John McAuliffe knows he’s heading off to the Ivy League this fall to play football.
What he doesn’t know for sure is whether his baseball career will be done after this spring.
The two-sport senior star is having a season to remember for the RedHawks, hitting .429 with a .517 on-base percentage (both team bests) through last week. That follows a big football season as Marist’s top running back.
He’s committed to Cornell for football, but hasn’t closed the door on trying a second sport at the next level.
“Baseball is awesome,” McAuliffe said after going 3-for-4 with three runs in a 10-6 win over Marian Catholic on May 12. “Played it since I was probably 4 years old. So yeah, we’ll see, it is open for me to play in college. … We’ll just see in the future.”
The RedHawks headed into the last week of the regular season at 19-12 overall after finishing tied with Joliet Catholic atop the East Suburban Catholic standings at 12-4.
So this may or may not be it for McAuliffe’s baseball playing days,
“It might not, but I’m playing it like it is,” he said. “Some of these guys I’ve been playing with for four years. We’re making the most of it.”
McAuliffe provides an offensive spark as the RedHawks’ leadoff hitter and offers solid defense in center field. He also can pitch when needed, but hasn’t been used much in that role this spring.
“He’s been awesome,” Marist coach Kevin Sefcik said. “Great athlete, good competitor. You need a lot of those guys around.”
Familiarity with varsity competition has bred success for McAuliffe.
“I feel a lot more relaxed than I did last year, for sure,” he said. “I feel like a lot more of a leader out here … leading by example. I’m honestly doing a little bit worse than I did last year, but I feel a lot better than I did last year.”
Ditto for the RedHawks, who have rebounded after going 4-6 to open the season.
“Yeah, we definitely started off slow,” McAuliffe said. “But I think we really just meshed together, we jelled. And that’s when we started playing good.
“I had high expectations, some people had low expectations. I feel like we are exceeding other people’s expectations. But we know what we can do.”
The ESCC schedule, plus a bunch of strong nonconference opponents, have the RedHawks ready for the rugged Lincoln-Way West Sectional, McAuliffe believes.
“We’re prepared,” he said. “I mean, we play one of the best schedules in the state every year, year in and year out.”