It’s been a noteworthy past few days for a pair of former Covington Catholic student-athletes, who have a lot in common in addition to attending the same high school in Park Hills.
On Tuesday, Luke Maile became the first Cincinnati Reds catcher with a home run, three RBIs and a stolen base in a single game since Johnny Bench performed the feat in 1978.
“That’s pretty cool. I didn’t know that. That’s awesome,” Maile said to Bally Sports TV after the game, which the Reds won 11-7. “Don’t have much to say other than that’s pretty good company.”
Maile is a 2009 CovCath graduate. He’s the school’s career record holder in batting average (.481), hits (198), doubles (44), triples (13) home runs (29), runs scored (178), runs batted in (187) and bases on balls (115). Bench, one of the greatest catchers in history, is in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Maile, Kentucky’s Mr. Baseball his senior year at CovCath, is in his eighth major league season and his first with the Reds. According to Baseball-reference.com, he is the first player from CovCath to make the majors. Maile is batting .243 this season with a career-high six home runs. With Tuesday’s stolen base, he tied his career-high with two. He’s approaching career single-season highs in games played and runs batted in.
Originally from Edgewood, he keeps getting closer and closer to home. Maile was a free agent last offseason and signed a one-year contract with the Reds on November 28, 2022. He played for Cleveland last season and got into a career-high 76 games. He was with Milwaukee in 2021 and hit a career-best .300, although in just 30 at-bats. He was with Toronto three seasons from 2017-19. He began his major league playing career with Tampa Bay where he played in 2015-16.
Maile was drafted by Boston in 2009 but did not sign, instead choosing to play at the University of Kentucky, where he was second-team all-Southeastern Conference and a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy before he was through. Tampa Bay selected Maile in the eighth round of the 2012 amateur draft. When he debuted in 2015 at age 24, he nearly became the 21,000th player in major league history. Instead, he was the 20,999th player in history.
Michael Mayer, Maile’s first cousin and a 2020 CovCath graduate, caught a 2-point conversion pass Sunday for the Las Vegas Raiders in their 23-18 Week 3 home loss to Pittsburgh. The play came at the 5:51 mark of the fourth quarter after Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams caught a one-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo hit Mayer with the 2-point toss that pulled the Raiders to within eight at 23-15. It was Mayer’s second NFL reception, the first coming the week before against Buffalo, which also happened to be for two yards.
Originally from Independence, Mayer was the 2019 Gatorade Kentucky Football Player of the Year and Kentucky Football Coaches Association Mr. Football his senior season at CovCath. He led the Colonels to the Class 5A state championship that year and was named title game MVP. He played on two CovCath state champions. He was selected to play tight end in the 2020 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Mayer starred collegiately at Notre Dame, where he surpassed former Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert to become the program’s all-time receptions leader at the position. Mayer was a consensus All-American his final season, becoming Notre Dame’s first at tight end since Ken MacAfee in 1976. Mayer holds all-time Fighting Irish tight end records with 180 receptions, 2,099 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns.
The Raiders selected Mayer in the second round with the 35th overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was the first CovCath player to be drafted by the NFL. He’s played in three games so far this season and been targeted twice. Mayer is listed second on the depth chart at tight end for the Raiders, behind starter Austin Hooper, an eight-year veteran, and ahead of third-stringer Jesper Horsted.
Maile and Mayer are grandsons of CovCath alum Dick Maile, a member of both the Northern Kentucky Athletic Directors and Covington Catholic halls of fame as well as the Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame. Dick Maile was also a longtime coach in Northern Kentucky.