Shortstop Max Anderson recalls journey to Nebraska baseball
LINCOLN, Neb. (BVM) — Shortstop Max Anderson gets ready for his day bright and early at 5 a.m. It takes him seven minutes to travel to Millard West High School where he enters the weight room and lifts weights with the Millard West baseball team. By sophomore year, Anderson received an offer and committed to Texas A&M University to strengthen their baseball program.
Anderson, according to Perfect Game, has a prospective rating of 7.5. He has Division I potential, and with the right development and training, could turn into a possible draft pick for Major League Baseball. Nationally, he is listed at No. 132 for high school shortstops. Although in the state of Nebraska, Anderson is the best shortstop in the state and the third best player overall. He tops out at 100.2 mph exit velocity, runs a 7.09 60-yard dash and has an infield velocity of 90 mph. With these statistics, Anderson is right to be among the top three in Nebraska baseball, but while Anderson’s sophomore season came and went, his commitment to Texas A&M began to waver.
“Texas A&M was very generous to offer me a scholarship so early in my high school career,” Anderson said. “But with my talents, I had a lot of other teams interested in me that were a lot closer to home.”
Anderson decommitted from Texas A&M, focusing on his junior year and the Class A championship. He finished with a .353 batting average, 10 home runs and 28 RBIs earning the honor of being Nebraska’s Player of the Year 2019. After another phenomenal year, more and more coaches became interested in Anderson and as the offseason approached, so did an opportunity.
“Coach Erstad called me to see if I was interested in joining his team, which I was ecstatic about,” Anderson said. “With Texas A&M, I wouldn’t touch the field as a starter until 2023, I wanted playing time and somewhere close to home. And that’s what he gave me, an opportunity.”
Anderson finished his high school career with a player of the year award and a Class A state title under his belt. Now, he faces other Division I opponents every spring.
In his first year with the Nebraska program, Anderson received the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award, he became a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American, nominated as second team All-Big Ten and for the Big Ten all-freshman team.
“I was honored to be nominated for so many awards and extremely grateful for winning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year,” Anderson said. “If I was playing baseball anywhere else, I don’t think I would be able to win any of those awards. I had a great first year and being close to family made it easier to perform.”
After Anderson’s first season with the Huskers, he decided to work primarily on his plate appearances. Anderson started the entire season totaling 53 games and racked up 224 at–bats in the 2022 season. He finished with the second highest batting average on the team at .299, led the team in home runs at 10 and slugging percentage at .513.
“I worked with my hitting coach daily. I wanted to improve upon my freshman season and add more power behind my swings,” Anderson said. “It allowed me to be flexible with runners on base or as a leadoff hitter.”
Although this season didn’t turn out well for the Huskers, Anderson landed a spot on the Tom Osborne citizenship team at the end of the year. The Huskers will look to bounce back from an off year with a young and upcoming squad, and with Anderson at the helm, the future looks bright for Cornhuskers baseball.
