Reggie Wortman
CONTRIBUTOR
Recruit local.
Look up and down the Omaha baseball roster, and you’ll see that head baseball coach Evan Porter doesn’t venture too far from home when it comes to bringing in talent. Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and of course, Nebraska. Those are the states 32 of the 38 players on the team call home, and true-freshman Mike Boeve is no different. A native of Hastings, Nebraska.
“He’s an unbelievable player and an unbelievable kid,” said head coach Evan Porter. “His dad was the coach at Hastings for a long, long time, so you can tell he’s a coach’s kid just from the way he carries himself.”
Hastings is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Omaha, which is where Boeve’s career began and took off. He arrived in Omaha as the top-ranked high school third baseman in the state of Nebraska and was regarded as the seventh-best overall recruit in the state.
A standout during his years at Hastings Senior High School, Boeve earned a spot in the Expedition League, a college summer ball league, after his American Legion season was over in 2020. He hit .409 and picked up 18 RBIs in 19 games with the Hastings Sodbusters. He was also named to the All-League team at third base.
This spring, he’s wasted no time building off that at the collegiate level. Through 20 games, Boeve has served as a super-utility player for the Mavericks. He joins Brett Bonar and Masen Prososki as the only three players to start every game this season.
He’s made starts at first base, shortstop, and left field, all while hitting in the three-hole for most of the season. At the plate, the freshman is hitting .310 with 10 RBI. One of those 10 came on a home run, which was also the first hit by a Maverick at Tal Anderson Field.
So far though, the most impressive part of his game might not even be reflected in his physical abilities. Not only is Boeve a physically-strong player, but the mental side of his game has stood out just as much. It’s something Porter says made an immediate impact once he arrived on campus.
“He does every little thing right,” Porter said. “You never have to tell him, even once, to change what he is doing. He’s got a really mature approach to the game.”
That maturity has really paid off at the plate. As good as the stat line looks, the head coach says Boeve actually hasn’t had the best of luck at the plate at times this season. Once again, that mental toughness has been the difference.
“He has probably had the toughest luck on the team when it comes to lineouts or having great plays made against him,” Porter said. “He hasn’t changed the way he carries himself though, and that allows him to elevate his game even more.”
That approach likely comes from Boeve’s father, Jim, who was the head coach at Hastings College for 24 years. It’s safe to say baseball runs in the family.
For the one that is only 20 games into his college career, that maturity and approach are paying off. If the start to his freshman campaign is any indication of what’s to come, there’s a bright future ahead for No. 29 in Omaha.
“He hasn’t changed the way he carries himself, and that allows him to elevate his game even more,” Porter said. “He’s going to play baseball for a long time.”
