Bio
Jackson Van De Brake lands in Sioux City set to make his professional debut in 2026 after playing college ball at the University of North Carolina and after this summer in the MLB Draft League. Van De Brake is a native of Yakima, Washington who spent two seasons at Tacoma Community College before crossing the country to UNC.
In his final season in Chapel Hill, Van De Brake started 61 games at second base while batting .306 with eight home runs and 58 RBI. He led the Tar Heels with 16 doubles, setting a career high and earning All-ACC Third Team honors in 2025. Van De Brake slashed a line of .306/.411/.379 while working 41 walks during the season. He had a huge game for UNC in the ACC tournament title game, driving in five runs, including a three-run blast in the win. That effort helped Van De Brake land on the All-ACC tournament team as North Carolina won the ACC tournament for the ninth time.
In 2024 Van De Brake played 48 games, making 20 starts while hitting .213/.390/.300 with a home run and 11 RBI. The Washington native had a slow start to the season and saw his playing time diminish, but the team captain of the Tar Heels proved resilient to finish the season. He smashed a grand slam against William & Mary in early May, and on June 3 he scored the game-deciding run in the Chapel Hill Regional Championship Game against LSU.
Van De Brake came up big in the clutch for North Carolina at the 2024 College World Series in Omaha. In the CWS opener against the University of Virginia, North Carolina needed a spark late in the game against the Cavaliers in a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the ninth. Van De Brake would be called on to pinch hit, slapping a leadoff double and setting up the walk-off win for the Tar Heels. He scored the winning run on teammate Vance Honeycutt’s two-out single.
Van De Brake arrived on campus at North Carolina in 2023 and earned Second Team All-ACC in 2023, starting in 57 out 58 games at second base. Van De Brake slashed a line of .307/.439/.486, leading the team in on-base percentage with eight homers and 48 RBI. He would finish second on the team in multi-hit games with 20 and was one of three Tar Heels to draw over 40 walks with 41. Van De Brake had a season-long 19 game on-base streak over the course of the season and was first among ACC second basemen in hits, doubles, walks and runs in 2023.
From 2021 to 2022 Van De Brake played for Tacoma (WA) Community College. He would letter two years, playing in 69 games and hitting .331 in his two seasons with the team. Van De Brake added 35 stolen bases and would drive in 30 runs over his two seasons. His final season he was named All-Norwest Atheltic Conference and First Team All-NWAC West Region after slashing a .286/.451/.383 line with 18 RBI and 11 extra-base hits in 2022.
Van De Brake attended West Valley High School in Yakima, Washington where he earned first-team all-conference honors as a sophomore and junior. Unfortunately, the school did not play his senior season due to the pandemic. Van De Brake also excelled on the gridiron as a three-time first-team all-league player and earned MVP honors as a senior at wide receiver and defensive back. He also earned a varsity letter all four years on basketball and was the team captain for football and basketball his senior season. Van De Brake comes from a baseball family as his father Kevin was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies organization out of high school but did not sign, instead playing college ball at Loyola Marymount University and signing as a minor league free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers. His father played parts of three seasons in the Dodgers minor league system. His eldest brother Jace played at Gonzaga University, and his middle brother Justin played at Washington State.