Nazareth’s Jaden Fauske drafted by White Sox with 44th overall pick

Jaden Fauske, who helped lead Nazareth to back-to-back state championships in 2022 and 2023 and was a two-time Suburban Life Player of the Year, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox Sunday with the 44th overall pick and first pick of the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Fauske, a left-handed hitting outfielder committed to play collegiately at College World Series champion LSU, batted .475 as a senior with six home runs and 40 RBIs, with 10 doubles, four triples and 38 runs scored with 29 stolen bases.

He was named the Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year, was an ABCA/Rawlings High School All-America first-team selection and earned Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 4A All-State first-team honors. He also played football for Nazareth for three years.

Fauske originally committed to Louisville before he ever took the field for Nazareth.

He started as a freshman for the 2022 Nazareth baseball team that won the program’s first state championship. He was the 2023 Suburban Life Player of the Year as a sophomore, as he batted .487 with 15 doubles, 38 RBIs and 38 runs at the plate and on the mound posted a 4-0 record with two saves and striking out 49 batters over 33 innings while posting a 0.42 ERA to lead the Roadrunners to a second straight title.

He made his verbal commitment to LSU in November of 2024.

Fauske is the latest Chicago-area product drafted by the White Sox in recent years.

Noah Schultz, a left-handed pitcher from Oswego East, was drafted with the 26th pick in 2022 and is now the White Sox’s top prospect. Downers Grove North’s George Wolkow was selected in the seventh round of the 2023 draft.

This story will be updated.