He's got the Wright stuff

THREE NUMBERS, preceded by a replacement for another, soon will become part of Jake Wright's life for what likely will be a mighty long time.

And, if ordered to, he'd say a million thank-yous even while performing thousands of jumping jacks.

Hut, two, three, four . . .

You got it. Wright will be livin' the Army life.

"I've always pictured myself in the military," he said. "My dad [Harry] was in the Army. This country gives me a lot and I feel like it's my duty to serve. And I love how organized the military is.

"My dad used to make me do a lot of push-ups when I was younger. I thank him for that. I thank him for everything he has done for me. He pushed me to do things, and he's done the most to get me where I am now."

Wright, a 6-2, 190-pound senior at George Washington High, will do a prep school year at Valley Forge Military Academy with designs on moving forward to West Point.

He intends to play two sports at each school - football as a kicker-punter and baseball as an outfielder.

We're now in springtime, of course, and in pretty much picture-perfect weather yesterday, Wright helped the diamond Eagles claim a 6-4 win over visiting Prep Charter in Division A of the Public League.

Wright began the contest at second base, then finished it on the mound. Contributions? He lashed an RBI double down the leftfield line in the fifth, as Washington began its bounce-back from a 4-1 deficit, then worked two perfect relief innings - all six outs on grounders - to notch the victory.

Dad was among the spectators. And someone couldn't help but ask Jake when was the last time Dad had ordered him to flop down and give him 10?

"Maybe sometime in middle school," he said, smiling.

Standing nearby was Randy Seidman, a longtime Eagles supporter and the father of two former players. If Seidman had told Wright to run around the field 10 times, Jake likely would have begun the journey one moment later while asking, "Any time frame you want me to reach?"

Around Washington, any mentions of Wright bring a two-word response: Great kid. He's also known for being very quiet and 180 degrees from demonstrative.

"You can never tell what Jake's thinking, or what's going on inside," said John Creighton, a multisport coach who watched the last few innings. "He'd be great at poker."

In this one, Wright grounded out to third, reached base on an infield error, posted his RBI double and struck out looking. Shortly before Wright's last at-bat, John Santos (double) and Gilad Metro (single, as a re-entry guy despite a strained quad) rifled RBI hits to deep-center and right, respectively, thus snapping a 4-4 tie.

Relying mostly on a curve, Wright made sure there'd be no drama. He even sacrificed his meat hand to get the out on grounder No. 5, a hard comebacker off Joe Suppa's bat.

"Coach [Ken Geiser] told me I'd probably be closing, so I was ready," Wright said. "I try for everything, but if they're grounders, hopefully they go in the gloves.

"The quickest way. The fewest pitches. Whatever's most efficient. I felt great out there. It was a nice day and I hadn't pitched since last Friday. Almost a full week's rest. My breaking pitches were working really well."

Wright's RBI hit came with two away and scored Corey Sharp. Scott Siley followed with a two-run single to left-center, making it 4-4.

"When we're down, I'm just trying to get any kind of hit that'll score guys, even if it's just a single," Wright said. "It was a first-pitch fastball and I swung at those all day. I was so glad that one worked out."

PC's starter, senior righthander Peter Piccoli, whiffed two guys to start the sixth. Aaron Goldberg, the No. 9 hitter, provided hope with a single to left and scored on Santos' blast over the centerfielder's head. Metro's hit came next, then Piccoli yielded to Frank Suppa, Joe's brother.

Washington's starter, senior righty Aaron Keen, went five frames. He yielded five hits and all four runs were unearned, though Justin Bocelli (double) and Piccoli (single) did make hard contact for RBI. The Huskies went hitless over the final 4 1/3 innings.

Always a solid student, Wright is outdoing himself this school year. Except for one B, he has earned straight A's. At Army, he intends to major in business/finance or perhaps criminology.

He made an official visit during the Pub schools' spring break.

"I loved it up there," he said. "The campus is so beautiful and the facilities are great. I met all the coaches and they were really nice, too. I see Army as my ideal school."

And the early wake-up calls won't change that.