. The most challenging change he will have will be changing his routine from the past three years at Westside. His goal for college baseball is to make a difference from the beginning.
“You can’t let adversity bring you down,” Gutta said. “You should embrace it and use it to better your game. The only way to be the best is to face the best, which comes with failure.”
Gutta opened the season with an impressive performance in a 8-6 victory over Gretna on Tuesday, March 21. The senior pitched five innings and held the Dragons to just one run on four hits. Gutta also had four strikeouts. It looks like Gutta is off to a strong start in 2023.