Wanted: A Place To Play

Vincent “Scooter” Jenkins didn’t get his nickname because of his blazing speed, or from any of his exploits on the baseball diamonds or football fields he played on while growing up.

Instead, the senior’s moniker was bestowed on him by a babysitter who claimed the infant Jenkins simply never sat still.

“My mom tells me the story, but I don’t remember,” Jenkins said with a laugh. “People have been calling me that my whole life.”

Little could that babysitter have known the name would fit so well, though, as Jenkins has used his speed to excel in both football and baseball at Parkdale.

 “Oh, he can run,” Panthers assistant coach Fred Howze said of Jenkins. “I saw him catch [a kickoff in a football game] and take it back myself, the first game I came to see him play.”

It is baseball, though, that the 18-year-old centerfielder/pitcher hopes to continue playing in college, but as he inches closer to graduation, he still has no idea where that might be.

“Nobody’s looking,” Jenkins said. “I’ve been calling schools. I really want to go to North Carolina Central; I hear they’ve got a good baseball program. Or [Florida A&M] – one of the MEAC schools. They said they’ll come up and watch me, but I just need more people to tell them so I can get evaluated. I’ve been trying to get a lot of coaches to come out and watch us play. Maybe it’s just because of this area where we’re playing at [isn’t known for baseball], that people don’t come out.”

Howze said that head coach Charles Mackey had been working on getting Jenkins’ name out to college coaches, but Mackey became ill at the start of the season and has been recovering from surgery since. Howze and Sheldon Dunbar have led the Panthers – who won against Bladensburg in the first round of playoffs Friday and will face Eleanor Roosevelt in the playoffs Monday – in Mackey's absence.

“A couple of things Mr. Mackey had working for him hopefully do work out for him,” Howze said, “because he’s one of the better players in the county. He’s tough. I would like for him to be a little more serious about what he’s doing and that kind of thing, but that’s one thing about college — when you get there, they’re going to make sure you do the right things. You’re going to have to do the right things if you want to stay there, or they will put you on a bus and send you home.”

The 5-foot-8, 175-pound Jenkins is ready to give it a shot, though, and said he feels there is much he can bring to a college program.

“Just a good attitude,” he said. “I can help people if they want me to, and I hustle and I’m a hard worker.”

Jenkins said he’s been playing baseball since he was four years old, and although he grew up playing football and basketball as well, he’s always enjoyed it the most.

“I just love the game, and I just like how it plays out,” he said. “It started in Cheverly then, and then I broke off with my dad and I’ve been playing ever since. A couple of all-star teams and travel teams, and the D.C. Knights down in Woodbridge, I’ve played with them, too.”

Now, Jenkins is just hoping he’ll have another team to play with next year.

“No question, he’s a player,” Howze said. “He’s got all the credentials, and everybody loves left-handed pitcher and so forth. He can play college ball, he definitely could, and I hope he gets a chance to go to college and a chance to play. Like I told him, ‘Once you get a chance to play,’ you don’t want to come back home.’”