Field of Dreams

It´s a hot summer night at City Park. The sky is cloudless, and the air smells like dirt, sweat, and sunflower seeds.It´s the third inning, and the  four to one. Nathan Wilkinson ´19 is 11 years old at the time, and he’s up to bat—hoping for a miracle to tie up the game.  

¨I didn’t see the ball, but I heard the crowd cheering, rounded bases and celebrated with teammates, tied up the game, mom gave me a high five, I was proud.¨  Nathan said.

Nathan Scrambled to get the ball behind the fence so he could keep it to remember the experience by, since his dad—who always recorded his games—wasn’t there that night.  Luckily his mom´s friend recorded it, so Nathan can relive his first homerun.

That was a big milestone in his baseball career because thatś when he realized he could be really good if he kept getting stronger and working on his mechanics.  

He now plays pitcher and first base for West High’s baseball team, but he wasn’t always so excited about playing baseball.

“My mom had to force me to go outside and play catch,” Nathan said. “I also had a terrible coach when I was a kid, so I had to work extra hard to overcome this.”

He still thought baseball was fun, though.

¨I think putting in the hard work is a tough thing to do but it’s worth it in the long run.¨ Nathan says, ¨I love to play baseball in front of a lot of people, especially when i’m playing my best¨

It’s not all fun and games though, there’s still offseason practice and after school lifting to get stronger and throwing with a partner to develop technique every week.

¨My parents coached me and that helped me get better because I practiced more,¨ Nathan said. Nathan´s parents got him there on time and cared a little more than his other coaches.  

¨My mom was one of the only female coaches and the other coaches respect her because of our team´s performance,¨ he said.  

Nathans little sister, Ashley Wilkinson ´20, loves watching her older brother playing baseball.  Along with Ashley, Jack Dickens ´19 said that ¨ he [Nathan] gets really excited but serious¨  when Dickens described what nathan is like when he does something significant in baseball.

His grandpa is also the assistant coach and he takes stats and helps the team set up the pitching machine and gets the field ready to go for the teams.  ¨They put in a lot of time and are committed to our success.¨

As a family playing baseball is passed down, and his younger brother is now playing baseball.

“My little brother is 10 years old right now and he is already playing better than I was at that age,” Nathan said.  “He’s hit six home runs so far.  I love to watch him play and compete, he uses my old gear, too.”

Nathan wants to get a scholarship, Iowa or Indiana, ¨…lots of scouts [look] at these teams and I want to get noticed by the pro scouts,¨ he said. Nathan is planning on going pro, and his favorite team is the Cubs, but he said he would go anywhere to be able to play professionally.