4/17/23
By Kevin Taylor
Alma Schools
Nathan Machen is racing the clock.
But, in the game of life, baseball has prepared him well. The Alma senior will close out his career this month with plenty of things to smile about.
Nathan Machen is ready for the game of life.
“I’m also involved in DECA, and I was listening to an interview from one of my fellow officers,” Machen said. “With more responsibilities, you have to be able to adapt. Once I learned this, it was good. I was like, ‘I know this is going to be kind of hard to juggle all these things, I may need to spend more time getting sleep and not waste as much time on other things.”
Machen and five of his fellow senior classmates, Derek Hatcher, Noah Likens, Caden Nesbitt, Axl Spain, and Jackson Wright were honored on Senior Night Thursday following the team’s 11-2 loss to Booneville.
Good habits lead to good grades, and good grades lead to a productive life.
“Overall, our team has a 3.7 GPA, and I feel like that’s exceptional — especially during baseball season when we play 28 games in a matter of a month-and-a-half,” Machen said. “Some guys are playing three and four nights a week, too.
“As for me, it’s a matter of having good habits — waking up and knowing my responsibilities for the day and having my day planned out.”
A part-time player as a junior, Machen has settled in this season as the regular first baseman. He hopes to leave the program in a better place than he found it. The team has already won more games this season than in 2022.
Machen is third on the team with seven RBIs. And, though he’s hitting just .232 overall (one double and one triple), he’s more than held his own during Alma’s eight 5A-West games, batting .455 with six RBIs and just three strikeouts. He has a .538 on-base percentage.
The first baseman has 43 putouts with a .870 fielding percentage.
“Having the uniform is like the cherry on top,” Machen said. “I feel like the uniform is really a big deal and you think about kids in the stands who look up to me, and I want to give 110 percent. I know guys out here feel the same. Hopefully, kids will look up to me that are the future of this program.”
Heading into the final six games of the 5A-West race, the Airedales (7-11, 4-4) control their own destiny. Currently, the team is locked in the fourth and final playoff spot — one game ahead of Van Buren.
“Obviously, we’ve had some injuries to deal with, but as long as everybody does their job to their ability and the work you put in in the off-season, it’s probably going to pay off,” Machen said. “Hopefully we’ll come out with a couple of wins and qualify for the playoffs.”
Alma is currently without Hatcher (the team’s starting shortstop) and catcher Sheppard Osborne (shoulder).
Machen credits Alma’s coaching staff (head coach Brian Fry and assistants Josh Driscoll and Brian Curd) for keeping the team grounded. The team doesn’t trash talk, which is another characteristic of life lessons he’ll carry with him moving forward.
“Obviously, a team can have a loud student section or they can have poor ethics, but that doesn’t really show how good of a baseball team they are,” Machen said. “I feel like if you’re calm, cool, and collective, that can show how good of a team we are instead of having to show it being loud.”
“There are two kinds of leadership, and I think they’re exhibited on our coaching staff,” Machen continued. “You have Fry, who is very calm and very quiet, and then you have Driscoll, who gets more excited. That has its pros, because before games he’s really good at getting us fired up. I think it’s also good to have guys like Curd and Fry.”
Machen missed most of his freshman season because of COVID, but he credits his older brother Jacob and former teammate Seth Cole for setting the tone for his sophomore season.
“I think my brother was a good leader,” Machen said. “Being able to put the younger classmen in their place, I think my brother was a good leader. I think Seth Cole was someone we looked up to as well. He was an overall good guy and he brought a lot of charisma to the team.”