Jason Backs played baseball at Carlyle High School for the
legendary coach, Gary Wheeler before begining his impressive career
at Kaskaskia College. During his two years, he threw 211
innings with 175 strike outs and just 89 walks. Jason went
16-16 with five saves, posted a 2.52 ERA and held opposing hitters
to a .245 batting average.
In Jason’s sophomore year, he finished the season with a
0.99 ERA while holding the opponents’ batting average to only
.214. Jason had 5 saves and most impressive was completing 26
of 28 games started. Jason played three seasons of summer baseball
in the Central Illinois Collegiate League for the Decatur Blues
under Tom Saunches.
After Kaskaskia College, Jason played at the University of
Illinois on a baseball scholarship for Augie Garrido and in his
junior year, he pitched 24 innings, had 17 strike outs and walked
13 batters. Jason then signed with the Philadelphia Phillies
in the summer of 1988 and was assigned to a rookie league in
Martinsville, Virginia.
Jason played professional ball for four years reaching the AA
level. In a AAA exhibition game against the big league
Phillies, he pitched seven innings and allowed only 2 runs.
He retired from baseball in 1991 and returned to the University of
Illinois to complete his Mechanical Engineering degree.
Jason resides in Houston, Texas where he is the Vice President
and part owner in a manufacturing company. Jason is married
and has a daughter and two sons. Jason coaches boys baseball
for the Cypress Crusaders Baseball Organization, a premier level
baseball program.
