—Messenger photo by Britt Kudla St. Edmond's Jack McEvoy swings at a pitch at Rogers Park.

Like most high school athletes, Jack McEvoy paid close attention to his stats in the early going.

Now, as he wraps up his senior season on the diamond for the St. Edmond baseball team, McEvoy is seeing that there are more benefits to sports than just those specific numbers.

“The one thing that I want to pass down to my younger teammates is just have fun playing the game,” he said. “My sophomore year I was really concerned with all the statistics of the game (batting average, strikeouts, RBI, etc.) and I realized I was more focused on adding 20 points on my average than I was enjoying the time with friends.

“The more you focus on having fun playing the game, the more success you will have on the field.”

While not concerned with his stats, McEvoy is having his best year at the plate yet. He is tied for the team-lead with seven RBI and also leads SEHS with three doubles and two triples.

McEvoy is batting .357 with a slugging percentage of .607 and an on-base of .538. He also has drawn seven walks to just three strikeouts.

For his career, McEvoy has 35 hits, 29 walks, 27 RBI, 13 runs, six doubles and two triples. He has also taken on the task of calling pitches from his center position this season.

“Being a senior and having four years of varsity experience under my belt, I have been able to learn a lot of good things from prior teammates and coaches,” he said. “With that, I know I have to be the guy to deliver in certain situations, say something to fire the team up, or give someone some confidence if needed. We have a lot of younger guys on our pitching staff this year so I really try to make sure they all feel comfortable throughout the course of a game. This year I have been calling pitches so I have to think about what works best for our guy on the mound and what will work best against each batter.

“There is a big correlation between being a good leader and being a good catcher. We have to communicate with our teammates about where to go with the ball, make sure our pitcher is doing well and pay attention to detail. I think that the skill that helps me the most when catching is my confidence. It all boils down to having the right mentality. If you don’t have the confidence in yourself to make plays then you won’t. You have to be confident in your abilities to make plays and that is something I have really worked on.”

Outside of sports, McEvoy was involved in student body, the spring musical and Respect for Life at St. Edmond.

McEvoy plans on attending Buena Vista University in the fall, majoring in Biomedical Science.

Vacation: Italy

People have dinner with: Dwayne Johnson, David Goggins and Carmine Persico

Surprise people that: I don’t like roller coasters

Sports role model: Yadier Molina

Everyday role model: My dad

Can’t go day without: drinking coffee

Nickname: Big Mac

Superstition: reading a little bit of a book before each game

Heated rival: Manson

Favorite road trip: CYO Tournament

Listening to now: The Joe Rogan Experience

Favorite team: Minnesota Twins

Class: Introduction to Philosophy

Movie: Gran Torino

Book: “Can’t Hurt Me” – David Goggins

Phone app: Twitter