Following a record-breaking high school career, TOHS Class of 2021’s Maxwell Muncy’s rise to stardom was just beginning. The infielder thrived on the varsity team as a freshman after converting to the outfield for a key role and finished his high school career with a .469 batting average. He was a key player on the CIF-SS champion team in 2021 and was named Baseball Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Daily News in his action-packed senior year.
After graduating, Muncy, an Arkansas baseball commit, was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft, marking the beginning of his professional baseball journey a month after graduating high school.
“There was talk about me going. I wasn’t exactly sure if it was the first round,” Muncy said. “My agent and I talked about a dollar amount, and if it exceeded that dollar amount, I’d pick that over college. The day before the draft, I raised that amount to push myself to go to college; the A’s exceeded that offer and I knew it was right for me and my family and I couldn’t turn it down.”
Four years later, Muncy got the call to suit up for the big leagues. After an impressive Spring Training, he was selected to the Opening Day roster for the Athletics in 2025, facing divisional rival Seattle Mariners on the road.
“They called me into the office to let me know how impressive my camp was and how they were not expecting me to make the team out of camp, but they were impressed in my game and said I was going to play Opening Day,” Muncy said. “When I called my parents, that’s when I got emotional.”
As Muncy reflects on his journey, he can’t help but notice the ongoing support from his high school community, a factor he hadn’t fully realized until his recent call-up to the big leagues.
“Especially with recently getting called up, people have reaching out saying they’ve been watching shocks me and shows how many people support me even after high school,” Muncy said. “I only thought my family watched my games, but it means a lot and opens your eyes on how strong of a sports community there is where we are from.”
Muncy’s path to the big leagues wasn’t without challenges. His first years in the farm system were filled with trials but he steadily climbed the ladder, starting the 2024 season with the Triple-A Las Vegas Aviators, the highest minor league level.
“Playing every day was definitely the hardest thing, especially at 18,” Muncy said. “You go from playing 30 high school games to 140 in professional ball. In my first year, I hit .230, the lowest I’ve hit in the minor leagues, and I’d go back to my room wondering if I’d ever get where I am today. Eventually, I decided if this happens for three years and I can’t hit, then that’s how it is, but I’ll give it everything I got.”
Muncy, the 25th overall pick in 2021, was able to play with 2023 sixth overall pick and TOHS class of 2020 Jacob Wilson in 2024 for the Aviators before Wilson was called up to the big leagues in August. A mere seven months later and Muncy got his call to the majors, earning his spot on the Athletics following an impressive Spring Training where he shares the infield yet again with Wilson, this time in green and yellow rather than green and white.
“If you told me in high school that I’d be playing up the middle in the big leagues with him [Jacob Wilson], I’d think it’s impossible, especially this quick,” Muncy said. “It’s surreal and a little unbelievable we are both able to play this game at this level, and on the same team like we did in high school.”
In the season’s home opener, deja vu was in the air as Wilson flipped the ball to Muncy, who would complete the traditional 6-4-3 double play to Athletics first baseman Tyler Soderstrom. Muncy got his first career MLB hit in his second game on March 28 when he hit a 439-foot home run.
