After missing most of his freshman year due to an injury, Nicholas Earl spent his sophomore season building back both his strength and his love for the game. Over the summer, Nicholas competed for the Madison Senior American Legion baseball team and got an opportunity to improve his skillset while following his main goal in baseball—to play and enjoy the sport for as long as he can.

Nicholas began playing baseball in Madison Little League at the age of seven. His older brother Andrew also plays the game. Nicholas looked up to his brother and wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Up until 7th grade, Nicholas played solely in Madison Little League. He then spent his 7th- and 8th-grade seasons playing for Madison Travel baseball. Nicholas feels that his time in the youth ranks had him well-prepared for when he became a high school baseball player.

“Everything leading up to high school is preparation for team building, how the game works mentally, and how it will affect your skill level,” says Nicholas. “That was really put on us from a younger age.”

What Nicholas couldn’t prepare for was how much the world around him would change in one year due to COVID-19. Nicholas had to learn how to deal with that change, but through it all, he still had baseball. At age 13, Nicholas realized how much the sport meant to him and decided that he wanted to keep playing. As the world was changing in front of him, Nicholas says that baseball always remained.

“There was a lot going on in the world. There were a lot of changes,” Nicholas says. “I found comfort in the sport. It was the one thing that really stuck with me and made me feel comfortable going through all the chaos at the time.”

Nicholas joined the Hand baseball program in his first year of high school and competed for the freshman team. However, Nicholas’s season was limited to three games as he was dealing with an injury to his right shoulder. Nicholas was in physical therapy for seven months as he worked to return to the diamond.

Nicholas felt that he had lost some of his momentum as a baseball player after spending nearly a year away from the game. However, he did make a full recovery from his injury and competed for Hand’s JV team this spring. Nicholas viewed his sophomore season as a rebuilding year and did everything he could to get ready for his junior campaign.

“With losing so much time, you lose a lot of your spark. When you’re hot in baseball, you can keep going,” says Nicholas. “I used sophomore year mainly as a transition year. I was just trying to find that spark again. I was trying to improve for next year.”

Following the high school season, Nicholas competed for the Madison Senior Legion team this summer. Nicholas was one of the younger players on the club and viewed the Legion season as another chance to build himself up. Nicholas enjoyed competing alongside more experienced athletes and being coached by people who’ve created a strong culture within Madison baseball.

“Even in Senior Legion, I was still trying to find my groove again, but I really liked playing on the older team,” Nicholas says. “The coaches are very understanding. The atmosphere was much better than a lot of teams I’ve been on, and the team was just great.”

Jason Vitale served as the head coach of the Madison Senior Legion team this season. Vitale says that Nicholas always brought a great attitude to the field and was constantly looking for ways to raise his game.

“Nicky brings excellent effort every day,” says Vitale. “He wants to learn and wants to get better in every aspect of the game.”

Whether he’s playing high school or Legion, Nicholas patrols the outfield whenever he’s on the baseball field. While he began his career as a shortstop, Nicholas settled into the outfield during his 8th-grade season and is now primarily a center fielder. As he’s tracking down fly balls, Nicholas likes to keep things simple and focus on ensuring that the baseball hits the pocket of his glove.

“Just watch the ball. I try to keep the game as simple as I can. When I put too many things in my head, it’s way too confusing,” Nicholas says. “I’m going to get to the ball. I’m going to watch it the whole way, and I don’t take my eye off of it.”

As he enters his junior year, Nicholas’s biggest goal is to continue enjoying playing baseball. Nicholas wants to become the best player he can be, but he understands that he won’t be able to play forever, so he just wants to keep having as much fun as he can for as long as possible in the sport.

“I’m not looking to go DI or DII. I’m just trying to enjoy the sport while I can,” says Nicholas. “Everyone always tells me to enjoy my youth while I have it. That’s my main goal. I just want to enjoy the time and the game while I can still play.”

Nicholas loves playing baseball for his hometown and appreciates how Madison plays the game the right way. Nick feels proud of the baseball culture that’s been harvested in Madison and is honored to be a part of it.

“We go out there and treat everyone and everything with respect—the field, players, people,” Nicholas says. “In Madison, we have such a great atmosphere. We have done a lot. It’s so good to be a part of Madison.”