OHS senior Jacob Meiners has recently announced his commitment to Augsburg University to expand his baseball career and further his education. Meiners decided he wanted to pursue a college career in baseball at the beginning of his junior year, the choice to put his focus into his baseball career paid off well for him. 

Meiners had been a member of the Owatonna Boys Baseball program and has had a great impact on the teams he’s been a part of. Teammate, junior Grant Achterkirch said, “His work ethic and his determination to help the team.” This is what really separated Meiners from others.  This makes Meiners stand out as a teammate and player and comes as no surprise to those that know Meiners and proves him to be the kind of teammate that any athlete would want. 

After many years of playing baseball, Meiners finally thought it was time to make a decision on where he wanted to play in college coming into the 2020-21 school year but the decision was not easy. Meiners said, “I was torn between Augsburg and Saint Mary’s up until about mid- October. I talked with some Augsburg alumni and their coaches a lot more than I did Saint Mary’s, and they persuaded me to join them.”

Meiners is pleased with his decision, after a lot of thought he truly believes Augsburg is a great fit for him as a student-athlete. As far as baseball goes there is a lot for him to look forward to. Meiners said, “I am most looking forward to the baseball trip we will take every year when we go play down in Arizona for a few weeks. Also, once in my four years we will take a trip to Cuba and play down there, so I am super excited about that.” 

Although there is a lot to look forward to for Meiners the road to college sports is not easy. Several factors went into getting to this point in his baseball career. He said, “Two of the biggest factors in my career so far have been Coach Eggermont and Brandon Wolf. Eggermont really has driven me to work hard at everything I do, and has taught me many lessons along the way. Wolf is one of our varsity coaches and I played for the Aces with him, and he has helped me with everything from my decision on where to go, to baseball advice, to just life advice.”

Meiners also attended various showcases to receive necessary college exposure. Additionally, he and other teammates at OHS were fortunate enough to be a member of the Owatonna Aces, which helped him grow and learn as a player. Meiners said, “I learned a lot about myself and the way I play, and I’ve grown a lot because of it.”

Playing baseball is not the only thing Meiners plans to do after high school. He plans on studying statistics and data analytics at Augsburg in order to pursue a career in front office, he said, ”For a Major League Baseball team, or some professional sport.”  Meiners along with other athletes hoping to have their senior season, Meiners will also play with the Owatonna Aces in the spring.