Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories on the 2014 valedictorians from each of Suffolk’s five high schools. Look for the others in upcoming editions.

Just two more trips, and Suffolk Christian Academy’s 2014 valedictorian will have completed an all-American mission he and his dad have been on for the past dozen or so years.

“I really like baseball, and since I was 6 or 7, me and my dad started trying to see every Major League Baseball stadium,” Noah Nickert said.

Though some may argue that some are not worthy of the designation, America has 30 Major League Baseball teams.

When he and dad Joe visit Texas for a weekend at the end of June, then his mother, Candy, and brother, Luke, join them on a trip to California in July, it’ll be mission complete, according to Nickert.

“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “Sometimes the whole family will go, but a couple of times just Dad and I have gone, so that’s pretty cool, too.”

Arriving at a city, Nickert said, they generally take in a baseball game, photograph any noteworthy stadium features and recruit a bystander to take a family photo with the lit-up ballfield as a backdrop.

“Then we find other stuff around that we can do, like amusement parks,” he said, adding that a different activity is found for every family member, according to their tastes.

The California trip, for instance, will involve fishing for his brother and shopping for his mother, Nickert said.

Being from Michigan, Nickert said, his dad’s favorite team is the Detroit Tigers, and that allegiance has filtered down to the latest generation.

“That’s probably my favorite one to go to,” Nickert said of the Detroit stadium, adding that they’ve visited it “probably five times.”

They sometimes re-visit other stadiums as well, he said, when major upgrades or redevelopments have occurred, for example.

Nickert, who said he had a good idea he’d be named valedictorian, based on his grades throughout the year, sees the potential to meld baseball with his aspiration to work in finance or investing.

His dad first kindled his love of baseball, teaching him how to play in the backyard when he was “3 or so,” he said.

“There is definitely opportunity,” Nickert said. “A sports team is a business. They have to make money to pay the players and keep the stadiums.”

Nickert will attend the College of William and Mary in the fall, to study business with a focus on finance.

A Suffolk Christian Academy student since preschool, Nickert has also played golf and basketball, along with baseball.

He’s the president of the honor society and attends church Sundays and Wednesdays.

Three classmates have also been at the academy throughout their schooling, Nickert said.

“You know everybody, and everybody is pretty willing to help if don’t know something,” he said of the academy experience.

The wish to continue his education in a more intimate setting factored in him choosing William and Mary over James Madison University, which also accepted him, Nickert said.

Alexis Metzgar is the academy’s 2014 salutatorian.