Commitment Spotlight: Cooper Erickson from Lincoln East

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Hard work and patience have been two of the most important things junior Cooper Erikson has learned throughout his days playing baseball.

With a year off from the pandemic to work on and refine his swing, the Lincoln East infielder took advantage of the time off last season. Countless hours later and Erikson has seemingly found the key to success at the plate, and it has paid off in a big way.

“I think it helped me because it was everyday going in and working on the same stuff, and it gave me a greater love and respect for the game,” Erikson said. “When we came back from the layoff my swing was right where I wanted it to be, and it showed during the season.”

Settle talks with Wofford began in the spring, and he immediately fell in love with the philosophy pitched to players: development. Erikson wanted to be part of a program invested in helping their own guys and found the perfect match when playing in a tournament in South Carolina.

A very dynamic player, Erikson noted his height and athleticism as things that stood out to the Terrier coaching staff. The passion and coaching ability from assistant coach J.J. Edwards gave him all the assurance he needed when choosing to attend Wofford following his senior season.

Located in South Carolina, Wofford finished last season with a 36-21 record, coming up short in the Southern Conference tournament. Erikson looks to aid in helping put the mid-major program on the map, similar to the resurgence taking place at Lincoln East.

“They always talked about how they want to develop the players in house instead of going the JUCO route and working there,” Erikson said. “That was a big game changer for me to develop with the staff and really the thing that made me commit.”

Standing at 6 feet 4 inches tall, Erikson is deceptively fast for a recruit his size as he posted a 6.91 in his 60-yard dash at the PBR Preseason All-State camp. His explosive lower half has helped him become a good glove defensively, along with a premier hitter for the Spartans.

Erikson has a lot of range on the left side of the infield and puts forth great hustle to help him make the extra play. His strong arm allows him to make deep throws in the hole look easy with a ¾ release point topping out at 85 mph on his infield velocity. 

From his sophomore year to his junior year, his exit velocity jumped up from 84 mph to 96 mph, taking advantage of the extended offseason to refine on his swing. Erikson put a batting cage in the backyard and him and his dad worked countless hours to improve his hitting mechanics.

“My dad is pretty much my hitting coach and him and I have been hitting these past couple years for as long as we physically can,” Erikson said. “Just hitting off the tee at my house and figuring out stuff as we go along as been a huge help to me.”

All the work has come to fruition as Erikson had a monster junior year en route to leading Lincoln East to its first state tournament appearance since 2012. Although the season came to a close earlier than he would’ve liked, it’s only more motivation to work harder for next season.

Improvement numbers wise may be difficult for the junior as he posted an incredible .398 batting average in 108 plate appearances over 33 games. He was also tied for the team-high with five home runs and was second on the team in RBIs with 32.

He elected to continue playing with his high school teammates over the summer as he remains laser focused on rewriting his postseason fate for his final year. With his career after high school already locked away, Erikson has one goal on his mind for the spring: win a state championship.

“We’ve lost some pitchers, but we have some young guys who have really stepped up and will help give us have a shot next season,” Erikson said. “I think it plays a huge role to stick with the guys you played with in the spring and build that team chemistry, and right now that’s my number one goal.”