Extraordinary things come from the most unlikely situations.

 
Like how head baseball coach Alex Koch found a star in a kid from Canada.

 
“The story behind recruiting Nate is a little different than most. I had never seen him play before,” Koch said. “But our old pitching coach is from the same town in Canada as he is. He was the one that had all the good things to say about him, so I decided to trust him.”

 
Wayne State’s former pitching coach turned out to be right about Ackerman. He certainly has been a force to be reckoned with since he’s been at Wayne. In his first season at Wayne, he led the team in almost every offensive category except for batting average, for which he was second with .323. He was tied for third in the NSIC with 14 home runs.

 
His offensive outburst earned him First Team All-NSIC, NCBWA First Team All-Central Region, Daktronics/D2SIDA All-Central Region Second Team and NCBWA Honorable Mention All-American last year.

“He has all the tools to play at the next level, if the right scout sees him he has a good shot at getting drafted,” Koch said. “He will need to finish the season strong and put up good numbers. That will help out his chances a lot.”

 
He has indeed put up some big numbers.

 
Ackerman already has 11 home runs this year. He still has a little more than half the season left to play, and if he ends the same way he started, it’ll be hard for the scouts not to draft him.

 
“Not only has Nate meant a lot to the program in the short amount of time he’s been here, he’s also helped recruit other great baseball players from his previous college,” Koch said.

 
Ackerman, 6’ 2” and 215 lb., has been one of the best players Koch has seen in his 10-year career at Wayne. So far this season he has a .296 batting average with 24 RBIs, and he looks to continue his dominance in the second half of the season.

 
“His natural ability makes him a great ball player. He has the strongest arm and bat speed I have ever seen. He also has a motor that never stops,” Koch said. “He plays the game hard and has the willingness to continue to learn the game.”

 
Ackerman, according to his coach, is willing to put in the extra hours in order to become the best there is.

“His career here has not always been how he wanted it to be,” Koch said. “But he always works his tail off to work his way out a slump if he’s ever in one.”