‘A wonderful time’ | News, Sports, Jobs

Kuster was elected for his play on the BLC baseball team from 1989-91, where he helped the team to a state championship. However, it was playing summer ball in New Ulm where Kuster got his start.

“I grew up playing New Ulm Park and Rec,” Kuster said. “Started when I was 5. Played all the way through Junior Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth, VFW, Legion, Kaiserhoff. So I played pretty much my whole younger life.”

The baseball culture of the New Ulm area was a strong influence in Kuster’s early career, and he believes that the talent and competition he faced early on helped kick-start his athletic success.

“New Ulm was a baseball town,” Kuster said. “And I appreciate so much what everyone in New Ulm has done for me in terms of teaching me the game. I don’t have the words to describe [it]. I felt so ahead of anyone else playing because of what New Ulm did for me in terms of teaching me the game, both in terms of the coaches I had through youth baseball, coaches in Park and Rec, VFW coaches, Legion coaches. It was something to play for New Ulm. The teams that we would play in the tournaments would call us Baseball Town, U.S.A. It was an awesome experience.”

Kuster grew up playing summer ball in New Ulm.

Kuster played with names that are still very influential in New Ulm area baseball while on the VFW Blue team. John Giefer coaches for the Courtland Cubs, while Mark Grossmann manages VFW Silver. Others he played with include Bob Windschitl, who was inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in 2016, and Tony Hanten, who was inducted into the New Ulm Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012.

That VFW Blue team was coached by Jim Senske, who is also in the New Ulm Baseball Hall of Fame. That group of players went on to qualify for the 1989 Great Lakes Region Five Legion Tournament in Danville, Illinois, after taking second at the state tournament.

Kuster also played baseball with Minnesota Valley Lutheran, where he graduated from the school in 1989.

After his time playing New Ulm baseball, Kuster went on to have a very successful career at Bethany. Playing second base and center field, Kuster had a .381 batting average in 1991, along with a .578 on-base percentage, a .512 slugging percentage, and only had one error all season. That season, Kuster won the Golden Glove Award and was named an All-Conference, All-State, and All-Region player. He also ended up being chosen as the Minnesota Community College Conference Southern Division Player of the Year.

Kuster said that baseball in New Ulm was a big reason why he had so much success in college.

Photo courtesy of Matt Kuster
The 1989 New Ulm Legion baseball team made it to the Regional Legion Tournament after taking second at the state tournament.
Top row (l-r): Mark Grossmann, Corey Stolte, Bob Winscheitl, Tony Hanten, Matt Senske, Andy Hammerschmidt, Brett Linbo, Brandt Drill, Foel Allen.
Bottom row (l-r): Coach Jerry Allen, Dave Kuhns, Johnny Kuck, Jason Walsh, John Giefer, Matt Kuster, Paul Bauer, Brian Schmidt.

“Going from New Ulm, especially the strong legion program that we had, to college baseball was a jump in terms of challenge,” he said. “At the same time, it wasn’t a radical jump because of the quality of baseball I played in New Ulm. Of course, playing in college, every pitch matters, every situation matters, so in that way its a little bit different, but not by much. At that time, you’re growing into your body, you’re getting bigger, you’re getting stronger, you’re being able to use the tools that were taught earlier to succeed in college baseball.”

Kuster returned to Bethany and has taught Exercise Science and Biology for the last 24 years after becoming a certified Physical Therapist and Athletic Trainer. Kuster says his experiences playing baseball made it natural that he should grow into the athletic trainer field.

“Baseball in New Ulm taught me accountability,” Kuster said. “It taught me how to compete, it taught me how to accept difficulty, how to push through that, how to be a good teammate, how to succeed in life because of some of the lessons I learned on the baseball diamond … Physical therapy, that’s my schooling, I have a doctorate in physical therapy. Most of my desire in going into that field is dealing with my own injuries and then being able to help others through those types of injuries. It was a natural fit, a natural career choice for me. Then of course moving from being a physical therapist to being a professor at Bethany allowed me to encourage and inspire the next generation of medical professionals.”

Kuster looks back at his time in New Ulm fondly. He said he could remember just about every play he ever made. Some of his favorites include playing with his teammates, such as when Grossmann hit a home run over the left field fence at Johnson Park in the state tournament and playing middle infield with Brian Schmidt, who he had played with throughout his childhood.

“I remember how they treated me, I remember the friendships that we had …,” Kuster said. “I don’t want to leave anyone out. Those are some pretty good teams. All my teammates, those were some awesome memories we made playing baseball. It was a wonderful time.”

Kuster has some advice for young and aspiring baseball players in New Ulm that want to find success of their own.

“I would say learn the fundamentals of baseball,” Kuster said. “Learn how to play the game. There’s always the game inside the game, so if you learn the fundamentals and pay attention to what’s happening, you can succeed.”