FOGO a go-go: Winning face offs keeping Bellingham senior Jack Baker on the lacrosse field

BELLINGHAM - The face off dot allowed Jack Baker to play.

He missed his eighth grade season at Bellingham when the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out spring sports but still wanted to play on varsity as a freshman.

"Skill-wise, he wasn't going to be able to get on the field that quickly as a lacrosse player, an attackmen or a defensive player," Bellingham coach Steven Linehan said.

Thankfully the Blackhawks needed a face off guy after their previous one graduated. Baker recognized the opportunity and began training with Face Off Factory, a program started an run by lacrosse professional Joe Nardella.

"There was an open spot. There wasn't much competition for it, either," Baker said. "It's not easy. There's a lot of focus that you need."

Baker took to the role as easily as he took the ball away from his opponents. He became Bellingham's face off guy as a freshman and kept the role since. It bought some extra recognition from the upperclassmen for a freshman trying to find his place. They deemed him Ched, short for cheddar, a reference to his hair. The nickname stuck.

"As the young guy on the team, older kids on varsity tend to give me some love and cheer you on when you're going up there, especially as a freshman, Baker said.

Detail-oriented

He keeps track of every win, loss, ground ball and goal in the notes app on his phone thanks to the Blackhawks meticulous score and stat keeping.

"When he first started, he wasn't the greatest. He just had a lot of drive and determination," Linehan said. "He put in a lot of hard work in the offseason, and he's definitely committed to learning that position. For my money he's one of the top two face off guys in the league right now."

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The work culminated in his 500th career face off win this season. Bellingham celebrated it as becoming the Blackhawks' all-time leader, though he likely earned that distinction far before. Baker is Bellingham's first true full-time FOGO (face off get off) guy.

"You've got to have a clear mind when you're going up there, but you have to know what you're going to do. You have to know where you're going to exit, you have to have a thought of your opponent," said Baker, who is committed to play college lacrosse at UMass Boston. "You can read their stick, you can ready their head, where they're looking before they get to the dot, all of that kind of stuff."

He clears his mind with music (Drake, Kendrick Lamar, 80s rock and roll) and stretching before the game. Other than goals, face offs are the most valuable moments in lacrosse games. Face offs create possessions. Possessions lead to goals. Goals produce wins.

"If you don't have a face off guy, you're gonna lose all those possessions. We face off against teams like Medfield or Westwood, teams that score a lot of goals on us," Linehan said. "If we didn't have a good face off guy, we might never touch the ball."

In Baker's ideal world, no one else would touch the ball. Occasionally he wins the face of fin the perfect spot and can sprint directly to the net for a goal. He's scored 14 this season with a handful of assists.

"That's what I am for. Every time I go to the dot, I try to go straight to the cage," Baker said.

Playing with fire

If that window closes it's face off, get off the field for another attacker or defender. That's the only way he can play anymore. Baker recently learned he tore his ACL and meniscus. He begged his doctor to clear him to play because he knew Bellingham's trainer Jen Dowd could do something. She tapes it in a way that doesn't allow for much movement before games, and his brace keeps it tight.

"I'm playing with fire," Baker said. "I love this team. I've worked so hard to be a senior on this team, climbed all levels, played really hard competition, and I feel like it's my turn."

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The doctor told him face offs only. It was a hard sell to a player that developed enough to contribute all over the field, but Baker agreed.

"I'm not going to argue because she's letting me play," he said.

He makes his biggest impact at the dot, anyway.

Contact Kyle Grabowski at kgrabowski@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: How Jack Baker became Bellingham lacrosse's all-time face off leader