Jibas' Smile As Consistent As His Talents For Bentonville Tigers

STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Will Jibas of Bentonville takes a lead off second base April 1 against Rogers Heritage at Veterans Park in Rogers.

STAFF PHOTO JASON IVESTER Will Jibas of Bentonville takes a lead off second base April 1 against Rogers Heritage at Veterans Park in Rogers.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

— One thing has been more consistent about Will Jibas than his name being etched onto Bentonville's starting lineup the past three seasons.

It's his smile. It's been labeled as "infectious" and "one of the best I've ever seen" by Tigers baseball coach Todd Abbott, and the senior third baseman brings it to the team on a daily basis.

Profile

Will Jibas

SCHOOL: Bentonville

CLASS: Senior

HEIGHT: 5-11

WEIGHT: 210

NOTABLE: A three-year starter, mainly as a third baseman. … Has hit .275 through Bentonville’s first 14 games this season, including a .333 clip in 7A/6A-West Conference play, with 19 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. … Has signed a letter of intent with Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods, where he will be a catcher.

7A/6A-West Conference Baseball

Team^Overall^Conference

^W-L^W-L

Fayetteville^14-3^4-0

Rogers Heritage^11-2^4-0

Rogers High^7-6^2-2

Van Buren^6-7^2-2

Bentonville^10-4^1-3

Springdale Har-Ber^10-4^1-3

Springdale High^6-10^1-3

Siloam Springs^2-10^1-3

Today

Fayetteville at Rogers Heritage (DH), 4:30 p.m.

Springdale Har-Ber at Siloam Springs (DH), 4:30 p.m.

Springdale High at Bentonville (DH), 4:30 p.m.

Van Buren at Rogers High (DH), 4:30 p.m.

Thursday

Fort Smith Southside at Bentonville, 5 p.m.

Greenwood at Rogers Heritage, 4:30 p.m.

Friday

Mountain Home at Rogers, 4:30 p.m.

Siloam Springs at Harrison, 4:30 p.m.

"I'm just a happy guy," Jibas said with a laugh. "I'm always looking at the bright side of everything, so I'm always smiling. Whenever somebody tries to bring up bad stuff, I'm always trying to find the best point of view out of it."

The baseball side has been fairly consistent for Jibas, even with a new spot in the batting order this spring. He's been mainly batting second for Bentonville (10-4, 1-3 7A/6A-West) this season, where he mainly batted in the middle of the order for the past two seasons.

He's hitting .275 for the season and .333 through conference play, and he has scored 19 runs while stealing 11 bases through Bentonville's first 14 games. That brings the smile to Abbott's face when Jibas' name comes up in a conversation.

"He's a fantastic human being," Abbott said. "Will does a great job of having a calm, relaxing demeanor, but he definitely knows when to raise his focus level and intensity level. At the same time, he doesn't let things get out of hand.

"His personality hasn't changed much over the past three years, but his thought process with the game has changed. He's much more tuned with what's best for the team and doing what he needs to do, whether it's an encouraging word to a younger player or sacrificing something for the team."

Third base has been pretty much home for Jibas (5-foot-11, 210 pounds), even though he split time between third and catcher during his sophomore season. He said it was a struggle at first when third became his main position, but he has become more comfortable playing there after a full season last year.

His future, though, lies in what he can do behind the plate. He signed a letter of intent to play baseball -- as a catcher -- with Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods near Kansas City, Mo., the school that produced current major league players Albert Pujols and Logan Morrison and where former Bentonville teammate Trenton Hill currently plays.

"They said they really liked what I did back there," Jibas said. "They said I have really soft hands, and they weren't looking for third baseman at the time.

"I really wanted to go to Maple Woods after following the (St. Louis) Cardinals and keeping up with Albert. Then I had Trent on the inside to help me with getting through there. Honestly, I like third so much."

Abbott said he would be comfortable with whichever position Jibas played, but third became the spot that best suited the Tigers, particularly on the defensive side.

"Will could catch, but we also have Kane Koenigseder, who is also going to college as a catcher," Abbott said. "It's one of those situations where we're blessed to have that issue of two guys that are going to catch, but Will is also a very good third baseman. It serves our team best defensively to have him there."

Sports on 04/08/2014