Behind The Code...High School Baseball Player, Max Jensen

Name: Max Jensen                                           

Nickname: Jensen

High School: Eagan High School (Minnesota)          Class: 2015

Summer Team: Eagan Patriots (Legion)                  

Position: Catcher/Infielder

What Aspects Of Your Game Are You Working To Improve?

As a catcher I\’m always working on my fundamentals behind the plate. Blocking, receiving, footwork, as well as controlling the game and working with my pitchers.

What Makes You Unique?

Something that would make me unique in a baseball sense would be the way I try to maintain the home plate circle. After games and practices our team is responsible for at least a light clean-up of the field, and I usually end up as the last one still raking and tamping the dirt in the batters boxes and behind the plate.

What Can You Offer A Program Others Cannot?

I can offer a baseball mind that is hard to match. In my high school and summer programs the catchers are expected to control the game and this causes me to have to think 2 or 3 plays and batters ahead at times and still take the game pitch by pitch and work each batter.

Do You See Yourself As A Leader?

I do see myself as a leader. Again, stemming from being a catcher, I have to be vocal on every play. Every ball put in play I have to direct traffic and make sure the other 8 guys on the field are going where they need to be. And in the dugout I always try be as vocal as I can to help out our guys at the plate and on the bases.

What Are Your Strengths As A Player?

I would say one of my biggest strengths as a player is my ability to hit to all fields. I have greatly improved my approach at the plate and can spread the ball around the field and hit gap to gap.

Who Are Your Role Models?

As much as I hate to say it, my two biggest role models are Yankees. Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. They both have played their entire careers with an intensity and true love for the game that is hard to match. They play the game with more heart than anyone else.

What Is The Best Part About The Game Of Baseball? What Do You Enjoy Most About The Sport?

My favorite part about the game of baseball is the relationships you form with your teammates. No matter how a game or season is going, the entire team is going through the same thing, and the friends you make through baseball can last forever, as well as the relationships you form with your coaches. Coaches always want the team to be the best they can be, even after they\’re beyond that coach’s level. They continue to offer their help as much as they can, as well as their support for the team as a whole.

What Is Something You Have Learned During Your High School Athletic Career?

The biggest thing I have learned through high school sports is how many small things you can work on to greatly improve your game. Baseball is is a game of inches, and one tiny mistake can cost you a ballgame. So working on things like footwork, and small practice like tee work, fielding drills, and bullpens can be the most important practice you have.

What Advice Would You Pass On To Other Athletes That Want To Play At The Next Level?

With so many camps and winter teams spring up all around, it is great to go out and keep tuning your craft in the off season. But I think it\’s also important to work with your school teams when the opportunity presents itself. You can go spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to work with guys from all over the state and country, but, at least in my area, there are a lot of opportunities to work out with your team and be seen by your coaches for no cost at all. And those stand out to coaches as much as elite camps and teams.

What Would Your Teammates Say About You?

I think my teammates would say that I\’m a hard working player, and that I do a good job of working with the other guys to be the best we can be when we step out on to the field.

What Is The Biggest Obstacle You Overcame In Sports?

The biggest obstacle I have had to deal with in baseball would be my late start into the traveling baseball program. Many of the guys I play with now started in traveling baseball 2 or 3 years before I did, so they not only began facer better competition, but were also forming a tight knit team before I came into the program. But now as juniors we have been playing together for 4 or 5 years and have formed a very strong bond as a team and know how each of us play and work.