An unselfish attitude and a burning desire to win catapulted the 2013 Linfield baseball team to the Division III mountaintop.
Earning a rightful place among fellow all-time greats in the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, this special group of Wildcats achieved a long list of extraordinary accomplishments. Such as a school record 42 victories, the National Pitcher of the Year award, three All-America citations, Northwest Conference and West Region team titles, and the crown jewel: the coveted NCAA Division III national championship.
Led by seniors Tim Wilson, Kyle Chamberlain, Jordan Harlow and Michael Hopp, the Wildcats claimed Linfield’s first baseball championship since joining the NCAA, adding to the program’s NAIA championships in 1966 and 1971. Statistically, the 2013 Wildcats established a slew of new team and individual records.
Undeterred by adversity and always confident of victory, Linfield never lost back-to-back games throughout its championship season. The Wildcats went 4-1 in games decided by one run and 24-3 in contests decided by five runs or more. In perhaps the most memorable game of the year, Linfield was held scoreless for six innings before mounting a four-run comeback against Wisconsin-Stevens Point that put the 'Cats in the driver's seat at the NCAA Finals.
The 2013 pitching staff was perhaps the finest ever assembled at Linfield. It featured two All-America pitchers in Chris Haddeland and Aaron Thomassen, plus an outstanding third starter in Zach Brandon.
Haddeland enjoyed a season for the ages, recording a school-record 15 wins, 96 strikeouts and a 1.07 ERA. Thomassen struck out 84 batters while going 12-1 overall. Against Division III opponents, he was a perfect 12-0 with a 1.54 ERA.
Offensively, Tim Wilson and Jake Wylie posted astronomical numbers and were deservingly recognized as first team All-Americans. Wilson hit .401 as the leadoff hitter and stole 31 bases. Wiley provided ample run support from the cleanup spot, hitting .396 with 66 RBIs and eight home runs.
Wilson, the Wildcats’ All-America outfielder and leadoff hitter, says “I don't think anyone expected a national championship run heading into the season. We had just come off a rollercoaster of a season. And there were a lot of unknowns, needing to replace some key contributors from the previous year.”
Linfield began the season unranked in the national polls and was picked to finish third in the Northwest Conference. But the Wildcats’ dominance quickly became apparent when they outscored their opponents 30-4 over the final three games at the Arizona Desert Classic. From there, the ‘Cats rolled through the conference schedule with a 21-3 record.
By the middle of the season, Linfield had soared to its first No. 1 ranking of the Division III era.
The road to the national championship began in earnest at the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas. It was there that Linfield had to knock off a dangerous Trinity team twice in order to earn a trip to the NCAA Finals in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Throughout the postseason, stellar starting pitching performances by Haddeland, Thomassen and Brandon carried the team. And offensively, Nick Fisher, Kramer Lindell, Corey VanDomelen, Clayton Truex, and Michael Hopp all elevated their games to propel Linfield to the title.
The pivotal point of the championship finals came in the semifinal game against Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Wildcats trailed 3-0 in the sixth inning before erupting for five unanswered runs to survive and advance.
With three teams remaining, Linfield dropped its first game of the finals to Ithaca by a score of 6-4, but the ‘Cats remained poised. In the championship game against Southern Maine, the Wildcats found themselves trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning. That’s when Kyle Chamberlain stepped to the plate and delivered the game-winning hit to spark a 4-1 win, sparking Linfield to the school’s third national baseball crown.
Afterward, Wildcat coach Scott Brosius sensed Linfield's potential for greatness from the very beginning, saying at the time: “Before the season even started, I liked how the pieces fit in terms of flexibility. With guys who could play multiple positions, we could tweak the lineup when we needed to.”
Off the field, Brosius remembers the 2013 team was made up of “guys of great character…they believed in each other, they had a team-first mentality, they pulled for each other."
By all accounts, it was truly a special season.
