From Nights When He Didn't Have a Bed to "The Heart" of Nighthawks Baseball

Between innings at an Upper Valley Nighthawks game, you might notice a young coach walking from the dugout to the bullpen. You might not. Jacek Krol doesn’t jump out at you, and he’s a self-proclaimed “non-yeller.” But to former baseball teammates, players, and coaches, he’s one of the most inspiring stories you’ll ever hear in sports. 

Right now, Krol (his first name is pronounced “jay-sec”) is an assistant coach for the Upper Valley Nighthawks—after serving as a bench coach, interim pitching coach, and short-term substitute manager last season. In the fall he’ll not only begin his studies at Dartmouth as he pursues a masters degree, but will become an assistant coach for the college’s varsity baseball team. His current players have no doubt that’s where he belongs. “He shows up to the field every day, is mentally locked in, and helps me to perform,” says Nighthawks pitcher Tyler Hemmesch. “I try to emulate that.”

A few years ago, all this might have seemed like a dream. Krol had a tough childhood. After losing his mother as a young teenager and suffering abuse at home, he went through multiple stints of homelessness during his high school years. Throughout these traumatic experiences, baseball always served as his escape. His non-school life made it impossible to play for his school team after his freshman season, so at 16, he began working as a bat boy for the Bowie Baysox (now the Chesapeake Baysox), a AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The team’s clubhouse became both his family and a source of inspiration: He got to observe just how far the game can take someone. 

Hanging out with All Stars like Zach Britton or Mark Tamburo and watching major-league-caliber coaches day-to-day, the young Krol realized that baseball—whether as a player or not—could be his life someday. “At that point I thought my playing career was done,” Krol says. “By having that job, I realized I wanted to make baseball my career. It was my passion, and I decided I was going to figure out any way possible to stay in the game for life.”

The details of Krol’s career arc tell only a small part of his story, but they’re helpful to know. After starting out as a bat boy, he moved through the ranks, spending time as a groundskeeper and eventually as the assistant clubhouse manager. Heading into his senior year of high school, Krol moved to Tolland, Connecticut, to live with his grandmother. He entered that spring hoping to start as his high school team’s catcher, but just as his last chance to play high school baseball began, so did the pandemic. He ultimately ended up at Onondaga Community College, where injuries kept him off the field but did end up getting introduced to the New York Summer Collegiate Baseball league and became a pitcher. He felt he could play at a higher level than junior college, and began reaching out to Division II programs. When Saint Michael’s College in Colchester took an interest in him, he was elated. 

There, even as injuries continued to curtail his playing career, he never got down on himself. His positive attitude and perseverance quickly caught the attention of his coaches and teammates.

The thing to know about Krol is that he can be easy to overlook on the field or in a dugout. After multiple ACL surgeries, a torn labrum, a torn rotator cuff, and an elbow injury, it’s an accomplishment for him to even throw the ball overhand during batting practice. Krol graduated from Saint Mike’s in May after losing his senior season to injury — only the most recent setback and unexpected hardship he’s endured. But that hasn’t mattered to the people around him. “The thing that I saw in Jacek from day one was the respect his teammates would give him,” says SMC assistant coach Matthew Meunier. “Even though he wasn't going to pitch a ton, even though he wasn't going to go out and make 10 starts for us, it didn’t matter. When Jacek speaks, people listen.”

Krol, who is soft-spoken and with none of the bravado some athletes rely on, has had to prove his worth differently from the average ballplayer. He’s built trust with his old teammates at Saint Mike’s and earned the respect of the Division I talent playing for the Nighthawks because of his dedication and honesty. They keep his players coming back to him. “Krol doesn’t mince his words,” says Nighthawks pitcher Nick Tamburro. “If he’s speaking, it’s because he has something important to say. So often in sports we see guys who love to hear themselves talk. Krol doesn’t. He’s rare in that way.”

In baseball, nothing matters more than clear communication, and it seems like most of the people who’ve run across him in college or on the teams he coaches have observed his unusual knack for conversation that has an impact. Krol is unafraid to be honest with his peers, but also takes feedback with grace, says Hemmesch. Hemmesch had a challenging start to last year’s Nighthawks season, and appreciated Krol’s calmness and “important perspective” during that stretch. He had a similarly rocky start this year at the University of Minnesota, so he called Krol regularly to talk things over—and found that the young coach helped him right the ship yet again. “He’s gone through hardships and experiences that I’ve never had to experience. If he can show up and have a good day, I can find a way to have a good day, too.”

