Kevin Maas

Bryce Alderton

Pain reared its evil head, or shoulder, in Kevin Maas’ case when a

Tustin High offensive lineman belted the Corona del Mar senior

returning an interception in the fall of 1987.

Maas, a cornerback and wide receiver, fell to the ground in agony.

It was CdM’s third game and the starter would miss every game leading

up to the final Sea View League contest against Back Bay rival

Newport Harbor.

Knowing the significance of a Sea Kings-Sailors contest in

football, or in any sport, Maas, who stood 5-feet-11 and weighed 155

pounds, wrapped “10 rolls of tape” around the shoulder and caught a

10-yard pass. His teammates lifted him on their shoulders after the

completion, appreciating his dedication to return to the field for

CdM’s biggest game.

Maas then competed in the team’s opening 28-7 victory over Troy in

the CIF Southern Section Central Conference playoffs. CdM opened 1-5,

but reeled off five straight victories to advance to the CIF

playoffs.

The following spring, Maas squat behind the plate as the Sea

Kings’ catcher in baseball, enduring pain he felt each time he threw

the ball.

Once the baseball season ended, Maas -- now 33 and living with

wife Cari and their two children in Chandler, Ariz., a suburb of

Phoenix -- had the shoulder examined and found he had torn all the

tendons and ligaments around the bone, which would require surgery,

performed a year later.

When doctors operated on the shoulder, they also found Maas had

broken the tip of his collarbone, which they said caused the constant

pain. Two more hours of surgery repaired the break. All the while

Maas never stopped competing. He played baseball for one year at

Fullerton College before attending Mendocino College in Northern

California with CdM teammate Kurt Ehmann.

Maas and Ehmann, along with high school teammates Todd Katovsich,

Andy Jones, Scott McCarter and Jeff Thomason, a 10-year NFL veteran

who has spent the last three seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’

tight end, formed a close-knit group which still gets together at

least once, if not several times a year.

Maas never made it to the professional ranks like Thomason, but

managed to make the University of Arizona baseball team as a walk-on

in his freshman year.

“I asked the coach [Jerry Kendall] if I could give it a shot and

he said I could be one of two players to make the team,” Maas

recalled. “It was a three-day tryout period that started with about

150 people. The second day they invited 40 people back and on the

third day there were 15 of us. They posted the results the following

day.

“I was ecstatic when I saw my name. I called my parents and a few

friends. I got a second chance to play ball and compete at that

level.”

Maas, who played third base and shortstop during his freshman and

sophomore seasons at CdM before switching to catcher for his junior

season, went up against some stiff competition behind the plate. He

spent most of his one season as the Wildcats’ third-string catcher,

mostly warming up pitchers in the bullpen.

CdM baseball coach Jerry Jelnick approached Maas at the beginning

of the ’87 season about putting on the mask since the team was slim

on talent at the position after some graduations.

“I liked to be able to see the whole field and it was much more

intense to say the least,” Maas said about catching. “I liked being

the guy in charge and being involved in every single play. I was

pretty honored that Coach Jelnick asked me to fulfill the position.

It showed he had trust in my talent and leadership.”

The move to catcher made all the difference for Maas, who rode his

newfound position for as long as he could before deciding it was time

to call I quits at Arizona.

“It took all year to figure out there were a lot of people with 10

times my talent and I could not to make a career out of [baseball],”

Maas said. “I made a career out of grades and degrees instead.”

Maas graduated from Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in regional

development and is a general contractor for McCarthy Building

Company, which focuses on commercial construction for hospitals,

parking structures and office towers. Though he admits Arizona is “a

far cry from living next to the beach,” Maas enjoys living in the

desert and spending time with his children: 2-year-old son Kendall

and 7-month-old daughter Cooper.

“Every waking moment is put toward my kids,” Maas said. “My

hobbies are taking my son to swim class and doing yardwork with him

following me around and mimicking what I do.”

Maas gets to enjoy the water of the Colorado River with his family

when they go skiing and tubing, which is where he is spending this

Memorial Day weekend. Name a sport and Maas has probably tried it. He

began little league at 5 and played AYSO Soccer until he entered high

school. These days, he plays in a recreation softball league.

Baseball was always his passion, though, no matter the hits against

him.

“I had a good time playing football, but my size hampered me a

bit,” Maas said. “Baseball was always my primary sport.”