The highlights didn’t end when the season did for Jaden Fauske.
Fauske wrapped up his Nazareth career as the Gatorade Illinois Baseball Player of the Year, and less than six weeks later he became the Roadrunners’ highest selection ever in the MLB Draft.
The center fielder went first in the second round and 44th overall to the White Sox on June 13, adding to the resume that made him the Southwest Regional Baseball Player of the Year.
“I think that God has a plan and that was the plan for him,” Nazareth coach Lee Milano said of Fauske going to the White Sox with their second pick of the draft. “There were a lot of phone calls earlier, there were things that could have been lined up later. It all fell into place with the White Sox.”
Fauske talked early in the season about living in the spotlight.
“Just trying to stay within myself as much as I can,” he told Southwest Regional Publishing. “I mean, obviously there’s a lot going on with … people recording every at-bat, so (I’m) just trying to block out everything else.”
While the White Sox front office did its due diligence with Fauske as with other top prospects, the team had a unique perspective on the LSU recruit. Hall of Famer Jim Thome — who played for the Sox from 2006-09 and currently works for the team — is an assistant coach at Nazareth, where his son Landon is a rising senior.
“Having Jim in a front-row seat the last three years obviously didn’t hurt” Fauske’s chances of being drafted by the Sox, Milano said.
Neither did Fauske’s body of work, which included a breakout summer last year when he played in the Area Code Games, MLB All-American Game, Perfect Game All-American Game and Prep Baseball Report All-American Game.
For Nazareth, Fauske was a four-year starter, three-time first-team all-stater and two-time state champion.
This spring, he batted .475 with a .601 on-base-percentage, .832 slugging percentage, 1.444 OPS, 40 RBIs, 39 runs and 33 stolen bases. His career numbers were just as impressive: .492 batting average, .590 on-base percentage, .744 slugging percentage, 133 runs, 136 RBIs and 73 steals in 145 games.
As good as he was his first three years, Fauske was determined to get better in his final prep season.
“I’ve worked really hard to get faster, prove that I can play center, improving steal times, home-to-first times — all that,” he said. “Worked on that all offseason.”
Fauske started his prep career as a third baseman, moved to catcher and then transitioned to the outfield. The Roadrunners were 136-21 during his tenure.
“We just had conversations with his team, his family, about what would be best for him moving forward,” Milano said.
Fauske wasn’t just a star on the field. He graduated with a 4.2 grade-point average, was an Illinois State Scholar and also is an elite chess player.
“Overall, when you look at his four-year career, his approach never really changed from whether he was a freshman on varsity or a senior leader with 70 scouts watching him,” Milano said. “Very mature, very even-keel and very stoic.”
And very good, as all of his stats and honors showed.