MUKILTEO — To his Kamiak High School coaches and classmates, Jacob “Jake” Long was bright and kind, a caring big brother and a young man who kept a healthy perspective between competitive drive and supporting his teammates through thick and thin.
Usually with a few laughs on the way.
Long was one of three people killed at a party in Mukilteo early Saturday morning, along with Anna Bui and Jordan Ebner, both 19. The gathering included many Kamiak High School graduates. Detectives believe the shooter is a former classmate who’d dated Bui.
A memorial service and celebration of Long’s life is set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Calvary Chapel Church in Lake Stevens. His family asks that friends and those who knew him bring stories.
Those in attendance are likely to hear about how Long took his studies seriously and did well in school. How he was a standout athlete. How baseball was his favorite sport and the diamond a place that revealed who he was.
“You never had to worry about him. He was just a great kid,” said Steve Merkley, Kamiak’s longtime varsity baseball coach. “Nice to everybody.”
Merkley remembers the look on Long’s face after he hit his first varsity home run. It was a three-run shot that put Kamiak up over archrival Jackson High School. Long was still a sophomore but had played his way into Kamiak’s strong, senior-laden lineup.
“He looked so happy and surprised as he ran around the bases,” Merkley said. “Nobody was (expecting that). … He won that game for us.”
Long played for Merkley for two seasons, and was named a captain as a senior in 2015. He switched from outfield to catcher his junior year because that was the Knights’ greatest need.
He flourished in his new position, earning all-Wesco 4A honorable mention his senior year. He led the Knights in runs batted in.
“He ended up being one of the better catchers in the league,” Merkley said. “He did everything well.”
A teammate remembers that switching from the outfield to catcher wasn’t Long’s preference.
“Jake loved playing outfield and third base. So switching to starting catcher, he wasn’t necessarily too fond of that,” said Jordan Bettencourt, one of Long’s co-captains their senior year. “But he did it. I think that’s totally reflective of who he is. … And I loved him for it.”
Long had been playing baseball since he was 5. As a freshman at Kamiak, he played for then-junior varsity coach Shane Neighbors, who also served as a varsity assistant on the Knights’ coaching staff for Long’s senior year.
“He was a very cerebral kid,” Neighbors said. “He was really smart and had this sort of steady, calm, lead-by-example demeanor.”
Long knew that was necessary.
“There was a steadiness to him about how he went about his business,” Neighbors said. “He was always the rock behind the plate.”
From a young age, Long’s reputation preceded him.
“In eighth grade I’d heard his name through the grapevine through select baseball,” Bettencourt said. “Whenever people spoke of Jake it was, ‘This outfielder throws the ball super far and is super good.’
“But he wasn’t just a great baseball player. He was someone people loved to be around.”
Bettencourt said that when he heard laughter in the halls of Kamiak High School, Long usually wasn’t far behind.
“He was just very enthusiastic and smiled a ton,” Bettencourt said. “… People flocked to him.”
As a catcher, Long worked closely with Kamiak’s pitchers, including Class of 2016 graduate Connor Alexander.
“He was definitely a competitor and was a great leader,” Alexander said. “… Both his junior and senior seasons we didn’t do too well. He always stayed calm under pressure, which isn’t always easy to do.”
“I loved pitching to Jake,” Bettencourt said. “He was someone who was very, very talented and he knew the game and his pitchers well.”
Along with a losing record, the Knights watched as Frank Nickerson, who replaced Merkley as head coach for the 2015 season, battled cancer. Nickerson would routinely go to treatments before practice and was open with his players about his health.
“It was huge (to have Long there). Those seasons were kind of rough,” Alexander said. “There were times when we’d get frustrated because we were on a pretty big losing streak. It seemed like it never failed — whenever everyone was really uptight he would be the rock.”
Rather than get on guys in hard times, Alexander said Long took it upon himself to lift the spirits of his teammates.
“He would always read the mood of the team and if it seemed like we were getting too uptight he would find a way to joke around,” Alexander said. “… He would find a way to make everyone laugh.”
Bettencourt looks back at his senior year when the Knights finished 7-13. He can’t imagine it without Long.
That season reminds Bettencourt of “The Sandlot,” a popular movie about backyard baseball and love of the game.
“We knew that winning a state title wasn’t really on our radar,” Bettencourt said. “… Having Jake was one of the reasons why we would get out on the field.”
Others saw how he would extend his humor and compassion to his family. Neighbors said Long’s younger siblings, William and Maddie, often would stop by the dugout to say hello, sometimes in the heat of competition.
“They’d come up during games and want to see how he was,” Neighbors said. “He was always very kind and patient to them, even though we were in the middle of a varsity game.”
After high school Long, who worked at the movie theater at the Everett Mall, attended the University of South Florida in Tampa and was planning to transfer back to the Pacific Northwest after being accepted to Washington State University for his sophomore year.
Long played quarterback during his sophomore year at Kamiak. He also played basketball for the Knights his freshman season before focusing on baseball. But Long still would get together with Alexander and several classmates to play two-hand touch football on Sundays after Seahawks games.
Some of Bettencourt’s fondest memories from Kamiak involve Long and his teammates.
“I’ll definitely look back on my high school career and think of Long and just how inspirational he was to the people around him,” Bettencourt said. “When he talked, people listened.”
Where to find help
Community events planned to help those affected by Saturday’s shooting in Mukilteo:
Counselors and chaplains will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at the Rosehill Community Center, 304 Lincoln Ave.
Mukilteo art therapist Cynthia Jolly will lead in the creation of a mandala from 3 to 8 p.m. today at the memorial site at Kamiak High School, 10801 Harbour Point Blvd. The public is invited to just watch or participate.
Help is available to teens and adults affected by the shooting by calling the Volunteers of America Care Crisis Line at 800-584-3578 or online at carecrisischat.org.
Compass Health’s Crisis Prevention and Intervention Team may be contacted from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 425-349-7447.
A community forum is scheduled 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Rosehill Community Center, 304 Lincoln Ave. Topics include resources available to the community and warning signs that may indicate someone is experiencing emotional distress and how friends and family can help.
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