Hanson was a three-sport letter winner at Deerfield High School. In baseball, he was a four-year letter winner playing infield and pitching for the Demons. He earned All-Conference, All-State and All-Region honors in addition to being named team MVP in both his junior and senior seasons. Erik even had the opportunity to play beside his brother, Bjorn, on both the varsity baseball and basketball teams in high school.
In the fall of 1994, Erik enrolled at MATC where his father was both an instructor and assistant baseball coach. In his first season at MATC, Hanson made his presence felt as he received WJCAA All-State and NJCAA All-Region honors for his outstanding play. He was named the teams offensive MVP, hitting .373 with 14 doubles, 35 RBIs and a team high 14 stolen bases. He also saw time as pitcher making four appearances, striking out nineteen batters and posting a 2.50 ERA in eighteen innings of work. More importantly, his contributions his freshman season led MATC to the summit of junior college baseball as the program won its first ever NJCAA National Championship.
In his second year, the hard working, talented outfielder excelled once again. Erik received WTCC All-Conference and WJCAA All-State honors including the Athletic Department’s Doug Redsten Memorial Award. Erik, a consummate team player, continued to do what his team needed him to do. He led the team with 12 sacrifices and made three pitching appearances, going 1-1 and striking out seven batters in eight innings of work. Again, Erik led the team with 13 stolen bases and posted an impressive .395 season batting average. He also recorded a team leading 66 hits with 16 doubles. Erik’s one and two-year hit totals were both team records at the time. With his help, including a home run in the National Championship game, MATC won their second consecutive NJCAA National Title.
“Erik was a major reason MATC was able to capture back to back National Titles,” said Head Baseball Coach, Leo Kalinowski. “In addition to having an outstanding athletic career at MATC, he is a terrific person who will always be a success in the game of life.”
Off the field, Erik received MATC Athletics highest student-athlete honor as he received the 1996 Sportsperson of the Year award. He also received All-Academic honors during both years at MATC, even tutoring his fellow teammates in math. After MATC, Erik attended NCAA Division I UW-Milwaukee where he was a two year letter winner and a Scholar Athlete Award winner for the Panthers. After his senior season, he spent one year playing baseball in Freiburg, Germany, before coming back to graduate from UW-Milwaukee with an Education degree in Math and Science in 2000. Three years later, he earned his masters degree in Computer Education Technology from St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN.
Erik currently lives in Burnsville, MN, with his wife Jenny and children Ryan and Finn. He followed in his father’s footsteps and currently teaches math at Edina High School.
