Photo/Illustration by Sam Thiel Wabasso's Nick Altermatt was named the 2018 Marshall Independent Baseball Player of the Year.

WABASSO – Nick Altermatt made sure the last swing of his high school career was a good one.

In the consolation championship of the Class A tournament, the Wabasso senior connected on a pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning against Hinckley-Finlayson and blasted a deep ball to center field for a walk-off home run as the Rabbits finished their season with a 7-6 victory.

As a leader for Wabasso, Altermatt served as a reliable option for the Rabbits, whether it was on the mound or at the plate. Those contributions have earned Altermatt the 2018 Marshall Independent Baseball Player of the Year.

“It’s a great honor from you guys to receive this,” Altermatt said. “It’s hard work that has paid off and I’m glad to receive this honor.”

Wabasso coach Chad Olson said the accolade is a fitting end to Altermatt’s career and he is very deserving.

“Obviously it’s a great honor. There are a lot of good ballplayers in our area and for Nick to win, it says a lot about him as a baseball player,” Olson said. “He put up some great stats this year and was our leader on the team both vocally as well as by example. Definitely a deserving kid.”

Altermatt has been a leader for multiple years for the Rabbits, serving as their main pitcher as well as playing in the infield. This season, Altermatt was third in the area in batting with an average of .479 with 34 hits and led the area in triples (6), home runs (6) and runs scored (34) while also plating 28 RBI. On the mound, he was even more dominant, leading the area with an earned run average of 0.92 and 99 strikeouts.

Those numbers paid off, as Altermatt helped lead the Rabbits to their first trip to the state tournament in 10 years and finished with a fifth place trophy.

Altermatt appreciated the Wabasso community for coming out in full force at the state tournament and said it was a great experience for him and his team.

“We had great fan support up at state, it’s almost like playing a home game with all of the fans that we had there,” Altermatt said. “It was a great experience to go up there and not too many kids get to go up and play at a state tournament, let alone place. It was just a great time up there with all of the teammates and coaches and we had a good time.”

This past spring was not the only state experience for Altermatt. This season, he was the quarterback of the football team and led the Rabbits to a runner-up finish last fall as well as competing as an individual at the Class A wrestling tournament in March.

Altermatt said he was grateful for the ability to play in multiple state tournaments in his high school career, especially being able to go to three of them in one season.

“Not too many kids make it to one state tournament,” Altermatt said. “I’m just really blessed to have this many blessings in my life and not too many kids get to say that they went to three state tournaments in one year. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Altermatt added those types of experiences at the state level has helped him grow a lot throughout his career.

“I gained a lot of experience from all of the sports that I had,” Altermatt said. “I played varsity from a very young age so having a lot of experience really helps to know the games and playing just by reaction and not really thinking about the game.”

Olson said Altermatt has shown that growth a lot during his career at Wabasso, mainly through his leadership that was seen at a young age.

“Just great leadership; you don’t really expect that coming in as an eighth grader or a freshman, but over the last two or three years, he’s been the captain on the football, wrestling and baseball teams,” Olson said. “He had three state tournaments in his senior year and placed very high in all three of those. We’re going to miss Nick next year as well as the whole group of seniors that we had this year. It’ll be a new look next year so we’ll have to find some new guys to step up.”

Olson said what makes Altermatt’s play on the field so special is his athleticism.

“He’s just super athletic. He’s one of those kids you see in a small town like Wabasso maybe once in 20 years, maybe twice in my career as a coach,” Olson said. “Just a standout athlete and he’ll own a lot of the Wabasso school records and he’s just one of those kids that this community is going to remember for a long time.”

Olson said Altermatt has made a big impact on him and made his job as a coach a lot easier by being an everyday leader.

“Certainly a kid like that makes me as a coach look pretty good. It’s easy to just put him out there and let him do his thing and it makes the decisions really easy,” Olson said. “When he’s on the mound, I didn’t have to worry too much about who my next guy in line was because he would usually go the distance if we needed him to. Just made my job really easy.”

Going into next season, Olson said this year’s group of seniors set a great example for the underclassmen and hopes they follow in the footsteps of their veteran leaders.

“I think the underclassmen around this group of seniors definitely saw all the hard work these kids put in the offseasons with the workout programs in the summer,” Olson said. “Hopefully they understand that’s what it takes to be successful, to put in all those extra hours in the weight room and doing the offseason conditioning programs. This group of seniors, along with Nick, set a great example for Wabasso in all sports.”

Altermatt said he’s going to miss hanging out with his teammates every day.

“I’m going to have make new friends and that’s going to be tough,” Altermatt said. “I’ve played with people I’ve grown up with 10 years plus, so it’s going to be tough to not see those guys around all the time.”

Fortunately for Altermatt, his career isn’t over just yet. The senior will be attending Minnesota State University, Mankato where he will play on the baseball team. The Mavericks went 31-16 overall this season.

Olson said he’s excited for Nick to play at his alma mater and can’t wait to watch him continue his career for four more years.

“I can’t wait to go watch him; that’s where I went to school and graduated from. I didn’t play any sports there but it’s a great opportunity for Nick and I look forward to getting over there and seeing him compete at that level,” Olson said. “Minnesota State Mankato baseball has just some great baseball over there so he’ll fit right in and do a great job.”

Altermatt said he’s looking forward to the next step to his life and baseball career and is excited to join the Mavericks.

“It should be really fun playing at Mankato,” Altermatt said. “They have a really good team up there and I’m playing the game I love and I get four more years of it.”