ALTON - Jayce Maag was poised to have a breakout senior season for the Marquette Catholic Explorers.
It turns out, Maag finished with one of the best individual seasons in Marquette history.
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A shortstop, Maag tallied an exceptional .485 batting average, 47 hits, 26 RBI, two home runs, 37 runs, and an on-base percentage of .541. He was a driving force for the Explorers leading them to a 20-10 season. It’s the second straight season Marquette has won over 20 games with Maag being a key player for both years.
That was all good enough to earn him a selection in the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association (IHSBCA) Class 2A All-State Team.
“It’s awesome. My teammates put me in a good position to win a lot of games this year. “I definitely miss those guys. They’re an awesome group.” Maag said. “Coach [Tim] Fahnestock was great. He put me out there a lot, and it’s really awarding."
Stats like a .485 average and a .541 on-base percentage stand out. However, Maag was still caught off-guard when he realized he had been chosen.
“Whenever coach Fahnestock called me and let me know I was like, “wow.” It was cool,” Maag said. “My batting average is always something that I look into. I try to hit the ball early in counts and get on base as much as possible.”
A college freshman-to-be, Maag will be attending Lindenwood University and play baseball. That might instill a bit of culture shock because Maag has been a three-sport athlete for the majority of his life, but he certainly won’t mind having a bit more time on his hands. He’ll use those extra hours to improve his game and conditioning.
“I’m very excited. To focus on one sport instead of three and just play all year long and grind. It’ll be weird just being able to work on baseball. ” Maag said. “I feel like I’m going to have a lot of time.”
To prepare for the spring season, Maag is playing American Legion Baseball with Alton Post 126.
Incidentally, Maag is cousins with another area player who got all-state honors as well.
Former Carrollton star pitcher, Kolten Bottom, who will be attending and play baseball at Illinois College was awarded all-state honors as a sophomore in 2016. He can also say that his Hawks defeated Jayce’s Explorers 9-4 this past season. However, Maag can point back and say Marquette edged Carrollton 4-1 in their junior seasons.
“Now I can kinda say I got [all-state] too,” Maag said laughing. “It evened out in the end because we both beat each other and both got all-state.”
