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SPRINGFIELD -- It's hard to imagine a more award-studded season than the one Springfield's Jakob Nachreiner has had.
Nachreiner was named to his fourth All-Conference and All-Section teams this year, was named the 2024 Tomahawk Conference Baseball Player of the Year, was the winning pitcher of the Section 2A Baseball Championship game, was honored with a Class A All-State Tournament Team nod, was the winning pitcher of the Class A State Baseball Championship game, was an All-State player and was named the 2024 Class A Baseball Player of the Year.
It only seems right that he should be given one more award -- the 2024 All-Journal Baseball Player of the Year, as voted on by The Journal's sports staff by unanimous decision.
Though not a fan of the personal attention, Nachreiner acknowledges that receiving the awards is proof that he is hitting his goals as an athlete.
"It was a goal coming into the year to get these awards," he said. "And when your team is producing at the level it was, it makes your job a lot easier to go out there and produce at a high level."
Nachreiner was the leadoff hitter for the state-champion Tigers this season, hitting .390 with a .540 OBP, both second-best on the team. That helped him score the most runs on the team with 30 while driving in 22 of his own, accounting for 22.1% of the team's total runs on his own. Nachreiner hit a team-leading nine doubles and four triples while only striking out 13 times, balancing power and contact at the plate. Those numbers, along with his team-leading 24 steals, present a strong case on their own for why Nachreiner is deserving of these awards.
But what really made Nachreiner stand out this season was his pitching.
A lot of the success that Nachreiner found of the mound he credits to his chemistry with his catcher, Jackson Ludewig.
"Jackson behind the plate has been absolutely incredible this year," Nachreiner said. "Going into the year, he didn't really catch much. He caught a little when he was younger. But after Danny [Rogotzke] tore his ACL in football, me and him had to step into that role. He took it very well. He was improving every single game.
"Throughout the playoff run he was just incredible back there, making pitches look good, blocking balls that needed to be. Then the defense behind me did better every single game. It was incredible to watch."
Nachreiner went 11-1 on the mound this season, throwing an incredible 141 strikeouts, averaging 1.79 per inning pitched, while posting a 0.71 ERA as the Tigers' ace. He allowed 35 total hits in 78 2/3 innings and gave up only eight earned runs all season.
Nachreiner had some of his best performances in the section and state playoffs, recording a career-high 17 strikeouts in the section semifinals against Madelia before delivering 12 more in the championship game against New Ulm Cathedral. In the state tournament, Nachreiner struck out 14 batters and allowed one hit in a shutout of New York Mills and fanned 11 in the Class A State Championship against Parkers Prairie. Across those four games, Nachreiner allowed only four runs against the best competition in the state.
"Confidence is one of the most important aspects of a game," Nachreiner said. "You can be very good, but if you're not confident with everything you do, you're not going to be able to produce. Being able to shake the nerves early in the game and get through that part of it."
The right-hander saw a big leap in both his time on the mound and his performance there this season. In 46 1/3 more innings, Nachreiner struck out 90 more batters and lowered his ERA by 3.19. Nachreiner said he spent a lot of time in the offseason working on his velocity and accuracy.
"Going to velo [velocity] camp at HTP [Sports Academy] helped a lot with my velocity gaining a little bit," he said. "Then my dad working with me in the bullpen. He's our pitching coach, making little adjustments to help my struggles from last year. I struggled throwing strikes last year, and I kind of figured it out towards the end. But this year the improvements made are all credit to him finding little bits and pieces of mine to fix."
Nachreiner's play was a big reason why the Tigers won their second state championship title this year. Nachreiner said that a goal of the team's was to leave a lasting impact on the legacy of Springfield baseball, and they achieved that with their state tournament run this season.
"Coach [Brandon] Wilhelmi talks in our early year meetings every single year about leaving a legacy," Nachreiner said. "That's one of the most important things you can do -- how will people remember this team. And that was a big push in our playoff run. We wanted to be that team that was always remembered."
For the future, Nachreiner plans on continuing his baseball career at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he expects to contribute to the pitching staff right away.
"I will only be pitching there," he said. "I will not be swinging the bat, which I'm not too mad about that. I know a few of the guys that are going there and I've talked to the other people that have committed there and it sounds like it's going to be a really fun experience with the guys out there.
"Since it's only a two-year, I want to be able to get in there early and produce at a high level as quick as possible. The competition's going to be a lot better than what I've seen in Class A baseball, but I want to be able to make the adjustment and contribute down there."