It was all the way back in the early days of middle school when Preston Steiner really started to find interest in baseball. If anyone has watched Potosi baseball, they know Preston is a great baseball player and has had lots of success. But what has led to this success throughout Preston’s career?
Preston liked all three major sports growing up, but once he got to middle school, baseball started to stand out. Very few people can be just naturally good at baseball because it takes work. Preston said, “It was in middle school when I realized that I could become a good baseball player if I started to put the work in.”
Preston is constantly playing baseball whether it's winter, summer, spring, or fall. If he's not in the traveling league or playing for Potosi, he's up at the Sluggers baseball facility working on himself. His favorite skill to work on is hitting. “I find a lot of joy in swinging a bat over and over at a baseball and watching my swing improve.” He also lifts at Elite Fitness, mostly working on athleticism and different muscles that are handy when it comes to baseball. The effort is there from Preston, no doubt.
Baseball stood out more to Preston because of his family's history with the sport. Lots of his relatives loved the sport and had lots of success with it, so Preston thought he could too. Preston said, “basketball didn’t stick” after playing it through middle school, and he liked football, but he did not finish out his high school career because of some injuries that he went through like a torn shoulder.
Everything he has achieved through his years of baseball proves he has been successful. In his sophomore year of baseball, he earned first-team all-conference as a center fielder. Then again in his junior year, he earned first-team all-conference again but then also honorable mention all-district also as a center fielder. Coming up on his senior year, he is looking even better, so the chance of him earning something very special is high. That is all just through high school play. Through his many years of travel baseball, he has been to several showcases and has earned badges at them showing he was a top performer. His success and skill has been proven, and he's not done yet.
Preston has one more year of high school baseball left. After that, he is going on to play college baseball. He has announced his commitment to Marshalltown Community College which is near Cedar Rapids Iowa. . After many different visits to colleges in Wisconsin and Iowa, he chose MCC. He said, “I feel like I connected with the coach very well” and the coach offered Preston a scholarship. He also likes the on-campus dorms that many of the other colleges didn’t have. Preston said, “I'm really excited to see what my future holds in baseball, and I just wanna have fun”.
Preston has played baseball more than anyone else I know. He has so many memories from all the years of baseball, but some stick out just a little bit more. His all-time favorite memory is winning the conference championship his junior year after closing it out at Blackhawk with a crossover conference game. “It was such a close team that all had their eyes on the same prize, so we were driven,” said Preston. Other moments from Preston’s career that are highlights include when he threw his first no-hitter vs River Ridge. He added, “hitting a dinger vs Southwestern sophomore year was awesome to pretty much close out the game”. Preston definitely has many more memories still to make as a baseball player with lots of talent.
With the 2023 baseball season coming up Preston is looking forward to having yet another great season. Unlike most, Preston will be continuing his career in college, so he has even more to look forward to. There is no doubt Preston will continue to succeed in baseball and his future, whatever else it may hold.