With baseball season well underway, the Winonan caught up with redshirt first-year outfielder Carter Brinkman and asked him about his journey and his time with the team.

Brinkman saw success at a high school level and told The Winonan about how his team seemed to click on all cylinders at the right time, bringing them all the way to the Target Field and getting him recognition from college teams.

He decided on Winona State after he got an email from Coach Reilly asking him to practice with the team.

“That’s the day I really knew that this was going to be my choice. I fell in love with the campus and I fell in love with the team,” Brinkman said.

Carter did have other offers available, including one from the rival NSIC Sioux Falls Cougars.

Being that Carter is from a very small town, there was a noticeable change from high school to his transition to D-II baseball.

Brinkman said the biggest jump from high school baseball to college baseball was the role that everyone plays, and how everyone was top notch at their certain position.

From the pitchers and catchers to the infield and outfield, Brinkman said the talent was “unreal” at this level.

He was impressed with the overall skill set each player provided for the team.

Being Brinkman’s freshman year, the Winonan asked him what he has learned from being on the team, and what his prospective is from the bench.

Brinkman said that even though this is his freshmen year, he did not feel like there is a difference between players.

“There’s no egos, all the teammates are awesome, everyone knows their role and we all just want to win,” Brinkman said.

With that mindset, the baseball team has almost surpassed their win total from last season and are sitting above .500 with a large part of the season left to play.

Games are not being played every day though, so what does an average week looks like for a baseball player here at Winona State?

Brinkman said he wakes up early every day for class before hitting the weight room and going to practice at noon, while also trying to get in extra hitting and throwing.

“There’s lots of studying that goes on between that too, so I have a very tight schedule,” Brinkman said.