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Second MCC pitcher going Divison I, joins Warhawks
McCOOK, Neb. — McCook Community College’s second pitcher this week has signed a national letter of intent to pitch Division I baseball in 2022-2023.
Sophomore Maxim “Max” Mrakovcic of Sydney, Australia signed on to continue his pitching at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
“He’s another product of hard work,” MCC baseball coach Jon Olsen said.
The 6-3, right-hander from Port Hacking High School is also the product of an unconventional but effective path to success – a route that transformed a recreational baseball player into a pitcher refining his tools for professional aspirations.
“I never really played for those high-level teams at home,” Mrakovcic said.
MCC teammate Mitchell Driver and Mrakovcic were just playing recreationally in Australia before they “really started getting into it.”
They earned a spot on a traveling team that went to Florida for three weeks in 2019. They played junior colleges and high school teams.
“That’s when I ended up getting on the mound and started getting noticed a little,” Mrakovcic said.
One of those who noticed was former MCC Assistant Kregg Snook, who offered him a scholarship. He committed despite not having visited Nebraska but heard positive reports from Driver and another Aussie, Jayden Bastow, both who’d been on the 2019-2020 team with Snook and Olsen. “I was lucky that I had Mitch and Jayden who were both here the year before and so I had all the inside information, all the photos, all the videos that I ever needed to know exactly what McCook was like, and that put me a step ahead and helped with the decision because (with Covid-19) I wasn’t able to look at the other schools anyway,” Mrakovcic said.
“And I’ve loved every minute since I’ve been here and really glad I chose it,” he said.
He also became a consistent force on the mound as a freshman picking up his first win in his second game. Then a month into the season he was named the Region IX Pitcher of the week for March 1-7 when he pitched one scoreless inning in a 10-8 win over Northeast and three days later allowed three hits in a complete-game 5-2 win over Pratt, walking two and striking out 10 hitters.
Mrakovcic appeared in 16 games, starting a team-high 13, finishing three with a 7.07 ERA. In 70 innings pitched he allowed 77 hits, walked 47 and struck out a team-high 96 hitters. That strikeout total ranked him 24th in the nation.
The Louisiana-MonroeWarhawks went 26-26 in the spring 2021 season, and finished in third place in the Sun Belt’s West Division. The team knocked off four Top-10 opponents in the season, including No. 3 Ole Miss, No. 9 Oklahoma State and a series win at No. 6 TCU.
Mrakovcic joins fellow MCC pitcher Alex Lozada in the Division I ranks, who joinedJackson State in Mississippi.
“We were a good staff last year but I think Alex and I, and the others have really developed, we’ve taken our time in the weight room and taking those extra steps knowing it was our time to be moving on,” he said.