St. Charles Baseball Standout Jayden Lobliner Drafted By St. Louis Cardinals

ST. CHARLES, IL — St. Charles North graduate Jayden Lobliner was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth round of the 2026 MLB Draft, giving the local baseball standout a chance to begin his professional career.

Lobliner, a senior catcher at the University of San Diego, was selected 264th overall on Sunday, according to a news release from the University of San Diego.

The St. Charles native earned WCC Defensive Player of the Year and All-WCC Second Team honors in both 2025 and 2026 and was named to the 2026 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Midseason Watch List. Before joining San Diego, Lobliner began his college career at Kansas State before transferring ahead of the 2025 season.

He helped the Toreros win the 2025 West Coast Conference regular-season championship and advance to the conference tournament championship final, according to the news release.

During his two seasons at San Diego, Lobliner hit .291 over 103 games, recording 28 doubles, three triples, 16 home runs and 69 RBIs. Behind the plate, he threw out 28 potential base stealers and became known as one of his college conference’s strongest defensive catchers, according to the news release.

Lobliner had a standout senior season in 2026, hitting .296 with 10 home runs, 39 RBIs, 16 doubles and a .539 slugging percentage. He started all 51 games for the Toreros and ranked second in the WCC by throwing out 12 runners attempting to steal.