Prep Baseball Report

Top-10 Stories of 2019: No. 7 Preble's Wagner earns state POTY honor


By Andy Sroka
Staff Writer, Associate Scout

It has been a tremendous season for Green Bay Preble’s Max Wagner (2020; Clemson commit).

Not only did Wagner statistically dominate for the Hornets during the WIAA spring season, the Clemson commit has only been steadily rising inside the nation’s 2020 high school class. His feel to hit from the right-handed batter’s box is no longer recognized as one of the best in the state, or even just the Midwest, it’s now placed among the best in the country. Wagner is up to No. 79 overall in the National 2020 Rankings and debuted at No. 197 overall on our PBR Draft Board.

Circling back to his accomplishments during the 2019 spring season, Wagner slashed .500/.620/.914 in his junior campaign for the Hornets, with five home runs and 39 RBIs, all while pitching 61 innings in which he racked up 80 Ks and groomed a tiny ERA of 0.69. 

He maintained his other-wordly offensive numbers in the summer while playing with and against some of the top talent in the country and it’s been earning him some looks within the pro scouting community. We’ll see just how seriously pro departments are looking at him in the winter and spring, but even if he opts to head to Clemson anyway, Wagner is going to represent Wisconsin well in the sport for many years to come.

Check out our post that was published in mid-June when we announced Wagner as the third recipient of the PBR Wisconsin Player of the Year:

MAX WAGNER 3B / RHP / GREEN BAY PREBLE, WI / 2020

CLEMSON COMMIT

Season Stats: .500/.620/.914; 35 H, 5 HR, 39 RBIs, 24 BB
Pitching: 61 IP, 0.69 ERA, 80 K, 13 BB

Led Preble through their sectional by closing out their sectional semifinal win over Hortonville and tossing a complete game shutout against Kimberly in the final. Also homered in game one and his three-run triple in the second game helped lift the Hornets to another sectional title and a trip to state.


With the Division-1, D-2, D-3, and D-4 state tournaments coming to an end this week, we have finally concluded the 2019 Wisconsin high school baseball season. With the state champs crowned, it's time to name the winners of individual awards, beginning today with the PBR Wisconsin Player of the Year announcement. It's always a difficult decision to weigh players and performances from each of the classes across the state, and there were many deserving candidates, but we ultimately came to a decision on the player in the state who impressed us this spring most.

Prep Baseball Report is excited to announce that the 2019 Wisconsin player of the year is Green Bay Preble’s two-way prospect and Clemson commit, Max Wagner.

Max Wagner, Future Games (8/1/18)

The 6-foot, 190-pound junior was a superstar for the Hornets this spring, and he is a huge reason why his team earned a fourth straight trip to the state tournament.

Wagner’s monster season shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, as he was one of the standout performers at last summer's Future Games and has long been one of the best bats in the region. Wagner had an incredible spring at the plate and led his team in every offensive category, slashing .500/.620/.914, with an OPS of 1.534, while adding eight doubles, three triples, and five home runs total. He also drove in 39 runs and walked an absurd 24 times compared to only five strikeouts.

For as good of a season as Wagner had offensively, he was arguably even better on the mound. He was essentially untouchable on the rubber, allowing only six earned runs on 61 innings of work – good for an ERA of 0.69 ERA. Wagner attacked hitters from the get-go, and is capable of dotting the corners, which helped him punch out 80 batters while walking just 13.

Luckily for fans of Wisconsin high school baseball, and amateur baseball in general, Wagner still gets one more crack at high school baseball before heading off to Clemson. He'll head back to Preble for one more crack at earning the program its first-ever state title. And at an individual level, for a player of Wagner's caliber, the sky truly is the limit.

Wagner has been selected by the PBR Wisconsin staff to be its Player of the Year after much careful deliberation. The entire Prep Baseball Report staff has been diligently scouting and covering baseball games at baseball diamonds across the state this spring to bring parents, athletes and fans the most comprehensive coverage of amateur baseball across the United States. The dedication and coverage allow Prep Baseball Report a credible way to identify the top athletes each year who best represent the state of Wisconsin.

Previous PBR Wisconsin POTY winners

2018: Jack Washburn, RHP, Webster HS

2017: Ryan Hoerter, RHP, Indian Trails HS

 

TOP-10 STORIES OF 2019