Athlete 1999 – 2002
His college baseball career began in relative obscurity as a member of the Wildcat junior varsity squad. It ended in the spotlight with his inclusion on the 2002 American Baseball Coaches Association All-America team.
Today, smooth-swinging utility player Kevin Schjei joins yet another elite group of athletes and coaches with his induction into the Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame.
Kevin’s ability to play multiple positions allowed him to evolve as a baseball player and continue to raise his profile in the eyes of the coaching staff.
Kevin’s versatility was a game-changer, he says. “I came in as a first baseman and hit really well. However there were a bunch of guys in front of me. That year, our catcher left the program and I told Coach Joseph Smith to put me in at catcher. From there I could really show what my bat could do.”
His junior varsity performance was enough to earn him notice and land him a spot on the varsity squad the following season. Once Northwest Conference play rolled around, the coaching staff inserted Kevin into the lineup as the designated hitter, where amazingly, he hit .405 and went on to earn first team all-conference recognition.
His junior season began on an even better note with Kevin hitting over .500 through the Wildcats’ first 10 games. Then his season came to a crashing halt when he suffered a knee injury that required surgery. Up to that point, he had produced seven doubles, one triple, four home runs and 22 RBIs. He was sidelined for about three weeks, but returned to the lineup in the latter half of the conference schedule and finished the season hitting .419.
Fully recovered by the spring of 2002, Kevin returned to Roy Helser Field to record three single-season records for batting average (.446), hits (74) and doubles (15).
Kevin made his mark on the career record book as well. Now 23 years after his graduation, he continues to hold the all-time mark for best batting average (.430), while also ranking sixth for on-base percentage (.476) and slugging percentage (.611).
Those are pretty incredible accomplishments for a guy from tiny Aberdeen, Washington, population 16,000.
“I came to Linfield not knowing anyone. To be part of this program allowed me to meet lifelong friends quickly, which made the transition to school a lot easier. It was wonderful playing for Coach Scott Carnahan. He has so much experience in the baseball world from USA Baseball to all the years coaching at Linfield. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Carnahan calls Kevin simply the best contact hitter he ever coached in 26 seasons at Linfield. “The thing that Kevin was able to do was always stay on balance at the plate, staying level with his swing and hit to all fields with authority.”
And the legendary coach remembers Kevin being a catalyst for the Wildcats during the 2001 and 2002 seasons.
“Kevin helped elevate the performance of his teammates and was an outstanding practice player. He was steady and consistent and a great team member. Coaches and players alike loved him. He had a great work ethic and was very coachable.”
Kevin says his arrival at Linfield can be credited to a fellow Linfield baseball all-star.
“My hometown, Aberdeen, is small town, there’s not much recruiting going on in that neck of the woods. One of my high school baseball coaches was Paul Dean, the Linfield home run king and a 1990 graduate. He is the one who helped set up my trip to visit the campus and meet with Coach Carnahan. The rest is history after that.”
Looking back to that time, Paul remembers seeing key qualities in Kevin and knowing that he would develop into a great small-college student-athlete.
Says Paul “I felt Kevin had the right makeup and mentality to be successful in college. I felt like he would thrive in the baseball program and academic environment at Linfield. I know what an impact Scott Carnahan and Jimmy Ray had on my life, so when a quality player and person like Kevin was finishing high school, I wanted him to have the same opportunity.”
Taking a leap of faith by coming to Linfield transformed Kevin in ways beyond just his baseball skills.
Kevin remembers “Growing up in a small town, moving to another state was a big move, especially not knowing anyone else attending Linfield. I’ve had to move multiple times to different cities and states. Knowing how to adapt has been very beneficial to me in my career. I also believe my Linfield business degree allowed me to get started with my first hospitality company and got me on the right track.”
That right track led Kevin toward a two-decade career in the Southern California tourism industry managing large-scale hotel properties. These days, he’s the General Manager at the Avenue of the Arts Hotel in Costa Mesa, a 4-Diamond boutique Marriott hotel. Additionally, Kevin is a Board Member for Visit Anaheim, leading the promotion of Tourism and Community in Orange County, and is President of the Garden Grove Tourism Promotion Corporation, promoting Tourism, Safety and Community in the city of Garden Grove.
Kevin is the proud father of two teenagers, 15-year-old Camryn and 14-year-old Becker. He fondly remembers his parents, Kerry and Jerry, and grandparents, Bonnie and Jerry, faithfully driving from Aberdeen to McMinnville for every one of his games.
