A New Challenge Awaits Raifstanger At St. John's

GREAT BARRINGTON, Ma. - Jayder Raifstanger will have a new challenge when his days of playing college baseball begin.

“They want me to be a power hitting third baseman when I get there,” Raifstanger said of St. John’s, where the Monument Mountain junior committed to in August. “I haven’t played third in my life.”

But the top-rated 2023 shortstop in New England is confident he will be ready when he steps on the ballfield at the New York City campus.

“I’m starting to practice at third and really excited about it,” the 6-0 205-pounder noted. “I just have to keep grinding there until I get to St. John’s.”

Talk with coaches of the Big East Conference program has been going on for some time.

“They first saw me at one of my PBR events last year,” Raifstanger related. “I had a call with them after that and we’ve been talking since.”

Interest from St. John’s was genuine, according to the 16-year-old.

“It seemed they really wanted me,” Raifstanger explained about the recruiting process with the Division I school located a little more than two hours from his Great Barrington home. “The coaches were awesome and invited me to come to a game. I walked around campus and loved it. The game was really cool. It felt like I should be out there playing.”

That is not far away for the 14th-rated junior in New England, who played on Team Massachusetts at the Future Games a little more than a month ago.

“They were there,” Raifstanger said of St. John’s being in attendance at this year’s event.

Fordham, Maryland, Duke, Northeastern and Boston College were others that had an interest in the left-handed hitting infielder.

“I just liked how much more St. John’s wanted me,” Raifstanger said of what led to his college decision. “It felt like they wanted to get to know me.

“In watching them play, their players were having fun and their coaches were having fun,” Raifstanger added. “The players really competed.”

An improved game has certainly helped Raifstanger reach the goal of becoming a college baseball player.

“I’m stronger and faster,” Raifstanger related. “I’ve worked a lot on hitting to the opposite field. I’m still pulling the ball, too, but I’m hitting it to the gaps a lot more.

“I’ve worked every day in the offseason,” Raifstanger continued. “But the hard part starts now. I’ve got to keep getting better and better.”

Raifstanger pointed to coaches Kevin Donati and Alex Carusotto with his travel team Rip City as playing vital roles in his recruitment.

“They told me about PBR and that I should go to their events,” Raifstanger said. “College coaches also reached out to them for me.”

His father, grandfather and high school coach Tom Hankey were also important in the process, according to Raifstanger.

“They all supported me and thought it was a great idea to commit to St. John’s,” noted Raifstanger, who carries a 3.5 GPA and is undecided on a college major. “I really enjoyed getting recruited and everything about it. Calling all the coaches every week was really fun.”