A community in North Carolina is in mourning after a high school baseball star was killed in an early-morning car crash.

Gary ‘Landyn’ Jacobs, 17, was driving to work at 4am on Thursday, when authorities say he slammed into a tree on Canal Cove Road in Lake Waccamaw.

Jacobs received medical care at the scene, but ultimately succumbed to his injuries. 

His uncle, Josh Simmons, shared with WECT that the teenager was on his way to work at the family’s logging business – aiming to save some money before returning to East Columbus High School for his senior year.

‘What he was going to do that morning… he wanted to be in the logging woods, he was going to work,’ Simmons said.

‘Without a shadow of a doubt, anybody wo knows Landyn knew he was gong to be running a crew in the logging woods with his brother and daddy.’ 

Jacobs’ family now says he had hoped to finish out the baseball season.

‘He was energetic, always taking initiative; a jokester on the baseball field who could make anyone laugh,’ Simmons said, describing his nephew as a ‘standout at second base’ who had recently earned the Most Valuable Player Award at the eastern tournament. 

Gary ‘Landyn’ Jacobs, 17, was on his way to work at 4am on Thursday when he collided with a tree on Canal Cove Road in Lake Waccamaw, resulting in his death. 

Jacobs recently won the Most Valuable Player Award in the eastern tournament

He was also a member of the Riegelwood team that won the Dixie Youth Baseball Division II Majors Dixie World Series in 2021.

Even though he was smaller than some of his teammates, North Carolina Dixie Youth Baseball District II Director Frankie Burney recalled Jacobs as a ‘tenacious little guy’ who worked diligently and respected his elders.

Outside of baseball, Simmons said Jacobs enjoyed riding four-wheelers.

‘They would equip their four-wheelers with snorkels and drive them into ponds, and they thoroughly enjoyed it,’ he shared, emphasizing that the family will ‘be there’ for Jacobs’ parents, Greg and Heather.  

‘We represent family, and when one of us feels pain, we all feel it. We’ve always got each other’s backs, and we’ll support his Momma, Daddy, and Aunt at this time. Our community members are also very supportive,’ he remarked.

More than 300 community members showed up on Saturday to attend a candlelight vigil for the teenager, where they lit candles spelling out his name and shared their memories of the fun-loving baseball player.

‘He always kept somebody laughing, always,’ relative Margaret Jacobs shared. ‘He was so humble.’

Another relative, Brandi Jacobs, said she will miss Jacobs’ ‘loving hugs that he would give you and just that look that he would give, just to know he loved you.

‘Regardless if he didn’t say anything to you, you still know that you were loved by him when you were in his presence.’ 

Family members said they would be there for the teenager’s parents, Greg and Heather

More than 300 community members showed up on Saturday to attend a candlelight vigil for the teenager 

East Columbus Junior-Senior High School baseball coach Brad Smith also described to The News Reporter how Jacobs had a ‘happy outlook’ on life and was ‘always a pleasure to be around and talk to on the field and off the field.’

Similarly, retired teacher Fuller Royal said that from Jacobs’ first day as a freshman in his English class, he remembered the teenager as ‘always friendly. Always cordial. Always good humored and even tempered.

‘He was the same way every time you saw him,’ Royal wrote on social media. 

‘I know his family, friends and the community and the school will hurt a long time with the loss of this kind, hard-working, baseball-loving fellow,’ he continued, adding that he is ‘fortunate  to have had the chance to teach him, to know him and to be friends with him.’