Red-hot Marx flirts with .400 average entering Super Regionals

by Van Williams | May 4, 2025 | Baseball, Cover Story

Dylan Marx isn't only hunting a title, he's chasing history.

The Feather River College shortstop out of Sitka is batting .393 in 43 games entering this week's Super Regionals as he flirts with the possibility of hitting .400, one of baseball's magical accomplishments. It's like running a four-minute mile.

Marx has been running opponents ragged this season, especially during last week's three-game CCCAA Regional against Cabrillo in Quincy, Calif., when he raised his batting average 19 points after going 8-for-12 at the plate and 13-for-15 in the field.

Feather River (33-10) was forced to win the last two games of the best-of-3 series on its home field after dropping Game 1. Marx went 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI double in a 12-4 Game 2 win and 3-for-4 with two runs in an 11-5 Game 3 win.

In Game 3, his defense also played a factor as he was in the middle of two double plays and executed all seven chances, including a 6-3 putout to end the game and clinch the series.

Marx is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak, which started the game after his 20-game heater was extinguished.

He is aiming to become just the fourth Alaskan to hit .400 in a college season. The first to do it was former Dimond slugger Josh Ellis, who hit .402 with Edmonds in 1999. Service standout Damon Stokes batted .410 in 35 games for Division III LaTourneau in 2005 and former Dimond star Sagan Osborne hit .401 in 49 games for NAIA Dickinson State in 2017.

Marx is 72-for-183 on the season, with his 72 hits ranking fourth all-time among Alaskans, one behind Osborne's 73 hits. Second on the list is Juneau's Lance Ibestate with 74 for NAIA Jamestown in 2016. The single season hits record is 86, set in 2018 by Kenai's Paul Steffensen for Mesa JC.

Fourth-seeded Feather River will face fifth seed Sierra College (28-13) in the Super Regional. In the regular season, Sierra was the only pitching staff to shut down Marx, who went 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts in the two-game series Feb. 7-8, when the teams split. Marx has hit safely in 33 of 34 games since then.

Feather River features four other Alaskans, most notably relief pitchers Gunner Mountcastle of Eagle River and Anchorage's Carl Colavecchio, who both threw in the Game 2 win. Infielder Nic Calhoun of Sitka hasn't played since Feb. 28 and pitcher Clayton Boyett of Wasilla injured his arm earlier this year.