As part of a recently started weekly look at the many independent baseball leagues across the country covered and streamed on this platform, FloBaseball’s Player of the Week series highlights the best of the best in independent ball.

Jackson Hickert, a pitcher for the Schaumburg Boomers of the Frontier League, take this week's honor. 

He joins league mate and New Jersey Jackals' slugger Josh Rehwaldt and Long Island Ducks (Atlantic League of Professional Baseball) infielder Adeiny Hechavarria on the growing list of those honored.

Here’s a look at Hickert's week, along with his background and a peek into his 2023 season in the Frontier League. 

Career Look-Back

Formerly an ace at the JUCO level with Ventura (California) College, Hickert made the move to the NCAA Division I level in 2020 with Akron, which returned to play that season after a five-year hiatus. 

Though COVID-19 shut down the triumphant trot back to the diamond for the Zips after just 13 games, Hickert stuck with it and stayed with Akron for two more seasons, closing out his Division I career with a 1-5 record, 5.67 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings, following the 2022 campaign. 

He saw 28 1/3 innings of work across 12 appearances in his final season, striking out 24 to equal a career-high from the year before, and found a home shortly after his time with the Zips ended with the O’Fallon Hoots of the collegiate summer Prospect League, where he had a 4.35 ERA across 10 1/3 innings. 

Jackson Hickert is perfect through six with six strikeouts as the Boomers lead the opener at Lake Erie 2-0

Listen to @TCPopcorn with all the action

WATCH (AWAY feed on @FloBaseball https://t.co/TSXHbUs0se

LISTEN on @Meridix https://t.co/ukRW04UPgU pic.twitter.com/u7XxGnZK9r

— Schaumburg Boomers (@boomersbaseball) June 21, 2023

He’s in his debut season as a professional at the independent level with Schaumburg, being an effective part of a Boomers staff that’s currently one of the best in the Frontier, with their 3.71 team ERA (as of Thursday afternoon) being the fourth-lowest in the league.

Standout Performances

A major part of why the Boomers’ ERA has been that low as of late has been due to some of the standout outings that Hickert has had, namely flirting with a perfect game, as he tossed a complete-game gem in a 3-0 win over the Lake Erie Crushers on Tuesday night. 

The Ohioan went the distance in his home state, getting the start and retiring the first 19 batters in a row to start the game, before a Jarrod Watkins double broke up what would’ve been the second perfect game in Frontier League history (after Matt Sergey’s in 2014 for the Washington Wild Things) in the sixth inning. 

Jackson Hickert has retired the first nine he has faced and Gaige Howard has walked twice to push his on-base streak to 33 as the Boomers lead the opener in Ohio

Listen to @TCPopcorn

WATCH (AWAY feed on @FloBaseball https://t.co/TSXHbUs0se

LISTEN on @MeridixSports pic.twitter.com/bTv2ptCUv2

— Schaumburg Boomers (@boomersbaseball) June 20, 2023

Still, Hickert was largely unfazed and kept the good vibes going. He allowed just two hits, walked only one and struck out nine, just two weeks after he threw seven innings of no-hit ball (June 8), before Antonio Frias and Dylan Stutsman backed him up in relief to throw a combined no-hitter against the Florence Y’alls. 

Entering Thursday’s games, the 25-year-old Hickert is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings this year, giving up just one home run. 

The Boomers (as of this writing) are the top team in the West Division with a 21-13 record. 

If Hickert keeps on rolling the way he has been, Schaumburg’s lead in its hunt to return to the Frontier League Championship Series for the third straight season could grow even further. 

NO HITTER!!! Boomers make history tonight with the franchise's first ever no hitter with the help of starting pitcher Jackson Hickert, Antonio Frias, and Dylan Stutsman!! #BoomerCountry pic.twitter.com/Jr1yKIoSla

— Schaumburg Boomers (@boomersbaseball) June 9, 2023