Photo courtesy of Carrie Zeldenrust Mike Anderson was named the New Ulm High School head baseball coach this week.

NEW ULM — Mike Anderson, who was the head baseball coach at Madelia High School last year, is the new head baseball coach at New Ulm High School.

Anderson, who was an assistant and then interim head baseball coach at Mankato West before Madelia, replaces Kevin Briggs.

While an interim head coach at West (along with two others) in 2022, the Scarlets went to the title game at Target Field and lost in extra innings to Benilde in the state championship game.

“The three of us were named co-Big Nine Coaches of the Year,”Anderson said.

Anderson, whose team went 13-9 in his first year with the Blackhawks, said that when he took the job at Madelia, he fully anticipated being there for the long haul.

But Anderson said that the New Ulm High School head baseball job was always on his mind.

“This summer I was coaching the Madelia Junior Legion team and we came to New Ulm to play New Ulm Silver — we lost 1-0 in extra innings — and I was talking to Silver coach Mark Grossmann,” Anderson said. “I told him that I really liked coaching these kids, but I told him there is only one job I will leave Madelia for and that would be right here [in New Ulm].”

New Ulm High School Activities Director Troy Guentzel said that New Ulm High School was fortunate to receive handful of qualified applicants.

“After multiple interviews, Mike Anderson emerged as the best fit for our program and school community,” Guentzel said. “Throughout the interview process, Mike demonstrated the type of integrity, organizational management and energy that we were looking for to lead our baseball program. He also has spoke at length about his goals for the program, which included building trust and relationships with the students, parents and the community. He also spoke about the importance of working collaboratively with the City off New Ulm, the New Ulm Baseball Association VFW and Legion teams. It was evident throughout the interviews that Mike wants to be in New Ulm.”

Anderson said that one of the big reasons that he eyed the New Ulm job was the baseball passion that the community has.

“And the baseball history of New Ulm,” he said. “And also back in 2016, I took my summer travel team from Mankato to Johnson Park to watch the section championship game between West and New Ulm. And I watched New Ulm double-dip West and at that time, West was the No. 1-ranked team and had all of the high-end players. But I watched New Ulm bunt, run and steal their way into winning the section. I thought after the game that this is the baseball epic-center of Minnesota.”

Anderson, who is just in the infancy stages of putting together a coaching staff, said that he hopes to inject some positive energy into the program.

“Some fire and desire,” he said. “And I am really hoping to reconnect with some of the baseball alumni. Just looking on paper, I cannot think of another town in outstate Minnesota that has three former major league baseball players that are living. I really want to meet Jim Senske and connect with Kevin Briggs, Jay Backer and the traditional New Ulm baseball fold and pick some brains. I want to bring that tradition combined with some new thinking.”

Anderson said he has process-based goals in mind.

“My style is to get them on, get them over and get them in,” Anderson said. “My goals are not results-based but rather process-based. Attitude, effort, focus and how good of a teammate you can be. Those four things are what makes baseball.”

And Anderson wants to set up an offseason workout plan for the players.

“What I want to have is three days a week of morning lifting,” he said. “And I want to meet with the associations and Martin Luther College and starting on January 1 having twice-a-week captains practices.”

Anderson and his wife, Jill, will be moving to New Ulm.