Baseball
Favorite athlete: Adley Rutschman
Favorite team: Baltimore Orioles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Scoring a goal on a bicycle kick on my youth soccer team.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: I was told not to walk in the line of other people’s putts when I played golf as a kid, so I once tried crawling across – apparently that’s even worse.
Music on playlist: Billy Joel, James Taylor, The Other Favorites, Jackson Browne, Queen, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Morgan Wallen, Kane Brown
Future plans: Study aerospace engineering at Notre Dame
Words to live by: “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.”
One goal before turning 30: To be the best person I can be.
One thing people don’t know about me: I’ll put ketchup on anything.
By Mary Jane Souder
Nate Wiseman, according to his coach, is the very definition of a ‘program kid.’
The New Hope-Solebury senior - who saw his freshman baseball season wiped out by the COVID pandemic - played mainly for the jayvee as a sophomore and then stepped into the starting lineup as a junior who excelled. This year, Wiseman is a captain and anchors the infield at shortstop.
“He really developed,” coach Tony Vlahovic said. “As a freshman he came in – he’s not a big kid, but he was small, and he wasn’t as strong.
“He just kept working at it and just kept getting better each year. He’s one of those kids you point out as an example to the younger kids.”
Yes, Wiseman is undeniably an example worth following on the baseball diamond, but it’s much more than that.
“He’s also a very good golfer – he went to states in golf,” Vlahovic said. “He’s a multi-sport athlete, he’s a musician, he’s bright as can be.
“He’s a well-rounded kid. His family is a good family, and he’s just a well-rounded person all the way around.”
Well-rounded might actually be an understatement, and although he’s not big on talking about himself, Wiseman boasts quite a resume.
The New Hope-Solebury senior is a National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalist, scoring among the top one percent of U.S. high school seniors on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). He takes a course load of honors and AP classes and is a member of National Honor Society and Peer Leadership.
“In the fall, we go down with the freshmen – once a week for six weeks,” Wiseman said of his involvement as a peer leader. “Talk to them, hang out, bring some food, play games and also help prepare them because they’re all kind of scared going into high school.
“Give them someone to talk to if they needed to, and in the spring, we just finished our time with eighth graders, which is pretty similar.”
Music is also an important part of Wiseman’s life.
“I started band in third grade playing trumpet, but then our director asked me to switch to tuba because we didn’t have any,” he said. “Me and my best friend both played tuba and we still do. I just always really liked music.”
Wiseman is a member of the school’s concert band and plays bass in the jazz band.
“My dad and brother play guitar, so I picked that up too,” he said. “I taught myself, and then there’s YouTube. My dad and brother helped out, especially with guitar, and playing bass is pretty similar.
“Especially during COVID when I had nothing to do, I’d play guitar all day. I play a lot – that’s my life outside of sports.”
A passion for sports
Wiseman’s full schedule suggests his life would be full without sports, but that was never a consideration. He grew up in a family that loved sports, and he developed a passion for sports as well.
“My dad and brother are both athletic,” he said. “Their main sport is golf. I started playing golf, and I played all sports when I was younger, but I always played golf with them. Even when I was three or four and just hitting a ball around.
“I wasn’t very good obviously, but it was fun. I tried to get as good as them. I was just always into sports as a kid.”
So into sports was Wiseman that he was intent on starting baseball even before his community rec league’s age requirement allowed him to participate.
“I started t-ball a year early,” he said. “I went over to another town (Doylestown) because I didn’t want to wait, and I played there until I was old enough for New Hope.”
Wiseman played baseball, basketball soccer and golf until high school when he pared it down to golf and baseball. As a sophomore, he advanced to the state tournament in golf.
“I was definitely very serious about golf for a while,” Wiseman said. “I always wanted to go back to states. I wanted to do as well as I could there.
“I thought about doing it in college – my brother did, but between playing baseball and focusing on academics, it was tough to think about playing that in a school I want to go to, so I put that aside for a bit.”
Wiseman’s high school career on the links was capped with his New Hope-Solebury squad capturing the SOL Freedom Division title as well as another trip to the state tournament. He tied for 16th out of 72 golfers at the PIAA AA State Tournament.
“One of my teammates (Malcolm Raupp) also made it to states, which was pretty cool,” Wiseman said. “We got to go to Penn State and stayed the night – played two rounds up there. It was really fun.”
As for baseball, last summer he joined the Plumstead American Legion team for the first time.
“I had played on our Solebury travel team for many years,” he said. “After last year, I was old enough for the Plumstead Legion team which was very fun.
“A third or half it was from my high school team, so I got to hang out with them a little more, and I also got to meet some kids from Plumstead. It was a fun season, and I’ll probably do it again this year.”
After earning All-SOL Freedom Division honors at second base last year, Wiseman was moved to shortstop this year. He also pitches in relief.
“We don’t have that many pitchers, so it’s whatever we need that day,” he said.
He’s been a positive leader for a young Lions’ squad.
“He’s one of those kids, he’s a quiet leader, but he’s solid,” Vlahovic said. “I can rely on him.
“He helps do clinics with the little kids. This year’s he’s been a little more vocal.”
Wiseman has especially enjoyed his involvement with Vlahovic’s annual unified baseball game working with baseball players with special needs.
“That’s been really cool,” he said. “He does it every year, which is a cool tradition to have.
“They’re so into the game, they care so much, and they’re just having such a good time out there. It reminds you – just have fun.”
Looking ahead
Although he will not play collegiate sports at the varsity level, Wiseman plans to stay involved at the club or intramural level. He’ll have plenty of options when he heads to the South Bend, Ind., and the University of Notre Dame this fall.
“There’s a lot of cool club and intramural sports - whether it’s baseball or golf or whether it’s a random sport playing for fun,” Wiseman said.
He plans to major in aerospace engineering.
“I’ve always been interested in it but more so during high school,” he said. “During COVID, I didn’t have much to do, so I learned about rockets and launches, and I’ve gotten more into it.
“My end goal would be rocket related – building rockets that launch the satellites. In a few years, there’s a to be a lot of missions to Mars and everywhere. It would be very cool to be part of those.”
For now, Wiseman is enjoying his final high school baseball season, an experience he wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
“I’ve always liked being a part of the program,” he said. “I was always into baseball, and I knew I could be pretty good on a team if I stuck with it, so I stuck with it.
“Just playing the sport is always fun. It’s a break from stress or whatever else is going on in high school. It also gives you a community. In baseball season, you’re together six days a week for 3-4 hours. It’s a group you grow pretty tight with over time, and it’s nice to have that.”
There’s no mistaking Wiseman is a player and leader that will be missed.
“Whatever he has, he leaves everything he has on that field,” Vlahovic said. “He’s a heart and soul kind of kid. He will play any position I ask him to, and he’s smart. He’s just a great kid.”
