Nazareth Academy star Jaden Fauske named the Gatorade Illinois baseball player of the year

CBS News

3 days ago

Nazareth Academy's Jaden Fauske was recently named the Gatorade Illinois baseball player of the year. It's an award that celebrates a player's accomplishments on and off the field.
It's probably more the on the field work that will get him selected in the upcoming MLB Draft, but Fauske's much more than just a great baseball player, he's also an elite chess player, and a state scholar
Fauske earned a starting job on the varsity lineup during his freshman season at Nazareth Academy. He helped the program win its first state title that year, finishing a historic career with a 136-21 record.
"Jaden is different. Jaden's at-bats were different. Jaden, the ball coming off his bat was different, the distance is different, the height is different. He threw 34 innings on the mound for us as a sophomore and he gave up two earned runs over 34 innings," head coach Lee Milano said.
The multi-talented outfielder helped Nazareth win back-to-back state titles his freshman and sophomore seasons.
His impressive offensive skillset as a left-handed batter led to a .492 career batting average, with 12 home runs and 136 RBI.
"When I'm in the hole and on deck, there's a lot of things I'm telling myself, and trying to learn about the pitcher, but as soon as I step in the box my mind just goes silent," Fauske said.
Fauske has been learning how to stay one step ahead of his opponents since a young age; not only playing baseball, but by mastering chess.
"I think I got third place in state when I was in fourth or fifth grade. I feel like people, they kind of get surprised when I tell them that," he said.
Fauske continues to play chess as a hobby, and feels it benefits him on the field too.
"Hitting, every at bat is kind of like a chess match between the pitcher; you know, trying to predict their tendencies, what they might do at a certain count, stuff like that. So I think there's definitely a correlation there," he said.
Does Fauske challenge his teammates to play him in chess?
"They don't give me much of a challenge, to be honest, but, yeah, we play sometimes," he said.
"AP Scholar, Illinois State Scholar, 4.3 grade point average, elite chess player, Jaden works extremely hard," Milano said.
A talented player who will now either continue his career collegiately at national champion LSU, or, as a projected first-round MLB Draft pick, go pro.
"I mean, chasing the dream of playing in the big leagues, either way you go to LSU or go to the draft. You can't really go wrong," he said.
While Fauske has a lot to look forward to in his future, he will never forget memories made at Nazareth Academy.
"I'm going to miss playing for Coach Milano and those coaches, and playing alongside my friends … wearing the Nazareth uniform across my chest," he said.
There is only one thing his coach might not miss.
"Jaden hit anywhere, on a daily basis, 8 to 10 homers in our field where our field is backed up to the woods. So the balls, once they're out there, we can't get them, we can't find them. I figured Jaden owes the school about 600 baseballs right now, and I told him whatever happens at some point when he signs that pro contract, a couple dozen balls back to the program wouldn't be a bad idea," Milano said.
Something that could apparently be a problem for Fauske the rest of his career.