In Hemmesch’s view, Krol’s work with the Nighthawks last summer has earned him a whole new level of leadership in the clubhouse this time around. Ever since he was a bat boy, Krol has taken the attitude that any job around baseball is a good one. Even if its just raking the field before a game, taking out the garbage, or filling water bottles, he’s happy. Last summer, when the Nighthawk’s pitching coach had to depart early, Krol stepped in. During his stint with the pitching staff, players like Hemmesch and Tamburro were so blown away by his mental game and attitude that they and other players found his leadership an incentive to return to the Upper Valley. “Krol is a main reason why so many people came back to play (for the Nighthawks) for a second year this year,” Tamburro says. 

Hemmesch was also impressed by Krol’s honesty and ability to simplify problems. Krol’s never played the game at the same level as some of the Nighthawks’ players, and isn’t embarrassed to ask them questions, learn from them, and admit areas where his knowledge is lacking. When working through a bump in the road, Hemmesch says he appreciates Krol’s sincerity; it isn’t ever Krol telling a pitcher what to do, it’s a conversation. For Tamburro, a veteran player for the Nighthawks, it’s been impressive to watch Krol gain confidence. “He tries to get rid of that old ‘coach-to-player’ mindset, and it helps us look at Krol as a friend and not just a coach,” Tamburro says. “We respect him fully as a coach, but when you speak to him, it's easy to drop your guard and treat him as a friend, and I think that is probably where his growth has come the most, in those personal interactions.”

In Division I competition, the resources available grow, the analytics are deeper, and Krol’s had to learn to coach the game in a whole different way. From spin-rate to vertical break, Krol says he has been a “sponge” for the past year, learning everything he can to prepare for his work at Dartmouth come the fall. His “eye for the game” is unmatched, says Hemmesch. It is a talent that is difficult to teach. 

Another unteachable skill: Krol shows up. Every Nighthawks game day, the young coach arrives five hours before first pitch. He rakes the field. He game plans with coaches, discussing which pitchers should be on the mound for the game. Eventually, players begin showing up, and Krol’s favorite part of the job begins. He throws pitches for batting practice. He hits balls for defensive work. He chats with pitchers as they warm up. By the time he’s heading home to his host family in Chelsea, VT, Krol has spent the majority of his waking hours at Hartford’s Maxfield Sports Complex. And he loves it.

Preston Hewett, a former teammate at Saint Mike’s and a close friend, doesn’t understand how Krol manages it all. Krol has worked various jobs outside baseball throughout his career—from auto-mechanic to landscaping to substitute teaching—in order to support himself and his aging grandmother. As part of his education studies at Saint Mike’s, he taught middle school classes even while playing as a full-time collegiate athlete. During his time with the Nighthawks, he helps out on his host family’s horse farm. Somehow, between all the commitments, Krol almost never says no to new opportunities, and is always himself. “Krol was probably the only guy to show up to the MLB spring conference in cowboy boots and jeans,” Hewett says with a laugh. “He still walked out of there with a bunch of impressive connections.”

Above all else, Krol feels a sense of responsibility to give back to the game that has given him purpose. From working with All-Star-caliber big leaguers as a teenager to leading batting practice for local kids in the Upper Valley, Krol does whatever he can to be on a baseball field. “You don't have enough time in a season to teach everything, but if you can focus on little things every single year, it's a successful year,” says former Saint Mike’s teammate Nate Rogers. “But teaching that life through baseball, that’s Krol’s biggest thing.” 

As the Nighthawk’s assistant coach begins his summer classes at Dartmouth, where he’ll be working to earn an M.A. in liberal studies, his focus on baseball hasn’t wavered. His thesis will be about the sport: He plans to study its globalization and growing worldwide culture. As a coach, he’ll have his first prolonged opportunity to work in a clubhouse and to work year-round with Division I players. He’s not that interested in looking beyond Dartmouth at this point. As usual, he’s dedicating every second to the work that sits directly in front of him. With three Dartmouth baseball players—AJ DeMastrie, Alejandro Puig, and Trey Sejnoha—playing for the Nighthawks this summer, one of his main priorities is getting to know the guys he’ll work with full-time come the fall. Dartmouth is a “dream opportunity,” he says, and is ecstatic to continue living in the Upper Valley. 

“Baseball has gotten me to where I'm at. We’ve got a lot of days on this earth, and there were times in the past where I didn't know if I wanted to live anymore. My worst day now is losing a game,” Krol says, “compared to being by myself, going hungry, and not knowing where I was going to sleep. Realizing I'm never going to have a day like that again, it's kind of like I've had a new lease on life.”

Duncan Green is a rising senior at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he is studying journalism and history. Next fall, he will be taking on a lead producing role for the Newshouse, a campus publication covering SU and the city of Syracuse. Duncan graduated from Lebanon High School in 2023 and is based out of Plainfield this summer.