By Charles Jardine
Sports Editor
Andrew Heidemann is a courageous, outgoing and bright individual. At Franciscan, Heidemann is a sophomore pitcher for the Baron baseball team. Hailing from down south in Fort-Worth, Texas, he is the oldest of five siblings and loves sports.
Heidemann’s baseball journey has been anything but regular. He didn’t grow up playing organized baseball, he mainly played “on recreational and some select teams, but nothing high end.”
Heidemann enjoyed the game for the fun of it, as he has always enjoyed its competitive nature and the thrill of playing the sport. He described the transition to collegiate baseball as an “adjustment” because he hadn’t played organized baseball before.
Heading into his second year on the team Heidemann is ready for another season. He enjoyed his first season under the Barons, but is glad that with that experience he knows more of what to expect from practices, the teams they play, and the other players on the team. Likewise, he also better knows now what is expected of him.
One of Heidemann’s favorite parts of the team is the community it fosters. Coming to Franciscan it was a big difference to have faith integrated in life so greatly for which he is grateful for. Faith is very important to Heidemann and is the main reason he chose to come to Franciscan over other schools.
An average day for Heidemann is not easy. He describes his days as the “athlete life”, meaning his days consist of sleeping, eating, going to classes, doing work, training and training again. As he says, “there isn’t time for much else.”
When Heidemann is not playing baseball, he is constantly improving himself. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, grabbing meals and learning how he can become a better man and athlete. One of his favorite hobbies is “watching YouTube videos and figuring out how to do things I couldn’t do before.”
Heidemann’s joy for learning stretches beyond academics and athletics, but at the same time incorporates them both. He is currently a communication arts major with a concentration in journalism and in the future, he wants to work in the sports journalism field.
He currently works for the school, reporting on the various sports games for the Franciscan website, as well as writing for a local sports outlet. One of his ambitions is to start getting experience and networking himself so that the time he graduates, he will be able to jump right into the workforce.
Heidemann and the rest of the Barons baseball team look to kick off the season strong versus Hood College on February 25.